Casino Queen

Lottie Deno, otherwise known as ‘Lottie Dinero’ or simply ‘The Poker Queen’ – her real name was believed to be Carlotta Thompkins – was an infamous female gambler in the American Old West. Born in Kentucky in 1844, Deno was introduced to gambling by her father – a wealthy tobacco plantation owner and racehorse breeder – at an early age. By the age of 16 she was already a skilled card player and, two years later, following the death of her father in the American Civil War, was sent to Detroit, Michigan in search of better opportunities.

In Detroit, Deno met Johnny Golden, a jockey who had ridden for her father, and together they worked their trade on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers until 1863, when they went their separate ways with a view to reuniting in San Antonio, Texas at a later date. Reunite they did, but not until six years later, by which time Deno was a house gambler at the University Club and had met Frank Thurmond, whose family owned the establishment.

Thurmond subsequently killed a man during a card game and headed to Fort Griffin, in West Texas, where he was joined by Deno, who became a house gambler at the Bee Hive Saloon. In that capacity, she once reputedly won $3,000 from John Henry ‘Doc’ Holliday and, in so doing, provided the inspiration for the fictional character Laura Denbow, played by the ‘Queen of Technicolor’, Rhonda Fleming, in the 1957 film ‘Gunfight at the O.K. Corral’.

Eleanor Dumont, also known as ‘Madame Moustache’ because of a growth of dark facial hair on her upper lip in later life, was a notorious, if slightly mysterious, gambler in the American Old West. Born Simone Jules in 1829, Dumont claimed to be a French refugee, but may have hailed from somewhere in the Mississippi Delta, possibly New Orleans. In any event, during the California Gold Rush, or shortly afterwards, Dumont had the resources to open her own gambling establishment, ‘Vingt-et-un’ – billed as the ‘best gambling emporium in northern California’ – on Broad Street, Nevada City.

Later, she sold the business and travelled from one boom town to the next, setting up gambling tables in hotels throughout the West. After a few years, she met, and married, Jack McKnight, a cattleman and small-time gambler, and together they bought a cattle ranch in Carson City, Nevada. However, after a few months, McKnight sold the ranch and disappeared, leaving Dumont destitute. She eventually ended up in Bodie, California – billed as ‘the toughest town in the West’ – where, having borrowed $300 to set up a gambling table, she proceeded to lose every cent and committed suicide shortly afterwards.

Shannon Elizabeth, born Shannon Elizabeth Fadal, is an American actress, probably still best known for playing Russian exchange student Nadia in the ‘American Pie’ franchise. However, having played in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event in 2005, in which she finished just outside the money, and cashed, albeit for small amounts, in several WSOP events in 2006, Elizabeth proclaimed, ‘Poker has become my second career’.

Elizabeth achieved her best live cash, $125,000, when finishing third, behind Paul Wasicka and Chad Brown, in the NBC National Heads-Up Championship at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas in 2007, but thereafter he poker career failed to take off in the way she anticipated. Fast forward a dozen years or so and Elizabeth has cashed in a total of 13 major poker tournaments, for total live earnings of $235,866. However, since mid-2010 she has cashed just once, for $11,635, when finishing 165th in the $5,300 No Limit Hold’em Championship Event at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open in 2013. Elizabeth is still billed, in some quarters, as a ‘leading celebrity poker player’ but, although she still plays recreationally, it would appear that, in terms of tournament poker, her ‘second career’ is indefinitely on hold.