Gambling in the Old West Hip-Pocket History of the Old West (Series) Informative, yet entertaining, the Hip-Pocket History series provides little nuggets without having to wade through a 400-page book of dry academic ostentatiousness. Gambling played a major role in the lives of the men that drove the western movement of Americans across the continent during the nineteenth century. Games of chance were dear to the hearts of not only cowboys, but also gold miners, plantation owners, bankers, merchants, soldiers, trappers, buffalo hunters, mule skinners, and most of the other men of the American West, even including some preachers. Wherever there were men with money there was gambling - and most of it was crooked. Whether it was rigged, fixed, double-dealt, cold-decked, braced or otherwise manipulated - very little was left to luck and skill.