The Poker War on First Avenue
A disillusioned clerk sparks a police crackdown on illegal gambling dens operating in plain sight within Seattle's saloons.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Michael J. Curry, Thomas J. Stiles, Larry Stanley (alias Big Frisco), Pete Jamieson, and James McFarland have been arrested on complaint of T. W. McGovern for maintaining gambling operations at 213 and 207 First Avenue South in Seattle. McGovern, a former clerk, lost his money at these locations and discovered that dealers were using signals to cheat players, prompting him to file a formal complaint. Prosecuting Attorney Scott, supported by Deputy Sheriff Callahan, has determined to enforce the new state law making gambling a penitentiary offense. Despite the law, many saloons have been operating with such impunity that some houses requested permits to resume operations, and checks were being sold over bars as openly as in the past.
“They did not say a word but waved their hands over me and I fell asleep, and when I awoke, I was in this castle, and a prisoner.”
This 1903 conflict over 'wide open' gambling in Seattle captures the perpetual tension between civic moralists and the city's rough-and-tumble saloon culture. Today, while the venue has shifted to regulated card rooms and tribal casinos, the debate over the social costs of legalized gambling remains a central theme in Washington's civic life.
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