To all of you slingers and shooters,

I know you are not accustom to being told where to sit and not to sit, and far be it from me to try such tomfoolery, but if I might make a… suggestion.

Take time to visit, but by no means sit at the SUICIDE TABLE OF VIRGINIA CITY- 18 South C. St., Virginia City, NV.

About 25 miles southeast of Reno is the mountain-planted Virginia City, a small town with many throwbacks to its 19th century history, a history colored mostly by its popularity at the time as a mining town. Popularity of this sort at the time attracted a large variety of characters. I mean, we’ve learned in northern Idaho that mining towns attract the bordellos. Virginia City hosts a plethora of saloons, restaurants, gift shops, entertainment venues, and more.

The Delta Saloon is a treasure trove of memorabilia and historical stories.

Of special interest inside the Delta Saloon is, as I mentioned before, the infamous Suicide Table.

In the mid 1860s, this table was a Faro game table. Faro was a popular casino game in the 19th century involving card matching. It was discontinued in most establishments because they eventually figured out that the game did not favor the house very much.

The first owner of the table, a man known as “Black Jake,” lost $70,000 in one evening. Distressed by the loss, Black Jake shot himself. The table then went to a second owner, who shall remain nameless because… well, mainly because we don’t actually know his name. He ran the table for one night and also lost greatly. That man died suddenly as well, some say by suicide and some say he was murdered. The table went unclaimed for many years as rumors of a curse were already circulating. In the late 1890s, some ballsy individual turned it into a “21” table (I am assuming they mean a Black Jack table?) and it was back in business. The story, however, doesn’t end there…

It was a dark and stormy night. No, really, they say it was. A drunk man stumbled in and bet his last possession, a gold ring, against a five dollar coin and won. He continued playing and by morning his winnings consisted of $86,000 plus a team of horses and an interest in a gold mine. The owner of the table has lost all of his worldly possessions and, like a broken record, committed suicide.

The table is now cordoned off and sits protected, though it’s obvious they are protecting potential gamblers rather than the table itself.

Combine history and good old fashioned fun at this wild west throwback town.

Until next time, dahlings…