National Affairs: Cons at Cards

The scene, for anybody who has indulged in Nevada's favorite public pastime, was familiar. The room was quiet except for the snap of cards, the clack of poker chips and murmuring of the players. At nine tables, the gamblers played stud, low ball, twenty-one or panguingui. The cards were dealt, the winners raked in the pots. Then, at 3:20 p.m., a bugle blew, and all the players got up and went back to their cells. Gambling at Nevada's State Prison in Carson City was closed for the day.

There is scarcely a prison in the world where inmates do not gamble...

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