Camp Fremont

It was April in Las Vegas and I needed to decide what to do next. I thought I should move on because I didn’t think that I could make it through a summer here without being plugged into the electric grid. I was parked on the street and relying in my solar battery system. It would not support an air conditioner. In addition the batteries are shot. They are about two years old and will not hold a deep charge. It’s not so much the heat during the day, I can cope with that. It’s sleeping in the heat. I can be somewhere that’s hot during the day as long as it cools down at night. I was thinking Flagstaff. I needed to check the weather there and see if it cools down at night. My funds were low. I had not been winning at poker. I think it is because I am trying to play different and I have not got the bugs worked out yet. I signed up for one of those online courses at PokerVT. They talked about small ball poker. I did not cashed in a tournament since I began the course. It’s was very frustrating to say the least; and hard on my bankroll.

After much deliberation I decided to stay in Vegas one more summer. There is this RV park on Fremont Street call the Western RV Park. It is really nothing more than a parking lot with hookups. It does have an office with showers and laundry. Plus there is a room with a television and a front desk. The park is on the edge of downtown Las Vegas. Three blocks to the Fremont Experience. I had stayed there last summer and it seemed like a good place to go. When I arrived there were people there from last summer.

This summer the guests at the park were much more hospitable than last year. In fact, I came to call the place Camp Fremont. I think it had a lot to do with a guest named Fay being in the park. She is definitely a people person. She organized regular pot luck dinners, hosted morning donuts and generally managed the social activities of the park. I had a great time at the park this summer just hanging out in the office. Fay created a family feeling at the park and is made the place a joy to be in. It is amazing what changes one person can bring. Anyway the weather has turned and the nights are cool. I am back off the grid and missing Camp Fremont.

The Duke of Fremont

The street that downtown Las Vegas is located on is called Fremont Street. This is were Binion, The Four Queens, The Golden Nugget and many others are located. This is truly old Las Vegas. I was playing no limit at the Golden Nugget on Fremont Street. A new player came to the table. At first glance he was dressed in a suit that was fresh out of the 1930's. He was wearing a hat and carrying a violin case. He was warmly welcomed by the casino staff and a number of the players in the room greeted him by name "Duke".

When he arrived at the table he opened the violin case and began removing money. There were bundles of $100 bills. He also had vintage currency including a 1000 dollar bill. All of this neatly stacked. I asked another person at the table who he was and the reply was "the Duke of Fremont". No one seemed to know if his real name was Duke or not. After the fan fare died down, the Duke held court. Everyone at the table was focused on the Duke. The card became incidental. He reminisced about a recent trip to the Amazon. He described the various rare currency that he had on the table. At one point in a hand, I ask him how much he had back. He said that give or take a grand he had $186.000.00 on the table. My $200 was no threat to his stack.

He played one hand that he lost, packed up his money made his exit. Quite a character.

For related post on my blog please see Sam O'Connor's Interview with the Duke of Fremont Street