Something up your sleeve: Spring-loaded spare card holder A perennial favorite with dishonest players: Ink set for marking cards

A "knucklebuster" could be used in two ways. It was a gun with no barrel, which meant that to obtain any degree of accuracy, it had to be shot at point-blank range. Its other use, as the name implies, was as a bludgeon. Either way, anyone who resorted to using one of these things was well-advised to have a horse waiting.

The "knucklebuster" is one of many fascinating artifacts on display at the Nevada Museum of Gambling in Virginia City, Nevada.