Victorian Vice- Building a Copper Hell

Much of the information about gambling halls comes from the vibrant and theatrical recollections of antigambling reformers investigating social ills from the inside. These detailed reports flow with colorful descriptions essential to replicating the myriad of copper hells in London. Here is a list of specific assets and attributes taken from their descriptions of distinct copper hells. If you want a copper hell in an adventure pick one or two details from each section:

Interior

- Splashes of drinks and tobacco juice stain the walls.

-A back corridor leads to many small rooms dedicated to private games, betting consultations, and dalliances.

-Twenty to thirty people surround the baccarat-table watching and waiting to play. Those at the table and near the walls sit on rough wooden benches.

-In the gambling room sits a long table draped in green cloth. Carefully regulated lines of white string clearly mark the betting spaces for the game of hazard. During a police raid, the dealer pulls out a pair of scissors, cuts the strings, and swallows the dice. All that is left is a simple table clothed in green.

- In a side room, a complimentary buffet of simple room-temperature foods, such as meat joints, chicken, and salad or glasses of sherry and riesling quickly sate peckish patrons and bring them back to the tables.

- Signs litter the walls of the gambling hall, reminding guests of rules, decorum, and the advantages of continued membership.

- Gamblers stand around the gaming tables due to a complete lack of chairs and furniture.

- Black paint covers the windows of the ground floor.

Organization and Rules

-The hall closes at 12 AM. This encourages frantic wagering as closing time nears and gives an air of respectability lacking in houses open all night.

-Dealers and card sharps avoid frightening new members away with losses. Cheating is saved for regular customers and high stakes.

- No women in the gambling house, except the barmaid.

- The hall is open only after dark.

-The minimum bet at any table game is one half-crown (2 shillings and sixpence).

-The gaming house’s bank is a large pile of coins on the roulette table.

-The bar serves its patrons strong drinks for free. The proprietor encourages drinking to fill his hall with reckless wagers.

-The hall remains open all night making it very popular with the after-theater crowd.

Location

-A dripping, dimly lit basement under a pub

- The upper stories of a disused workhouse

- Up three flights of stairs in a tall building

-Hidden in a club for members of a specific nationality

-Above a greengrocers

-In the back of a laundry

-In a coffee shop

- Behind a newspaper and periodical shop with a small reading room.

People

-Young men swarm around a few ballet-girls and music hall actresses waiting for dancing to start.

-The owner evaluates new members with jocular conversation.

- Two cardsharps conspire to fleece their target.

- A cadre of men discusses odds around a bookie noting horseracing wagers in his betting book.

-On nights when the house raked in a great deal of money, the owner distributes free drinks to console losers.

- A patron screams in indignant rage that he’s been cheated by the gambling house. The bullies employed by the house beat him in front of the other guests to discourage similar outbursts.

- After a losing streak, gamblers try to sell their pocket watches, rings, and waistcoats to fund their next wager.

- The burly doorman also acts as a waiter.