Victorian Vice- Copper Hells

Social class divides gambling houses into two categories: Copper Hells, and Golden Halls. Golden halls refer to respectable gentlemen’s clubs beyond the reach of the law, while the working classes gather in copper hells, illegal gambling dens hidden in clandestine locations. Their premises hide behind veneers of respectability or sit in the worst parts of London free of honest constables.

The proprietors of illegal gambling houses take precautions against letting snitches, reporters, crusaders, and police past their doors. No signs advertise their games and entertainments save a gas lamp or lantern hung over their entrance. Its light declares ongoing gaming in the house and shines on the faces of guests wishing to come in. The doorman looks over visitors through an eye slit and admits recognized patrons or those uttering that night‘s passphrase. Most hells force first-time visitors to pay a membership fee of about 3 shillings, although it may be inflated to as much as 10 shillings to line to doorman’s pocket. Others wait for the guest to gamble before taking their money and require only for a trusted member to vouch for the first-timer.

Once inside, the entertainments, games, and refreshments vary from Copper Hell to Copper Hell according to their membership’s taste and income.  Some attract young professionals with dancing and live music, while laborers and criminal’s crowd around cockfights in the back of a pub across town. Middle-class patrons of quiet gambling halls view their gatherings almost as a gentlemen’s club. In addition to illegal gambling, they escape the world with a drink, conversation, and a newspaper in a comfortable room.

The stakes wagered in the games may be as low as five pence in a dingy hell frequented by the most desperate of society’s dregs, or as high as £5 in halls populated with respectable professionals. Most money changes owners over table-games such as baccarat, roulette, hazard, and faro. Proprietors often set aside a room for billiards and other games of dexterity and coordination. The seedier and more disreputable hells host blood sports such as duck baiting, dogfights, rat baiting, and boxing. Every night, Bookies and bet-makers hold court in a private corner. To keep the operation under control, large violent men called “Bullys” evict obvious cheaters, rowdy drunks, and sore losers. Gambling halls also employ “Bonnets” hired gamblers who cajole others into playing, give the club more life by playing games on slow nights, or gamble on behalf of the house against lucky players for a percentage. Young members of the upper class fallen into debt or scandal often make their living as Bonnets.

Gambling is rarely the only illegal activity practiced in a copper hell. The ubiquitous bar serves unlicensed liquor to their patrons and prostitutes flock to gambling houses open to both sexes. Pickpockets comfortably spend evenings waiting for the proprietor’s permission to steal from gamblers wise enough to stop when they are ahead. Desperate gamblers recover their losses by buying and selling of stolen valuables. Above all, card sharps cheat in a plethora of blaggardly ways as does the gambling house. In the worst copper hells, players cycle through a gaming table through the night and not one a winner.