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brace joint

A crooked gambling establishment. Named for the braces used to control the outcome on faro, roulette and other gambling equipment.[1]

According to Hoyle: In 1870, Bret Maverick traveled with Big Mike McComb to Wagon Wheel, Wyoming Territory.[2] There, he discovered Joe Riggs' saloon and casino, the Golden Bucket, was a crooked establishment. He was tempted to give the residents of Wagon Wheel an honest game, but it meant staying in one place too long. On the Stonewall Jackson out of New Orleans in 1876, Riggs tried to take a seat at a poker table with Bret and some other trusted poker players. Bret recognized him immediately and called him a cheat to his face, rekindling the animosity Bret felt for Riggs. Bret partnered with Samantha Crawford to buy their own gambling equipment to open an honest casino in Wagon Wheel and put Riggs out of business. Once in Wagon Wheel, Bret proved Riggs' Golden Bucket was a brace joint and the customer smashed it to bits. Ma Braus, having seen Bret was on the up-and-up, bought the demolished casino from Riggs and hired Big Mike to run it honestly.[3]

Relic of Fort Tejon: While in Sweetwater, Arizona Territory in 1878, Mandy Packer[2] told Bret Maverick about Carl Jimson's brace joint, the Square Deal Saloon in Silver Springs,[4] New Mexico Territory.[2] Bret knew an old flame of his, Donna Seely, lived in Silver Springs, so decided to pay her a visit and expose Jimson's establishment as crooked. Once there, Bret discovered two of Jimson's operatives, Connors and Ferguson, cheating the locals in poker and drew them out. When Jimson discovered Bret was a professional deliberately trying to expose him, he entered the game himself to put an end to it. During a confrontation over cutting the deck, Bret reached for a match in his vest pocket to light a cigar. Jimson took it as an opportunity to claim Bret was going for his gun, shot Bret in the shoulder and had him thrown out of the saloon. Although Bret eventually proved that Jimson was responsible for shooting Donna, it was never established that Jimson was shown to been running a brace joint.[4]