Who was Richard Canfield, the Prince of Gamblers?

Timeline of Richard Albert Canfield’s (Business) Life

Richard Canfield’s business life is a fascinating story packed with highlights. The timeline below is not only important to get an overview of all the events in Canfield’s life, but also addresses the question of when, where, and which Solitaire Canfield might have offered.

• 1855 – Richard Albert Canfield was born on June 17, 1855, in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the fifth of six children.
• 1873 – Canfield opens his first illegal poker room with his childhood friend Buckley, but after a warning from the police, the club is closed within a year. For the next 7 years, he did not hold a steady job but was never short of money: these were the years he acquired the skills of a gambler.
• 1876 – Canfield won a large sum ($20,000) playing Faro, after which he decided to spend the summer in Monte Carlo (Europe) to try his luck at gambling.
• 1877 – Canfield returns from Monte Carlo, completely broke but one experience richer. After seeing all the luxury and prestige of casinos there, Canfield was determined to make a career as a high-class casino operator, or “gambler” as the gambling house owners were called back then.
• 1883 – Canfield moves to Providence and becomes a partner in a busy Faro home run by Thomas Sprague.
• 1884 – Police raid Canfield and Sprague’s Faro Club.
• 1885 – Expecting an acquittal, Canfield is sentenced to 6 months in prison; time is served during this year.
• 1886 – Canfield is released and starts a new job as a dealer in a gambling house in New York.
• 1887 – Canfield opens a poker club together with William Glover, but because Canfield finds the profits too low, he sells his share.
• 1888 – Canfield opens a new club, the Madison Square Club, with partner David Duff.
• 1892 – In the years that followed, Richard Canfield earned a reputation as one of New York’s most respected gamblers. It was during this time that Canfield visited Saratoga Springs during the resort town’s busy summer months. Thanks to the efforts of John Morrissey, (1831 – 1878), the hot springs town had already become a gambling mecca. Morrissey’s partner, Spencer, kept the prestigious Saratoga Clubhouse operational, but the quality of the establishment quickly deteriorated. This was also Canfield’s impression, who, during his many visits, became friends with Spencer. The two had much in common, including a passion for collecting art and for gambling.
• 1893 – Canfield agrees with Spencer to buy the renowned club. Canfield assumes the role of partner and begins the ‘settling in’ process. As the manager, Spencer slowly began preparing high rollers to get used to the idea that a new owner would soon take over.
• 1894 – Canfield finalizes his purchase, paying a total of $250,000 for full ownership of the prestigious clubhouse.
• 1897 – Canfield Club opens in Newport, Rhode Island.
• 1900 – Thinking he was untouchable, presumably intoxicated, Canfield was reputed to have said hurtful remarks about a detective named William Travers Jerome. Due in part to this incident, he became the detective’s personal target. Many small and mostly corrupt clubhouses were already closed in New York City. Jerome’s main focus shifted to closing Canfield’s Club at 5 East 44 Street in New York.
• 1901 – On December 1, 1901, after a smear campaign and increased pressure from the legal system, Canfield shut down his club at 5 East 44 Street, New York. He kept the property for personal use, maintaining residence on the top floor, however, games of chance were never offered again.

• 1902 – While Canfield is staying in Europe with his good friend and artist James Whistler, his already closed establishment on East 44 street is raided. Canfield is furious because he considers it his home, but after the police find a hidden room with gambling equipment, there is a lawsuit. In this, Canfield is eventually ordered to pay a fine and legal costs.
• 1903 – Strict compliance with the law and growing opposition to gambling houses like Canfield’s were also tightening rules in Saratoga. That year gambling was only allowed to take place in secret, behind closed doors. As a result, Canfield was only able to invite a small part of his clientele into the gambling area of his Saratoga Springs casino. The new restrictions infuriated the man who, in protest, decided not to open the following season.
• 1904 – Canfield kept his doors closed to the public. The fact that many tourists came to Saratoga Springs specifically to see Canfield’s Casino, now shuttered, had a massive impact on the town’s other businesses, and on tourism in general. Horse race track officials begged Canfield to reopen, but he only wanted to open with the previous conditions that would allow him to operate openly as before.
• 1904 – Canfield sells Canfield Club in Newport, R.I.
• 1905 / 1907 – Canfield’s Casino, and a few other gambling houses in Saratoga Springs received a modified permit to open under strict conditions; namely, gambling behind closed doors. Canfield kept the restaurant open and sporadically offered games of chance.
• 1907 – For Canfield, the fun is gone. He surprised friend and foe alike when he announced not only the closing but also the sale of his famed establishment. Although many thought Canfield would reopen the next year, the club remained closed for good. This was truly the end of an era.
• 1911 – The Saratoga Springs City Council bought the clubhouse in 1911 for $150,000, a price well below market value, and even less than what Canfield had paid a few years back. The former casino became part of a public park, and Canfield departed, never to return to Saratoga.
• 1914 – On December 10, 1914, the legend slipped on subway stairs, striking his head. It did not appear to be serious, and in lieu of a hospital check-up, Canfield insisted upon resting at home. The next day, on December 11, 1914, the infamous gambler passed away. The seemingly minor fall fractured his skull and caused a traumatic, deadly brain injury.
  
  From 1888, when he opened his first club ever, to the closing of his clubhouse in Saratoga, Canfield is said to have earned well over $5 million from his gambling enterprises. Earning money on Wall Street and art trade, he is purported to have retired with $12 million dollars.

Canfield – The Prince of Gamblers

Richard Albert Canfield seemed to have had perfect timing when it came to being a gambler. Although restrictions were often enforced against all manner of gambling houses, New York City prevailed as the hotbed of American gambling culture. Estimates cite more than 60 large luxury gambling clubhouses and private clubs in the city. It was here the “Prince of Gamblers” got his start creating a worldwide reputation, quickly rising to fame and becoming the pinnacle of gambling-related success stories.

At the time, his name was synonymous with gambling, much like Monte Carlo in Monaco, or Las Vegas, now. Despite great fame during his lifetime as a gambler, the name Canfield today is mostly known as the name of a Solitaire game said to be invented by him. Other sources contradict this, saying he would never have even played it. I reviewed every possibility in an effort to figure out why, and how, Canfield Solitaire got its name.

In 1914, the legendary man passed away, leaving a legacy, and a name, that will never die.