Richard Albert Canfield was born on June 28, 1855 and lived until he died in December 11, 1914. He has given his surname as one of the games which fall within solitaire group of computer games. The reason his name is associated with a card game is because of the general consensus that he was one of the primary players and professional gamblers to have lived in the USA. In his case, he was mostly associated with illegal gambling activities although he also dabbled in legal forms of gambling as well.
Richard Albert Canfield’s gambling activities started in Rhode Island at a place known as Providence before he migrated into New York. He is reputed to have moved into New York sometime in the 1860s from where he would continue with his activities and become a well known figure in the area of professional gambling. His gambling empire reportedly spread right across the entire length and breadth of the northeastern part of the United States. He was nicknamed the King of Casinos.
Richard Albert Canfield was the proud owner of numerous casinos which became increasingly popular as the spots of choice for other professional gamblers who would bet on anything. For close to 20 years, Canfield’s casinos were the places to go to for a fun experience while operating as a professional gambler. This popularity would most definitely have gone on for much longer had the New York district attorney not worked extra hard to have them all closed down. He had no choice other than to oblige.
When his casinos and other gambling houses were closed in 1904, he lived for a further 10 years before succumbing to injuries sustained from a fall. He was known to be a prominent businessman during his hey days. In addition to this, he was a great art collector during that time. His collections included impressive glass artifacts from James A.M. Whistler. He was reputed to have in his possession the second largest collection of glass items and art collections from Whistler in the entire world.
When Richard Canfield started his gambling operations, this was considered an illegal activity. However, through his efforts on the most part, gambling was taken to be a classy, splendid and luxurious undertaking. Many people’s perception about professional gambling as a career started changing as a result of the honest principles that Canfield advocated for. The honesty he stressed on all participants resulted in his casinos being the most popular in the whole nation before they were closed.
Richard Canfield was not just a renowned casino proprietor and gambler. He also had interests in horse racing and betting. This made him purchase Club House way back in 1994 together with a race track. This desire stemmed from his firm belief that both the house and the horse race track could be turned into profitable ventures. The club house and race track were located in Saratoga and had been left neglected for many years before he acquired them and brought them under his fold.
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