The "sawdust game," was a confidence scam that only swindled those who deserved to be swindled.
The term “bunco” has come to mean to any type of swindle, but in the 19th century it usually referred to a confidence game involving crooked gambling.
The Audacity of a Professional Thief.

Fresh Young Fellow Gets Six Inches of Cold Steel at a Sporting Resort, Seattle, Wash.
A gay young fellow walked in a well known sporting resort, Seattle, Wash., recently, and when asked to buy drinks he said he didn’t have to. He had an arrangement with the proprietress of the place, and before he knew what was going on he was out in the street with a stab wound between the shoulder blades.
Reprinted from The National Police Gazette, February 18, 1899


