The story of a cursed card table linked to 17 deaths and ruined lives (6 photos)

Stories of cursed objects frighten and fascinate with their inexplicability. According to them, death is brought by paintings, mirrors, and even furniture. One such object, an antique table, is kept at The Delta Saloon in Virginia City, Nevada. It is believed to have killed 17 people and brought grief to many who sat at it.





The cursed table is fenced and covered with museum glass. These precautions are not taken out of the owners' fear that the antique might be damaged. It is believed that even touching its tabletop awakens a curse capable of killing a person.

One mystery after another

The exact date of this table's manufacture is unknown, but experts date it to around 1850–1855. This piece of furniture originally stood at the Faro Casino, where gamblers gathered. From the very beginning, the table was considered unlucky. Almost everyone who risked betting on it lost. Many casino patrons spent their last money on it and ended up penniless.



Not surprisingly, the table's unpleasant characteristic was soon noticed and people began to avoid it. Therefore, the owners of the gambling establishment were forced to sell it. In 1860, a man calling himself "Black Jack" bought it. He brought the table to his home and began playing cards with his friends. The plan was cunning, as the new owner believed the unlucky table would make his guests lose and make him rich.

But it turned out that the cursed table didn't recognize its owners. About a year later, "Black Jack" lost everything to one of the guests at it. The next morning, the man was found dead at the table—he had committed suicide. Ironically, the owner had lost the table in a poker game, including the game. Soon, the winner, David Libs, came to claim it and moved the furniture to his mansion.

Soon, unexplained things began to happen to Libs and his family. Arguments began to break out in the house, and the patriarch's financial situation began to deteriorate. It all ended when, one day in 1863, the entire Liebs family of five was found dead. They were sitting on chairs around the infernal table, apparently having died while eating dinner. Experts determined that cyanide had killed them all, but how the poison got into their food remained a mystery.





Antique playing cards and dice lie under glass on the table.

The table's next owner acquired it at a furniture sale. He, like "Black Jack," used it as a poker table. Unsurprisingly, he soon went bankrupt and then died. Sadly, history has not recorded the cause of his death. The table passed to another owner in 1871, the owner of The Delta Saloon, where it remains to this day. The innkeeper placed it in a corner of the main room and allowed people to play cards and dice on it.

The Cursed Table and Its Victims

The first misfortune was not long in coming. A patron named Charlie Stockton lost $70,000 in a single evening, after which he pulled out a revolver and shot himself in the heart. The bullet did not kill the poor man, and he was taken to the hospital. But doctors were unable to help the wounded man, and after suffering for several days, Stockton finally died. For some reason, no one paid any attention to this, and over the next few years, the table took the lives of several more people.



The Delta Saloon sign

When the owner finally noticed the ominous pattern, he took the cursed table to the basement. He covered it with burlap and strictly forbade his household and the saloon staff from approaching it. The table remained in the basement for about 70 years. It was only unearthed in 1989. Descendants of the original owner sold "The Delta Saloon" to a certain George Grice, forgetting to warn him of the danger lurking in the basement.

One less than wonderful day, Grice found a beautiful antique table and returned it to the saloon. For a year, misfortune had befallen the establishment's patrons, but then disaster struck again. One of the patrons, Scott Johnson, challenged George Grice to a game of cards for a gold ring.



Commemorative coin dedicated to a table from The Delta Saloon

The players left and sat at the table all night, placing bets. In the morning, it was discovered that Grice had lost not only the saloon, but also his house and even his stable of horses. Seeing no point in his future life, the former businessman and newly minted drifter went out onto the porch and shot himself. After this incident, the furniture was no longer used and was kept away from customers.

Don't tempt fate

Over the course of a century and a half, the table killed 17 people. Most of them committed suicide out of despair; only the deaths of the Liebses remained a mystery. The cursed table is a magnet for paranormal enthusiasts and journalists. Several investigations have revealed that its mystical power doesn't kill everyone. It's clear that if someone lost at the table, someone also walked away with a win. So, the history of this object isn't so straightforward.



This is what the cursed table looks like now

The table posed the greatest danger to its owner. Everyone who ever sat down to play at it claimed to experience an unpleasant sensation. They felt as if an invisible player was controlling the table, helping some and hindering others. Today, the cursed table is an important object for the owners of The Delta Saloon. People come from all over the United States to see it. Foreigners, eager for mysticism, also drop in.

Perhaps one day the table's owners will think to add the famous Busby chair. Then they'll have the world's most lethal furniture set at their disposal.