Showdown at the Sure Enuf Hotel | Minisode

Showdown at the Sure Enuf Hotel | Minisode

From Southern Gothic by Southern Gothic Media

July 15, 2026 · 16 min

About this episode

This minisode recounts a bloody card game at the Sure Enuf Hotel, a notorious establishment in old New Orleans.

In our last episode, we explored Gallatin Street—the notorious waterfront district where Bridget Fury and some of nineteenth-century New Orleans' most dangerous criminals made their names. But Gallatin wasn't the city's first den of vice. Decades before the steamboat transformed the riverfront, there was another place where gamblers, thieves, prostitutes, and rivermen gathered on the ragged edge of the Crescent City. They simply called it the Swamp. Hidden in the city's old backswamp stood rough saloons and gambling houses built from cypress planks and dismantled flatboats, where fortunes disappeared as quickly as they were earned. Among the district's most notorious establishments was the Sure Enuf Hotel, where an afternoon card game between a towering Kentucky flatboatman named Bill Sedley and two gambling brothers erupted into one of the bloodiest stories ever told about old New Orleans—a tale that perfectly captures the brutal world that gave rise to Gallatin Street itself. This episode is made possible through the support of our sponsors: If you’re starting a business, or running one that deserves better tools, Square helps you sell, manage, and grow without slowing down…

Topics covered

Keywords

Sponsors

Square, Quince

Mentioned in this episode

Places: New Orleans, Gallatin Street, Swamp

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