Four inmates wearing black-and white-striped shirts, sit motionless at a bright red card table in the middle of the arena. "BRING ON THE DEALER!" shouts the announcer. From a nearby chute a huge wild bull charges out, spots the men, lowers his long horns, and clears three of the inmates-chairs flying, table crushed-and then pivots sharply for his second pass The remaining inmate, now $100 richer by virtue of being the last to move, dashes for the fence, one step ahead of the bull’s sharp horns.

Welcome to "convict poker" as played nowhere else in the world but the sprawling Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola every Sunday in October. Now in it’s 34th season, the "Wildest Show in the South" draws 5,000 outside paying customers a week at $8 each. Cars begin lining up at the prisons main gate at daybreak. The money stays right at the prison, going into the Inmate Welfare Fund (IWF), which covers items not in the state corrections budget. IWF buys books and word processors for the prison law library, television sets for the 64-man dormitories, and pays the cost of transportation and wages for security officers to escort prisoners to family funerals. IWF funds also boost the prison recreation budget.

Lay of the Land

Everything about Angola is huge and intimidating. An inmate trustee points off in the distance, "That’s the levee of the Mississippi River, makes up three sides of the prison, real swift current here bunch of ‘gators." Pointing in the fourth direction he announces, "and that’s swamp land, more ‘gators. and the world’s biggest rattlesnakes." The 18,000 acres of rich farmland within those borders are home to 5,000 state prisoners, 1,800 prison staff, and a legendary warden, Burl Cain. Warden Cain believes in rehabilitation even though 80 percent of the prisoners have little hope of eventual release. He provides literacy classes for inmates who will die here, and he allows death row prisoners to have family visits. But he also runs a tight prison. In the 1970’s prison murders often exceed 40 a year, more than natural deaths. There have been only two inmate murders since Cain arrived at Angola in 1994. The annual rodeo was a standard event when he arrived, but he has encouraged it, improving the arenas where prisoners may sell their crafts to the visitors.

Gladiator Sports

Some call the rodeo "brutal" and "gladiatorial," with inexperienced inmates risking broken bones and cracked skulls for a few seconds of applause, a hundred bucks, or the treasured belt buckle for the "All-Around Cowboy" title. There is good reason for the three ambulances parked behind the stands. Two of them will see use today. Why do they do it? "Bragging rights," says Wilbert Rideau, co-founder and award-winning editor of the prison newsmagazine, the Angolite. Rideau has an exceptional perspective: He’s been at Angola longer than the rodeo, 36 years. One of his riders, Kerry Myers, adds, "For most of the participants, this will be the highest accomplishments in their lives, the chance to perform before 5,000 people."

The participants themselves- all volunteers who readily sign liability waivers- put it only a little differently. Three-time champion Johnny Brooks- sentenced to the electric chair for murdering a woman during a robbery in 1975- works on the prison ranch and is one of the few inmates with regular horseback experience. He says simply, "It’s fun. And then there’s the money."

And three-time champion Clifford "Smurf" Bowman- 26 years at Angola- adds, "It’s an opportunity to do something positive, raise money for the inmate fund at a place where it is very hard to do anything positive."

Six Chances With Hooves and Horns

Veteran rodeo-goers will see some unique rodeo events, although professional rodeo stock, handlers, and clowns are brought in. The first event, "Bust Out," sends six bucking Brahma bulls in to the ring simultaneously, each with a temporary rider. It’s hard enough to stay on the bull for the usual eight seconds, but with five others flying in your direction, the chance descends from slim to none rather quickly.

The regular one-at-a-time bull riding plus the bareback bronco busting are close to normal rodeo events. Both must be conquered to qualify an inmate for the championship title.

But then there are events such as "Wild Horse Racing" in which two inmates must capture a horse, get a third inmate aboard, and ride the horse to the finish line. The wild cow-milking contest challenges two inmates to try to hold a cow long enough for a third person to gather a small amount of milk as the cow flings herself about the arena.

The bulldogging event does not come with a rider trying to rope, throw, and tie a calf. Angola style bulldogging sends a 500-pound steer hurtling out a gate where two inmates wait to grab it head-on and try to drag it to the ground before they are thoroughly stomped.

Then there’s the seemingly harmless "Buddy Pick-up." One teammate stands on a 55-gallon barrel waiting for his bareback buddy to ride the length of the arena, pick him up, and race to the finish line. Sounds simple, but you must remember these are often urban cowboys who have never been on a horse before. In years past, one rider died of a heart attack while racing to get his buddy; another galloped headlong into a steel fence post at the side of the arena and required a steel plate to put his head back together.

At last, the event the outsiders have been waiting for "Guts and Glory." The meanest bull in the herd has a poker chip tied between its long, sharp horns. Thirty inmates- volunteers all- enter the ring with the bull. If one of them can snatch the chip from between the horns within the three-minute time limit, he will have $100 credited to his commissary account. The most successful tactic here is to take a charge of the bull’s head full in the chest, grab the chip, and try to escapes the bull’s follow-up efforts.

On this day one man misses and pays the price, being caught by the bull and tossed high into the air and then stomped when he finally comes down. A clown finally distracts the bull long enough to drag their hapless colleague to the side. He is scooted under the fence and onto a backboard stretcher for a run to the hospital. Another inmate makes the same trip when he is kicked square in the head and rendered unconscious when tossed from his bull. Both men recover quickly and return to the rodeo wars undaunted.

Going Home With The Goods

When the three-minute whistle blows- the poker chip still dancing between the bull’s horns- the crowd begins to exit. They take the fine leather goods, paintings, and wood crafts they have purchased from talented inmates who have access to the prison hobby shop. For $30 I have a new leather wallet and an exquisite leather cowboy belt.

"See you next Sunday," bellows the announcer. Clifford "Smurf" Bowman will edge Johnny Brooks on the final day to claim his third championship belt buckle. Then Bowman, Brooks, Leotis Webster, and their colleagues will turn in their treasured black-and-white rodeo participant shirts, nurse their bruises and begin planning their strategy for next year.