Winston, New Mexico

Want to pan for gold? A feature of the one-day Winston Spring Festival held in April is panning for gold, along with horseshoe pitching contests, egg tosses and sack races. There're also barbecues, Indian dancers and an evening Western dance.

But the main attaction is Cow Chip Poker, a game of chance using one well-fed cow. Gamblers pay $5 into a pot for a square within a fenced pasture. The cow is turned loose and urged to do its bovine business, and the winner is the gambler who has chosen that square. The pot is split with the non-profit Winston, Chloride, Chiz and Dusty Community Association.

A couple of hundred people live near enough to the Association building to use it for weddings, funerals, election voting and dances.