Dead Man's Hand – How Wild Bill Cursed Aces and Eights

Gamblers are, by their nature, rather superstitious creatures. Each game has its own internal set of do-s and don't-s, but nothing can compare to the diverse beliefs you will find in poker. When the stakes get high, people would try all kinds of things to sway the luck of the draw – uncrossing your legs and wearing red is quite simple, but dirty clothes and spitting on your cards might take things a little too far. Even the cards can have a meaning of their own – drawing the four of clubs will bring you bad luck unless you discard it, while two pairs of aces and eights means you'll probably die… Wait, what?! Well, this might be a slight exaggeration, but the proverbial aces and eights do signify bad luck in poker, and a rather bloody tale seems to be the root of this superstition. Let's find out more!
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The Tale of Wild Bill

Dead Man’s Hand.

With such an ominous name, you probably know that we are not gunning for a happy end here. Especially if you are a fan of cult TV series ‘Deadwood’ (obligatory ‘spoilers ahead!’ warning).

Wild Bill Hickok The guy who gave aces and eights their bad reputation is known as ‘Wild Bill’ in American folklore – full name James Butler Hickok if you’re interested. The famous gunman operated in the middle of the 19th century when the American frontier was still quite Wild. Throughout his life, he was known as an army wagonmaster, proficient scout, controversial lawman, and bear-fighting teamster – yes, really!

After he left his birth-town Illinois aged 18, Hickok was nicknamed ‘Duck Bill’ because of his long nose and protruding lips; non-surprisingly, he decided to cultivate a moustache and go for a wilder image He was one of the great figures of his age, the stories about his gunfights circulating along the frontier as he kept an iron grip over the lawless towns where he was elected marshal. He took part in several gun-fights, which quickly captivated the public and made him rather (in)famous.

Wild Bill even claimed to have killed a bear while he was driving a freight team in New Mexico. Usually, such stories should be taken with a grain of salt, but considering that he appeared at his destination heavily mauled with a crushed chest, shoulder and arm, there was certain credence to his claims that he managed to slash the throat of the beast.

“I never, in all my life, took any mean advantage of an enemy.” – Wild Bill Hickok

The papers were following his exploits religiously – which means that facts were mercilessly twisted into sensations. According to the journalists, Wild Bill had managed to gun down over 100 people, though his most renown biographer Joseph Rosa states that he murdered no more than six or seven.

The truth will remain shrouded in mystery since Wild Bill never got to publish his tale.

Wild Bill and the Dead Man’s Hand

Calamity Jane

In 1876, 39-year old Hickok was already entering the twilight of his career. He had been making good money from gambling and showmanship, but his declining health meant that he wasn’t the deadly shot he used to be. He had recently married a 50-year old circus proprietor named Agnes Lake, but left her in Cheyenne and joined a wagon train headed for the gold fields of South Dakota. According to later reports, it was there that he met Martha Jane Canary, better known in popular culture as Calamity Jane – but a great deal of controversy surrounds these stories since they were only told by the famous frontier woman at a later date when she was looking to make a quick buck with her memoirs.

Quote: “Agnes Darling, if such should be we never meet again while firing my last shot, I will gently breathe the name of my wife – Agnes – and with wishes even for my enemies I will make the plunge and try to swim to the other shore.” Wild Bill Hickok

During the summer of 1876, the wagon train reached the frontier town of Deadwood, and as an experienced and highly successful poker player, Wild Bill quickly became a frequent visitor of the local Nuttal & Man’s Saloon. He did pretty well for himself, and on August 1 managed to win so much money from buffalo hunter Jack McCall, that he gave some of them back so that the man could buy breakfast. This may seem like a generous act, but the condescending way it was done probably played a crucial part in what was about to transpire on the following day…

Wild Bill Shooting On August 2, Wild Bill walked in the saloon and was rather displeased that there were few seats available on the poker table, and he could not sit with his back against the wall as he would normally do. This meant that he was left exposed when Jack McCall returned to the bar some time later, walked behind the famous lawman, took out his gun and shot him in the head. The last words that Wild Bill heard were reportedly ‘Damn you! Take that!’

According to legend, Wild Bill toppled from his seat without letting go of his cards. He was playing five-card stud, so four of his cards were unveiled – it was reported by a man called Neil Christy who retrieved the cards, that they were the aces and eights of black. The fifth card has remained a mystery, with some claiming it to be the queen of hearts, while others think it would be the jack of diamonds. Perhaps Wild Bill was drawing a new card when death caught up with him – whether it would have been a winning combination will forever remain shrouded in mystery, but the bad reputation of aces and eights carries on.

Controversy

Wild Bill Was DeadThe tales of characters such as Wild Bill rarely end with their death. His name would continue to pop up in news articles constantly, while the trial of his murderer dragged on for quite a while and astonished the nation. Jack McCall was actually released initially because he claimed before the Deadwood miners’ jury that he had been avenging the death of his brother, Lew McCall. Considering Wild Bill’s reputation, McCall’s story was easy to believe at the time, and he was acquitted by the locals. Believing himself free, he left Deadwood and started bragging publicly about the murder of Hickok – which led to a new arrest, and a re-trial before an official jury. McCall was hanged for wilful murder in 1877.

What truly interests us though is whether the Dead Man’s Hand can truly be linked with Bill Hickok’s death. Even though the legend has attached his name to aces and eights, this association actually started in the late 1920s, more than four decades after the Deadwood incident. Said claims were based entirely on interviews with local residents, but Joseph Rosa, the most prolific Hickok biographer, states that there is no clear evidence suggesting what the make up of Wild Bill’s hand had truly been.

“Now, in regard to the position of Bill’s body, when they unlocked the door for me to get his body, he was lying on his side, with his knees drawn up just as he slid off his stool. We had no chairs in those days — and his fingers were still crimped from holding his poker hand. Charlie Rich, who sat beside him, said he never saw a muscle move. Bill’s hand read ‘aces and eights’ — two pair, and since that day aces and eights have been known as ‘the dead man’s hand’ in the Western country.” Ellis T. “Doc” Peirce, Wild Bill Hickok: The Prince of Pistoleers

Origin of the Dead Man's Hand

In fact, the expression Dead Man’s Hand had been around long before the demise of the infamous gunman. In 1886 there were newspaper articles linking the Dead Man’s Hand to a totally different story. The reports claimed that the hand was named after an incident with a judge in Illinois that took place in the 1840s. The judge had been close to going destitute, and bet his last piece of property on a poker hand – not the craziest bet in history, but still rather epic! The judge unveiled a full house of three jacks and a pair of tens; however, his opponent held three queens and the remaining two tens. The judge thought he had won, but upon seeing the queens, he literally dropped dead.

Or so the story goes.

The 1886 news article is the first known mention of the Dead Man’s Hand, while later accounts in the early 1900s would seem the suggest that the moniker was linked with jacks and eights. Only after Hickok’s biography was published in 1926 would the two pairs of black aces and eights become the official cards to fear.

The Dead Man’s Hand in Popular Culture

Dead Man's Hand in Movie

Whatever the origin of the phrase, it has stuck around, forever branded with the tale of Wild Bill’s bloody end. Numerous fictional pieces have played homage to this tale; the Dead Man’s Hand appears as a code in Along Came the Spider from James Patterson and the Batman R.I.P. comic books. It is the title of a book from the Wild Cards series by George R. R. Martin (him of Song of Ice and Fire fame) and featured in songs by Bob Dylan, Bob Seger, the Church, Motorhead, and others. You can see it in some of John Ford’s classic western movies always signifying death and in an episode of The X-files. Computer game fans will find it in Fallout 4, Hearthstone, The Walking Dead: A New Frontier, and others.

Of course, the legacy of the Dead Man’s Hand has carried on mostly through gambling. Aces and eights have a totally different meaning in blackjack, but at some places, you will find a side bet named after the Dead Man’s Hand. In the Texas Hold’em version of the game, a single ace and eight of any colour or suit would still be called Dead Man’s Hand, but it is actually considered a rather good starting hand, and doesn’t carry any associations with bad luck… yet!

Dead Man's Cards Most famously, the Dead Man’s Hand can be seen in a historical exhibit in Saloon 10, one of the smallest casinos in the world which was built upon the bar where Wild Bill was shot. The nine of diamonds is featured as the fifth card there – which is not that surprising, considering that this card is also considered an ill omen, and wears the ominous moniker ‘The Curse of Scotland’. You could play actual poker in Saloon 10, but the exhibitions are usually much more interesting, especially considering how dangerous drawing aces and eights there might prove to be!

Of course, even though the bad reputation of the Dead Man’s Hand carries on to this day, it is actually considered a pretty good combination in modern-day poker – and most importantly, no one has been shot when drawing these cards for more than a hundred years!

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