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Wild Bill
Hickok
James Butler
Hickok was known for two things:
gunslinging and poker. Unfortunately
for the man better known as “Wild
Bill,” his two passions converged
on August 2, 1876, when he was shot
and killed during a poker game.
Hickok is arguably the most famous
poker player of all-time, although
not necessarily for his facility
with cards. He first gained acclaim
as a constable by, according to
Harper’s Monthly at the time,
single-handedly killing all nine
members of the McCanles gang in
1861.
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Sounds like a violent
precursor to nine-handed Texas Holdem. Shooting
down your opponents carries a different
meaning these days. That report was almost
certainly inflated to boost sales, but after
the Civil War, Hickok was able to parlay
that fame into a job as marshal of Abilene,
Kansas. Then Hickok began appearing in Buffalo
Bill’s Wild West show in 1872, where
he met and befriended Calamity Jane.
The two would later
ride on Charlie Utter's wagon train from
Colorado to Deadwood in what is now South
Dakota. That’s where Hickok ultimately
met his demise. Hickok was playing poker
at Saloon No. 10, uncharacteristically with
his back to the door instead of his usual
corner seat. For reasons that were never
determined, “Crooked Nose” Jack
McCall entered the saloon and shot Hickok
in the back of the head with a .45 revolver.
Legend has it that
at the time of his death, Hickok was holding
a pair of aces and a pair of eights (both
in clubs and spades). The fifth card has
never been verified. Some claim it was the
two of spades; regardless, black aces and
eights are now known as the “Dead
Man’s Hand.” Hickok was only
39 when he was killed. He was named a charter
member of the Poker Hall of Fame in 1979.
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