The Dead Man’s Hand

On Sunday, Father’s Day, we drove up to Deadwood, SD.  Deadwood is another gold mining town from the 1800s.  One of its claims to fame is that it was where Wild Bill Hickok was shot and killed while playing poker in a saloon.  He usually played poker with his back to a wall, but on the day of his death the only available seat was one where his back was to the door.  A hater of Hickok walked in and shot him in the back of the head.  At the time he was shot, Hickok’s poker hand included two aces and two eights, all black.  That group of cards has since come to be known as “The Dead Man’s Hand”.  Wild Bill Hickok was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1979.

Deadwood is yet another old gold mining town that now has staked its claim to casino gambling just like we saw in Cripple Creek, Blackhawk, and Central City in Colorado.  Gary had to play a poker tournament in the town with such poker infamy.  When he lost out of the tournament, he didn’t have aces and eights.  He actually had a better hand as he had a flush, but unfortunately someone tabled a bigger flush and he had been quickly shot out of the tournament -- not much of a showing in his first tournament since declaring himself a poker pro.