Legends of Poker: Wild Bill Hickok

Poker Web Watch / Matthew Pitt / 17 June 2009 /

James Butler Hickok was born on May 27, 1837 and was a well-known figure in the American Old West. Better known as Wild Bill Hickok, he had a reputation for being a notorious gunfighter and gambler, both of which would lead to his demise.

Initially a stagecoach driver, Hickok then became a lawman in the frontier territories of Kansas and Nebraska but gained much publicity after the American Civil War where he was regarded as top scout, marksman and professional gambler.

His law-enforcement and gambling often overlapped and his favourite Colt 1951 .36 calibre Navy Model silver-plated pistols with Ivory handles were often drawn and fired as a result of collecting or paying gambling debts. However, his pistols were no use on August 2 1876 when he was shot dead in cold blood.

When he was playing poker, and in particular five-card draw, Hickok preferred to sit in an empty corner to protect himself from being attacked. But on this particular day at Nuttal & Mann's Saloon No.10 in Deadwood, Black Hills, Dakota Territory there were no empty corners available so Hickok sat facing one door whilst his back was towards another.

His paranoia was prescient as he was shot in the back of the head at close range by Jack McCall who was angered at Hickok's offer to give him enough money for breakfast after winning all his money from him in a previous poker game. At the time of his death, Hickok's poker hand contained both black aces and both black eights, leading to people calling Aces and eights the "Dead Man's Hand." The fifth card he held is in dispute with some saying he had discarded it for the draw and others adamant it was the nine of diamonds.

In 1979 Wild Bill Hickok, one of the most famous poker players prior to the 20th century, was one of seven players inducted into the very first Poker Hall of Fame where he has been immortalised by the game he loved.

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