Wild Bill Hickok, Man Made Legend

James Butler Hickok, a legendary poker player better known as Wild Bill Hickok, was a man who lived in the 18th century and gained the reputation of an exceptional gunfighter as well as poker pro. Serving as a lawman in the frontier territories of Kansas and Nebraska, Hickok fought in the Union Army during America's Civil War. Between his law enforcement activities and poker playing, Hickok took part in numerous deadly shootouts, and was ultimately shot to death during a poker game in a local saloon in Dakota Territory.

On August 2, 1876, Hickok arrived at Nuttal & Mann's Saloon #10 in Deadwood, Dakota Territory. Since there were no empty seats in any corner of the facility, he sat with his back to the door. Ironically, it was against his better judgment since he always preferred sitting with his face to the entrance so to be able to protect himself in time of need. His so-called paranoia ultimately turned out as justified. He was shot in his head with a lethal weapon by a man named Jack McCall.

The motive behind Hickok's killing is still pretty much in dispute. Some believe that McCall was a hired killer. Others maintain that the crime was the result of an argument between the two men. It is likely that McCall became infuriated after Hickok suggested leaving him enough money for breakfast after McCall had lost his entire stack on a poker game staged between the two of them on a previous occasion. Legend has it that Hickok was holding a pair of aces and a pair of eights when he was shot. The value of the fifth card remains unknown until this very day.

There are numerous claims as to the identity of the poker player's fifth card. There are also grounds to believe that he had discarded one card. The five-card draw game was interrupted by the shooting, and he never received the fifth card he was due. Interestingly enough, the earliest available reference to a 'dead man's hand' dates back to 1886, where it was mentioned as 'three jacks and a pair of tens.' Unfortunately, we will never be able to uncover this mystery.

Hickok's ominous hand has been widely referenced in today's popular culture:

* The prominent award-winning TV series 'The X-Files' ran on the American television for almost ten years. Throughout the series, the two co-protagonists, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, are repeatedly tasked with investigating numerous unsolved cases involving paranormal events. In the series' Season 3, episode 4, titled 'Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose,' the psychic, who is able to see other people's deaths including his own, draws Aces full of eights. This hand is arguably referred to as the dead man's hand.

* An ad designed to promote the services provided by industry-leading online poker room Party Poker shows a poker player engaged in a gaming battle against an opponent holding a dead man's hand with a 5d as the fifth card. The camera gradually pans out to show that the ad's setting is a mortuary and the opponent is actually a corpse.

* Popular U.S. soap opera General Hospital featured a storyline involving the dead man's hand. Character Sam McCall portrayed by Kelly Monaco came to Port Charles in 2003 looking for the Dead Man's hand that belonged to her grandfather, Sam McCall. McCall is said to be the man who shot Wild Bill Hickok. In 2006, however, it was revealed that the girl was part of the McCall family only by adoption.

* 2006 has seen the production of 'Casino Royale,' the 21st sequel in the popular James Bond series. This time the suave secret agent 007 is portrayed by the accomplished British actor Daniel Craig. The 2006 action movie is the third screen adaptation of the 'Casino Royale' novel written by Ian Flaming. During one of the scenes where the characters are playing poker, one of the players in the final round of the game is revealed to have held a full house, eights full of aces.

* In 1962, acclaimed American singer, songwriter and musician Bob Dylan wrote a song called 'Rambling Gambling Willie.' The song is evidently talking about the tragic death of Wild Bill Hickok. One of the verses goes as follows: 'It was late one evenin' during a poker game. A man lost all his money; he said Willie was to blame. He shot poor Willie through the head, which was a tragic fate. When Willie's cards fell on the floor, they were aces backed with eights.'

* The dead man's hand is also mentioned by Calamity Jane in the once highly popular book Lucky Luke. Set in the American Old West, the book stars Lucky Luke, the cowboy who bragged that he could shoot faster than his own shadow. Interestingly enough, in reality, Calamity Jane, a professional woman scout who lived in the nineteenth century, has been said to be a close friend of Wild Bill Hickok. Unfortunately, today we are unable to establish whether it was true or not...