When Harrah's Entertainment acquired the World Series of Poker from Binion's Horseshoe in 2004, it also took over the business of managing the Poker Hall of Fame, first created by Benny Binion in 1979. The Poker Hall of Fame remains an exclusive club, with only 37 members having been enshrined to date.
Scanning the list of those elected, nearly all readily satisfy the four criteria originally set forth for becoming a Hall of Famer: (1) the 'player must have played high stakes'; (2) the 'player must have played against acknowledged top competition'; (3) the 'player must have played well consistently and gained the respect of his peers'; and (4) the 'player must have stood the test of time.'
Some members are perhaps better known not as players but for other contributions to poker, although even those tend to have been successful players, too. Sid Wyman (a charter member in 1979) was best known for his ownership of several casinos, but was also a highly regarded high-stakes player. Henry Orenstein (elected in 2008) owns the patent for the hole card camera, that device that has proven so important for the exploding popularity of poker over recent years, and while his induction is primarily connected to that achievement, he, too, is a respected poker player whose many successes at the tables include winning a WSOP bracelet in seven card stud in 1996.
Wild Bill Hickok was a sheriff and marshal in the American West who dated Calamity Jane and was friends with Buffalo Bill Cody. Learn more at Biography.com. Wild Bill’s Last Deal Artist Andy Thomas captured Wild Bill Hickok unknowingly playing his last poker hand as his killer creeps up behind him. Wild Bill’s Last Deal hammered down at the C.M. Russell Museum’s benefit auction last year for $80,000. – Courtesy The Russell –.
Only a couple of names on the list of 37 appear to provide serious challenges to the criteria that the honored individual be a consistent winner at high-stakes poker. Edmund Hoyle, also elected with the initial class of '79, died in 1769 and thus never played poker as such, since the game (as we know it) was invented subsequent to his death. Hoyle is nevertheless recognized by the Poker Hall of Fame for his having authored several early, influential rulebooks for card games.
There is one Hall of Famer, however, whose poker playing ability was not only suspect, but openly questioned by his peers and later historians. Yet his is likely the most immediately recognizable name of all 37, especially to the non-poker playing public. And it is safe to say he was involved in what was probably the single most famous, most written about hand of poker ever — at least at the time of his induction in 1979.
Wild Bill Hickok, Lawman
James Butler Hickok was born in 1837 in Illinois. At the age of 19, Hickok left home and spent some time driving a stagecoach on the Sante Fe Trail, then became a scout for the Union during the Civil War. Afterward, he also served with ill-fated General George Custer in the Indian Wars before becoming a sheriff (in Hays, Kansas) and later a marshal (in Abilene, Kansas).
As a lawman, Hickok's reputation as violent and quick-tempered was well established, thanks largely to his involvement in some highly publicized duels that were somewhat typical of the Old West. An article country. In the article, George Ward Nichols interviewed Hickok and recounted his successes in several gunfights, likely embellishing his credentials considerably in an effort to create a more interesting, 'mythic' figure with which to rouse readers' imaginations.
One such duel, in which Hickok killed a former Confederate soldier named Davis Tutt, apparently resulted from a dispute over a gambling debt. This was in Missouri in 1865, some time before Hickok began his career as a lawman in Kansas. Although many of the details of the event are unclear, the debt undoubtedly arose from a poker game. Thus when the story of Hickok's killing Tutt and later being acquitted as acting in self-defense was retold in Harper's, Hickok's predilection for poker became part of the article's characterization of the much-feared lawman with a quick trigger.
Wild Bill Hickok, Poker Player
Following another gunfight in 1871 in which Hickok accidentally killed a deputy, he lost his position as marshal. It was around that time that Hickok met Agnes Thatcher Lake, the woman with whom he would eventually fall in love and marry in March 1876. In need of money — a situation possibly exacerbated by Hickok's card-playing — a tip from a friend would lead Hickok to leave his new bride behind in Missouri to travel to the Black Hills of South Dakota either to mine for gold or to get involved with law enforcement, then bring Agnes out afterward.
It should be noted as an aside that somewhere along the way a woman named Martha Jane Cannary, a.k.a. 'Calamity Jane,' met Hickok and would later make claims about their relationship that many historians have since proven to have been mostly invented. Such stories about a possible romance between Hickok and Calamity Jane have nevertheless become part of American lore thanks to various cinematic adaptations of Hickok's life story as well as the fact that Cannary managed to have herself buried next to Hickok at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Deadwood.
Hickok arrived in Deadwood, South Dakota in the summer of 1876, and while he never did find gold or a job, he did find an ongoing poker game in Deadwood's Saloon No. 10. In Ghosts at the Table, Des Wilson attempts to uncover various details of Hickok's story, including trying to estimate his abilities as a poker player. 'The balance of opinion suggests that, if not exactly a 'fish,' he was not an outstanding player,' writes Wilson, adding that, in fact, some historians have surmised Hickok may have even been guilty of cheating at cards now and again.
Regarding the latter charge, Wilson shares the famous, likely apocryphal story about the feisty Hickok. A big pot had developed, and at the showdown his opponent, named McDonald, called out his hand as 'jacks full.' 'I've got aces full of sixes,' Hickok responded. However, when he turned over his hand there was only one six to go with his three aces. When McDonald pointed out the discrepancy, Hickok drew his pistol.
'Here is the other six,' Hickok explained. McDonald relinquished the pot.
Hickok was 39 years old when he went to South Dakota, suffering from poor eyesight as a result of glaucoma. Indeed, some have noted that his failing vision reduced his prospects for ever finding another job as a lawman, and that perhaps he was relying on poker to support himself — whether by his playing ability, or, as some have speculated, his ability to intimidate opponents with the threat of violence.
In any event, it was in Deadwood's Saloon No. 10 that Hickok would play his last hand of poker, perhaps the most famous in American popular culture.
Dead Man's Hand: Aces and Eights
Hickok biographer Thadd Turner tells how on August 1, 1876, Hickok had been involved in a game of draw poker with a player who had introduced himself as Bill Sutherland. A hand developed wherein Hickok had made a substantial bet on the end, and Sutherland called with all he had left — a pouch of gold dust. Hickok won the hand, but when the dust was weighed it was discovered Sutherland was $16-$18 short. Sutherland left the saloon and returned with enough gold dust to make up the difference. Hickok asked if the young man was now tapped out, and when he said he was Hickok offered to give him a dollar, which the prideful Sutherland refused.
The next day, August 2, Hickok was back again at Saloon No. 10 playing draw poker with three others. Normally Hickok was said to have made it a habit of taking a seat with his back to the wall, but in this instance another player, Charlie Rich, was unwilling to move when Hickok arrived. So Hickok was not facing the saloon entrance when Sutherland, whose actual name (it was later discovered) was Jack McCall, entered the saloon.
It was about three in the afternoon, and Rich had just dealt a new hand. Another player, Captain William Massey, and Hickok engaged in the betting, and were about to show their cards. Massey's hand is unknown, but upon seeing it Hickok threw his hand down in disgust, reportedly uttering 'The old duffer, he broke me on that hand!' as he did. At that moment, McCall stepped behind Hickok, drew a pistol out from under his jacket, and shot Hickok in the back of the head, killing him instantly.
In the ensuing melee, McCall escaped but was soon captured and hastily tried for the killing, though was found innocent thanks in part to his story that Hickok had formerly killed his brother. (It was later determined that McCall had no brother.) It is unclear what exactly McCall's motive might have been, other than retaliation for having been embarrassed by Hickok's generous gesture the day before. McCall was eventually retried, however, and executed by hanging in March 1877.
In Ghosts at the Table, Wilson shares some interesting investigative work aiming to determine precisely what cards Hickok had held during his last poker hand. Most accounts suggest Hickok held , with the fifth card unknown. One story involves a delivery man named Richard Stephens, who happened to be at Saloon No. 10 at the time of the shooting, scooping up the famous gunfighter's cards and his descendants later donating them to a museum. That hand was , although there appears to have been no attempt to authenticate the cards as Hickok's. Wilson concludes that while much doubt remains regarding 'the fifth card,' all accounts generally agree upon the fact that Hickok held two pair, aces and eights, a hand which has therefore since been dubbed the 'Dead Man's Hand.'
Hickok may not have played for the highest stakes, against the best competition, or even well enough to be acknowledged a great player by his peers. But the story of his final hand has certainly 'stood the test of time,' thereby earning him a permanent place in poker history, as well as the Poker Hall of Fame.
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General Poker
The people on the platform recognized Wild Bill Hickok only by his long mustache, the collar of his long coat pulled up to his cheeks against the sharp wind blowing in over the falls. They didn’t dare approach. He looked angry. The train was late and his satchel kept blowing over. He wanted out of Niagara Falls as quick as possible. Acting was for fools, he thought.
He felt through his leather jacket and fingered the heavy piece of metal strapped to his side. The other actors made him take the bullets out of his pistol before he walked out in front of the audience. The costumes weren’t even right. The guy playing the Indian was a gypsy.
The Colt didn’t feel right without the bullets, but he did it and they paid him. He took the gun out in the daylight, snapped open the barrel and spun the chamber. He felt like squeezing the trigger a few times just to make some noise.
He couldn’t get any of the lines right. He could hear people snickering in the dark when he tried to say them. It was worse than facing a man holding a gun. That was easy. You just got to be faster and better-eyed. Talking, explaining, pretending; he didn’t even know why he agreed to do it, but never again.
Wild Bill Hitchcock Movie
He took a deck of cards out of his pocket and cut it with one hand, quickly, three times. He hoped he could encourage a few gentlemen to play stud on the train, all the way to Kansas. He hoped no one recognized him as the famous card playing lawman, but his picture was in every newspaper from here to New York City. He felt like fleecing someone.
His blonde-red mustache hung down to his chin like a Chinese laundryman and moved when he walked. For 39 men, this solemn face was the last they seen while breathing on this terrestrial planet. It only cost the passengers of the a few gold coins to sit with this folk hero, even if nobody knew it yet.
Hall of Fame
James Butler Hickok. Lawless lawman and card player. Killer of men. A sharpshooter who could pick a flea off the back of a buffalo from 500 yards away on a moving train. Reptilian cool, strong as an ox. Injun hater and Union spy.
And Poker Hall of Famer.
Hickok was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame as part of the first class in 1979. That class, selected by Benny Binion, also contained Johnny Moss, Nick “the Greek” Dandolos, Red Winn, Felton McCorqudale, Syd Wyman, and Edmund “according to” Hoyle.
Before the poker explosion, the Poker Hall of Fame was simply a wall a pictures near the poker room at Binion’s Horseshoe. It was another way to get people in. Benny Binion knew Hickok as a card-playing folk hero who met his maker when a man shot him in the back of the head while playing poker. Hickok was wild west, and that fit nicely with the theme.
His last hand, aces and eights, is The Dead Man’s Hand. Somehow, it’s still spooky to play it.
Hickok became famous long before his death in Deadwood in 1876. He was only 39 when he died, but Hickok had packed the lifetimes of a dozen men in those years as a lawman, civil war scout and spy, and card player.
Poker made Hickok famous because it was during an ongoing poker game in Springfield, Missouri, in 1865. It was at a poker game when Hickok got into an argument with David Tutt, a man who hated Hickok because he thought he killed his brother during the Civil War. He also lost to Hickok the night before.
Tutt accused Hickok of owing him money. Hickok agreed he did, but said the amount was $25, not $35 as Tutt said. Hickok paid him $25, but Tutt grabbed his watch and left the hotel. The next day, Tutt wore Hickok’s pocket watch, flaunting it in front of what seemed to be the whole town of Springfield.
As Hickok put it later: “I won’t fight now unless I’m put upon.”
That is from a lengthy feature article printed in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, Feb, 1867. It continues with a quote from a guy named Captain Honesty. The dialect is maintained.
“They say Bill’s wild. Now he isn’t any sich thing. I’ve know him goin on ter ten year, and he’s as civil a disposed person as you’ll find he-e-arabouts. But he won’t be put upon.”
The article was an immense profile called Wild Bill, complete with gorgeous illustrations of the wild man with the long mustache. Written by George Nichols, it instantly made Hickok one of the main faces of the wild and raw West, an image of a man people living in the east would conjure when thinking about the wild frontier.
According to Nichols, here was a man who killed at least 100 men, who escaped a barrage of bullets and swam across a river after his real identity was revealed to a Confederate Sargent, who knew the trails of the southwest better than any bone-wearing Indian, who was strong and hansom and never thought twice about the men he killed.
And he killed Tutt by standing directly in front of him during a dramatic duel that took place in Springfield’s town square. The two squared off and slowly leveled their pistols at one another. Tutt fired first and missed. Hickok fired and immediately turned toward the crowd.
Again, Captain Honesty tells Nichols what happened:
“Both Bill and Tutt fired, but one discharged followed the other so quick that it’s hard to say which went off first. Tutt was a famous shot, but he missed this time; the ball from the pistol went over Bill’s head. The instant Bill fired, without waitin ter see ef he had Tutt, he wheeled on his heels and pointed his pistol at Tutt’s friend, who had already drawn their weapons.
Aren’t yer satisfied, gentlemen? cried Bill, as cool as an alligator. ‘Put up yer shootin-irons or they’ll be more dead men here. And they put ‘em up, and said it war a far fight.”
This is seriously dramatic stuff even now and to the people living in the east, he was an American either never seen before or long forgotten about. It didn’t matter that several serious newspapers across the plains debunked many of the tales spun by Hickok in the Harper’s article, particularly the number of men Hickok killed, and his exploits during the Civil War.
Nonetheless, he was now famous and tried to capitalize on the Harper’s portrait to become an actor, like his old friend, Bill Cody, who was much better at showman ship than Hickok.
His first play was The Daring Buffalo Chasers of the Plains. He didn’t last long.
He hated it, moved to Kansas, and after losing an election for sheriff, he worked as a U.S. Marshal. By 1868, he became city marshal of Hays, Kansas, and sheriff of Ellis County, in part because no one else wanted the job.
Poker Sheriff
A hardcore card player, Hickok kept his office hours at local saloons and hotel rooms, where other games like liar’s dice were also played. This didn’t quite endear himself to the citizenry. A good poker session netted around $200 at the time and by all accounts, Hickok was a one of the best players around.
Hickok was most definitely a shoot-first-ask-questions-later kind of hothead. He shot and killed two men during his first two months on the job. He was part of multiple shoot-outs. He killed another man in 1870, and apparently that was enough for the city’s voters, who voted him out.
He became sheriff of Abilene, Kansas, where he immediately shot and killed two more men. One was a saloon owner, who painted a bull with an erection on the side of his Bull’s Head Tavern. Residents complained. During that gunfight, Hickok accidentally killed one of his deputies in panic.
He actually returned to the stage in 1873 with Bill Cody in a play called Scouts of the Plains, but he was making enough money as a card player while touring. He left the production sometime in 1876. He traveled around the west, occasionally speaking in theaters, but mostly playing cards.
Dead Man’s Hand
Every summer evening in Deadwood, South Dakota, (except Sundays), Jack McCall walks up to Wild Bill Hickok and shoots him in the back of the head. Then there’s a chase and a gunfight, McCall’s arrest, trial and hanging.
The chair Wild Bill died in is behind glass at the Town Hall.
Legalized gambling came to Deadwood in 1989. It was one of the first gambling markets to open outside of Nevada or New Jersey. Wild Bill Hickok, dead for 113 years, had a lot to do with it legalization.
The day Hickok died, he was playing five-card stud at the Nuttal and Mann’s Saloon. Legend has it that he preferred to always sit with his back against the wall, but no seats were available. He asked another player twice to change seats, but they refused.
McCall walked up behind Hickok and shouted “Damn you, take that,” splattering Wild Bill’s brains over the table and players. McCall’s motivation has been speculated as a gambling debt, a brother’s revenge, or as simple as an insult, but it’s lost to time.
The miners of Deadwood didn’t convict McCall, but he would be retried later in a U.S. court and was convicted of the murder of Wild Bill Hickok and sentenced to death by hanging.
Who Shot Wild Bill Hitchcock
In 1879, three years after he died, Hickok’s body was moved to another cemetery. According to the book They Called Him Wild Bill by Joseph Rosa, the body wasn’t embalmed properly and calcium carbonate leeched from the ground into Wild Bill’s body. It weighed more than 400 pounds.
He had turned to stone.
