Bill Hickok Poker
Hickok was a brazen type who liked to drink heavy, play cards and serve justice. However, on a fateful August day in 1867, Hickok’s life would be forever linked with the game of poker. Join Planet 7 Online Casino as we look at “Wild Bill” Hickok – the American folk hero and gambler. James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837 – August 2, 1876), better known as 'Wild Bill' Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West known for his life on the frontier as a soldier, scout, lawman, gambler, showman, and actor, and for his involvement in many famous gunfights. Phil Hellmuth is the Poker Brat, Daniel Negreanu is Kid Poker, Doyle Brunson is Texas Dolly, and Phil Ivey is the Tiger Woods of Poker. James Butler Hickok would have fit into the poker world with ease. During a brawl in a saloon, Hickok would save a barman from certain death, and out of the crowd a woman screamed ‘It’s Wild Bill.’.
Anyone who is a fan of stories of the Wild West is probably familiar with
Wild Bill Hickok. He was a legend of his time, known for his gunfighting
abilities and sharp poker playing skills. His adventurous lifestyle is depicted
in a number of well-known books and movies.
To learn more about Wild Bill Hickok and why people are still talking about
him nearly 150 years after his death, please read through this complete
biography.
Early Years
James Butler Hickok was born on May 27, 1837. Hickok was the 4th oldest of 7
children, having 4 brothers and 2 sisters. The family lived on a huge farm in
the quaint town of Homer, Illinois. Although it has never been proven, legend
has it that the family used the house as a station on the Underground Railroad.
Seeing how passionate the Hickok family was about the abolition of slavery, we
certainly don’t deny the possibility.
When Hickok was young, his father showed him how to shoot a pistol. From the
start, Hickok was an excellent marksman, hardly ever missing his target. These
skills would certainly help him later on in life.
When Hickok was just 15 years old, his father passed away of unknown causes.
Originally planning to stay home and take care of the family farm, his father’s
death made him rethink how he wanted to spend the rest of his life. A few years
later, he moved to Kansas to work as a stagecoach driver on the Santa Fe and
Oregon Trails. During his time there, he met William Cody “Buffalo Bill,” who
became a dear friend of his.
Wild Bill Hickok, the Legend
David McCanles and his two accomplices crossed paths with Hickok on the
trails and attempted to rob him. Furious, Hickok pulled out his pistol and
managed to kill all 3 men in just a matter of minutes. This event would later be
called the McCanles Massacre, and it’s where the legend of Wild Bill Hickok
begins. (Hickok chose this name for himself in honor of his deceased father,
William.)
His story hit the front page of several different newspapers and magazines,
most of which made the massacre out to be worse than it really was. One article
even said that he killed over 10 men that day. Soon after that story was
published, another one came into light. Hickok had recently come in contact with
a bear. Instead of running away from the bear like most sane people would have
done, he pulled out a measly 6-inch knife and ended the bear’s life. The legend
continued; neither man nor animal could touch the likes of Hickok.
Hickok had already made a name for himself when he joined the Civil War in
1961. He started as a civilian scout in the Union Army before working his way up
to a provost marshal. At one point during his military career, he served as a
Union spy in the Confederate Army. Hickok was able to send warning of several
different Confederate attacks before they happened, allowing the Union to be
better prepared for battle.
Once the war had ended, he moved to Abilene, Kansas, to accept the position
of City Marshall. He earned $1800 a year plus 25% of all the fines he gave out,
which was actually a decent salary for the time period. Hickok was notorious for
keeping his city in line, no matter what the cost. When one of the town’s saloon
owners, Phil Coe, started aiming his gun at an unruly customer, Hickok stepped
in and started firing away. The bloody gunfight caused one of Hickok’s deputies
to lose his life. This tragic incident forced Hickok to step down from his
position and pursue a different career instead.
Hickok got reconnected with one of his oldest friends, Buffalo Bill. After
spending several hours catching up, Bill asked Hickok to join his Buffalo Bill
Cody’s Wild West Show. Hickok worked as Buffalo Bill’s assistant for several
years before deciding to start his own show. He moved to Niagara Falls to open a
show that involved 3 cowboys, 6 buffaloes, and 1 trained monkey. The show lasted
for less than a year, as it was not well-orchestrated, and it led to several
serious injuries of innocent bystanders.
Hickok and Gambling
Hickok’s love of gambling started early. A few of his older siblings taught
him how to play poker while he was still living at home. After they had finished
all of their farm duties for the day, Hickok and his siblings would often spend
their evenings playing poker together. He instantly fell in love with the game
and played every opportunity he got.
Once Hickok was older, he started competing against gamblers in the saloons
of whatever town he happened to be staying in. Hickok became known as a very
skilled poker player that was willing to take huge risks in order to win. While
he did win the majority of the time, there were a few memorable instances where
luck was not on his side.
While traveling through Springfield, Missouri, he found himself in an intense
poker match against a gambler named Dave Tutt. Hickok ended up losing the game
and was unable to pay Tutt the money that was owed to him. Tutt took Hickok’s
pocket watch for collateral and started flaunting it around, bragging about how
easy he was to beat. Hickok ended up shooting him in the head and taking the
watch back. No one talked bad about Hickok’s poker skills and got away with it.
Hickok’s Love Affairs
Hickok married a woman named Agnes Thatcher Lake, who he met while exploring
Wyoming. She was a tightrope walker and lion tamer that was involved in a
traveling circus. After they got married, the Cheyenne Daily Sun reported on
their marriage, saying, “Wild Bill of western fame has conquered numerous
Indians, outlaws, bears and buffaloes, but a charming widow has stolen the magic
wand. The scepter has departed and he is as meek and gentle as a lamb. In other
words, he has shuffled off the coil of bachelorhood.”
Many people thought that Hickok getting married would mean he would finally
settle down; this was not the case, though. Shortly after his wedding, Hickok
picked up his things and headed to South Dakota in the peak of their gold rush.
Although he promised to return, he never saw Agnes again.
Wild Bill Hickok Poker Hand
While in South Dakota, he spent his days mining for gold and his evenings
playing poker at the nearby saloons. One evening, a woman named Calamity Jane
entered the saloon he was at. Her stunning beauty took his breath away. She was
an avid gambler who loved to tell wild stories; they were perfect for each
other. Nearing Death Towards the middle of the 1870s, Hickok’s health started to
decline. He was diagnosed with glaucoma and ophthalmia, two diseases that are
known to cause blindness. He was also said to have several different sexually
transmitted diseases, which also had a negative impact on his overall health.
Hickok moved with Jane to the Black Hills mining town of Deadwood, South
Dakota. On a sunny spring afternoon in 1876, Hickok made his way to a nearby
saloon to play a round of poker. At approximately 4:15, a man by the name of
Jack McCall stormed into the saloon and shot Hickok in the back of the head. He
died instantly while still holding a pair of aces and eights in his hand. This
combination of cards is now known as “The Dead Man’s Hand.”
A True Legend Never Dies
Hickok’s adventures have been the theme of countless media productions. Some
of the best-selling books written about him include The White Buffalo by Richard
Sale (1975), Darlin’ Bill: A Love Story of the Wild West by Jerome Charyn
(1980), Aces & Eights by Loren D. Estleman (1981), Deadwood by Pete Dexter
(1986), The Memoirs of Wild Bill Hickok by Richard Matheson (1996), as well as
And Not to Yield by Randy Lee Eickoff (2004).
In 1951, a television series named The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok first
aired on CBS. It ran for 8 seasons for a total of 271 half-hour-long episodes.
His character was portrayed by established actor Guy Madison. The show was a
huge success, attracting thousands of viewers on a weekly basis.
There were also countless films inspired by his life, including The Wildcat
of Tucson (1940) Young Bill Hickok (1940), Wild Bill Hickok Rides (1942), I
Killed Wild Bill Hickok (1956), The White Buffalo (1977), The Legend of the Lone
Ranger (1981), and Wild Bill (1995) to name a few.
A Final Note When the Poker Hall of Fame was first established in 1979, James
Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok was 1 of the 7 original members to be added to its
list. Hickok may have been an accomplished gunfighter who served as a spy in the
Civil War and single-handedly killed a bear, but he will also always be
remembered for his skills at the poker table. Like the other poker players who
were lucky enough to be added to the list, Hickok’s love of poker had a huge
impact on his life, even until death.
James Butler Hickok, born on May 27 1837 and famously nicknamed “Wild Bill Hickok”, was a heroic figure of America’s Old West. Aside from being an expert gunfighter and reputable lawman, Hickok was also a legendary gambler – his favorite game being Draw Poker. It was during the years following the Civil War that Hickok spent most of this time developing his poker skills, and he eventually came to be a professional player. However, it was Hickok’s gambling that lead him to his unfortunate end.
On August 2nd back in 1876, Hickok decided to head over to the Nuttal & Mann’s Saloon No. 10 in the black Hills of Deadwood in Dakota for a game of poker. Hickok was known to sit in the corner of the room so that he could foresee any attacks, yet this night his usual seat had been taken. Though every gambler knows better than breaking a lucky habit, he instead sat with his back to one door and faced another, and despite the game he could not manage to overcome the dread of being in the firing line.
Wild Bill Hickok Poker Hand Images
Unfortunately, Hickok’s paranoia was vindicated – in the middle of his game, a hunter by the name of Jack McCall shouted “take that” and shot Hickok in the head with a brutal .45 caliber revolver. At the moment that he was shot, Hickok is believed to have held a pair of Aces, a pair of eights and a fifth card whose value disputed – some say it is unknown or was not yet dealt. It is for this reason that until today, Aces and Eights are morbidly called the “Dead Man’s Hand”.
Wild Bill Hickok Poker Hand
People are still not sure what McCall’s motive was for killing Hickok. The most widely accepted story has to do with a dispute between the two men over gambling losses; the previous day, McCall had lost all his money to Hickok in a game of poker and couldn’t afford to buy himself breakfast. Hickok offered him money to pay for a meal, which apparently McCall received as a backhanded insult, or a condescending offer from Hickok. When he showed up at the Saloon the following day, he was drunk and still bitter at Hickok, and just shot him there and then.
A jury comprises primarily of miners held a trial soon after the murder, where McCall was mysteriously acquitted of the murder after confessing that he was avenging the death of his brother (caused obviously by Hickok). The papers that day disparaged the jury for what they believed to be a wrong decision. And indeed, after bragging about his sin, McCall was re-arrested and put back on trial. This time, McCall was found guilty and hanged. Following the execution it was discovered that he didn’t have a brother at all – probably the luckiest bluff of his life.
Since his death, Hickok has become a mythical American figure, but recently he has also become a posthumous poker legend. More than 100 years later when the poker industry began to really boom (1979), Wild Bill Hickok was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame, as one of the only 3 players who have died whilst playing poker.