While some poker players aren’t exactly superstitious, the luck-based odds when playing poker lead many still to believe that following traditions or personal rituals can increase their chances of winning overall – something extra to tempt fate. At the poker table, winning the game with the Dead Man’s Hand is a fitting example of one of those controversial gambling legends that persists to this day in popular culture.
Read on to learn how the Dead Man’s Hand got its name, what the potential odds drawing it are, and how it measures up against other winning hands at the poker table with Ace Alliance’s informative overview of the two-pair strategy.
The Dead Man’s Hand and Its Role in Modern Online Casinos
One of the most famous poker hands today, it rose in status after James Butler Hickok, or Wild Bill Hickok, was shot and killed while holding a hand of black Aces and black eights during a poker game in Deadwood, Dakota Territory, in 1876. Drawing a combination of the Dead Man’s hand at the poker table today can still influence other players’ decisions to fold early if you can manage to bluff them successfully. In contrast to other winning poker hands, though, this two-pair hand is not particularly powerful – beaten by everything but a one-pair hand or a higher card – so you have to discern risk, the potential of others’ cards play, and your possible odds to have success with this strategy.
Historical Facts on the Dead Man’s Hand
The two-pair hand of aces and eights got its name from a famous saloon shootout in the old American Wild West period. Rumour has it that the hand is bad luck, as its namesake player, a gunslinging outlaw named Wild Bill Hickok, never lived to see another game after playing the hand.
Frontier Gunslinger Wild Bill Hickok & the Legend of the Dead Man’s Hand
A noted sharpshooter, wild west lawman and frontier marshal, James Hickok – Wild Bill – served as a scout in the Union Army in the American Civil War and a marshal for settled frontier towns during the westward expansion in U.S. history. Though the hand obviously predates Hickok in gameplay, it’s become famously associated with the bad luck of his untimely death at the poker table amidst the popularity of old Wild West and gambling folklore.
Though unsubstantiated, it’s been widely reported that during a game of either Five-Card Stud or Draw on August 2nd, 1876, Wild Bill played a double-black combination of the Dead Man’s Hand and was subsequently murdered there at the poker table, and shot dead by fellow player Jack McCall, in Deadwood, Dakota Territory in early American poker history. The hand has been around since roughly the 1880s and has been associated with different combinations in the past, like pairs of jacks and sevens or eights. Though the “Dead Man” part of the term didn’t originate with Hickok, we owe the popularity of Wild Bill’s story to the account collected by author Frank Wilstach in his book Wild Bill Hickok: The Prince of Pistoleer from 1926.
How to Play the Dead Man’s Hand: Rules and Tips
To play the Dead Man’s Hand, you’ll need to draw the strategic combination of a pair of aces and a pair of eights; the fifth card, or hole card, can be anything else – though the original fifth card Wild Bill Hickok was holding in the legend is said to be the Queen of Clubs.
Strategies For Playing The Dead Man’s Hand at the Poker Table
A player’s goal in any poker game is to win – that’s a given. They must combine skills and luck with a folklore-inspired bluffing strategy to win with the two-pair hand. Here are some key tips to add to your Dead Man’s Hand strategy:
- Position is Essential: A player occupying the late position in a poker game has the benefit of observing other players’ behaviours before making their move.
- Bluff Wisely: You can use the dark superstition behind the hand to your bluff at the table. Some superstitious poker players may fold if they know they can’t beat the combination.
- Be Aggressive: Play aggressively in the initial stages of the game to grow the pot. You’ll win more chips this way, especially if you’re able to draw a strong poker hand after the flop.
- Be Cautious of Higher Pairs: Be alert and watch the community cards pile. They might show potential for better hands or higher pairs. Your two pairs can easily be beaten by flushes, straights or three of a kind.
Can I Win Holding the Dead Man’s Hand in Online Poker?
Of course, it’s possible to win with the Dead Man’s Hand strategy, especially if you’re able to read other players and bluff them into folding early at the table using the superstitious lore of the combination. Where there are 10 possible strong hands to draw, the modern combination of the Dead Man’s Hand holds up pretty well compared to other hands due to the odds of drawing it versus a Royal Flush, for example.
It can be beaten by a Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four of a Kind, a Full House, a Flush, a Straight, Three of a Kind, and a two-pair hand where the lower pair cards are higher than eights. The Dead Man’s hand beats a one-pair hand or a high card at the table when there aren’t many powerful hands in play.
What Kind of Poker Was Played in the Old West?
In the American Wild West period in history, poker was a popular saloon pastime for vagrants, locals, and lawmen looking to pass the time with comradery. In older days, poker rules were much simpler than how it’s played in many modern casinos or online poker sites today. Some examples were:
- The Five-Card Draw, where players were dealt 5 cards each and played by exchanging some of their cards or all to make the best 5-card hand. It was one of the most common styles of poker in this period.
- Another popular game was Stud Poker, which has variations like Five-card and Seven-card Stud. Players were dealt a mixture of face-up and face-down cards over multiple rounds wherein they could also place bets. This is the version Wild Bill Hickok was playing during his untimely murder a the poker table.
- The Three-card Monte is not strictly a poker game, but it was also widely enjoyed in the Old Wild West for its simplicity and the fact that gameplay involved deception and sleight of hand.
- Faro was a fast-paced game that involved betting on the result of cards drawn from a deck.
How did the poker games that used to be played in the Wild West, such as The Dead Man’s Hand, differ from the variations that are played now?
- The deck size in early poker games had 20 cards. The cards in the deck were aces, kings, queens, jacks and tens. The 52-card deck we now play was introduced later.
- Modern games such as No Limit Texas Hold’em and Omaha require more complex playing strategies in order to win.
- In the Old West, people played fewer rounds of a poker game to win as the betting structures were simpler.
- In that period the game was just as much about social interaction and showing your bravado. Modern poker is played in several environments, casually at home to professional tournaments.
As poker evolved, so did the rules and the sociocultural contexts within the cultures in which it is played. However, the core elements of strategy and chance in the game haven’t changed.
Cultural References to the Dead Man’s Hand and Historical Poker
Much like most folk tales and legends, the Dead Man’s Hand has made its way into popular culture. Showing the ever-growing influence of the gambling world, it’s been incorporated into different types of media over time, from song lyrics to games, movies, TV shows, and even some logo art. Here are some recognisable examples:
- Deadwood, a 2004 HBO TV series from the U.S. shows Wild Bill Hickock holding the hand while being shot dead.
- Red Dead Redemption, a popular video game, features the Dead Man’s Hand as a collectable item in-game.
- The 2002 movie, Along Came a Spider features aces and eights as the winning hand in a poker scene.
- “Dead Man’s Hand” is a song by Bob Dylan referencing the infamous hand.
- The American Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Homicide Division and the Los Angeles Police Department CRASH squads use some variants of the Dead Man’s Hand cards on their badges.
- In the 1950s, there was a TV series based on The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok that ran for seven years.
The Most Popular Superstitions in Online Gambling Today
The high-risk nature of gambling leads many players to believe in superstition, and they consider anything that will stave off bad luck. Below are some common cultural superstitions in gambling in addition to being wary of a hand with aces and eights the – dead man’s hand.
The high-risk nature of gambling leads many players to believe in superstition, such as the dead man’s hand, and they consider anything that will stave off bad luck. Below are some common cultural superstitions in gambling:
- Lucky Charms: Many gamblers carry with them items that are believed to bring good luck when gambling, such as four-leaf clovers, horseshoes, and rabbit feet. They are thought to improve a player’s chances of winning. The clover is a common occurrence in gameplay, either in cards or even in slot games.
- Unlucky Numbers: In Western culture, the number 13 is considered to be unlucky. Some casinos will remove the number 13 from their gaming tables or even from the floors of their building. In China, the number 4 is associated with bad luck because in Chinese it can sound similar to the word for “death” when slightly mispronounced.
- Wearing Red: In some Eastern Asian cultures, wearing red clothing or accessories is believed to bring players a stroke of good fortune and prosperity in games. This could explain why trailing red carpets and curtains are often used in casino decor.
- Crossing Legs: Some European cultures believe that if you cross your legs while placing a bet, or while gambling generally, then you’ll meet with bad luck in the game. Crossing legs is thought to symbolise “crossing” out any good fortune.
- Blowing on Dice: It is common practice for players to blow on dice before rolling them as it is believed that it will bring the throw some good luck and affect results positively.
- Counting Money at the Table: Kenny Rogers, in the popular song “The Gambler,” warned players to not count their money before leaving the table.
Conclusion on the Dead Man’s Hand
The Dead Man’s Hand, or the two-pair aces and eights hand, holds a peculiar significance in the hearts of many poker players – hence its popularity in today’s cultural references and historical accounts of the game. While it’s not an outright strong hand from the draw, Dead Man’s Hand can still beat out single high-card and one-pair hands; for the rest, it’s all about the power of your bluffing strategy and skills to read the community cards in play (or in deck).
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