Dead Man's Hand

A symbol of bad luck. The cards in question were two aces and two eights, all four in the two black suits, that Wild West hero James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickcock reported held in the fatal poker game when he was shot in the back of the head by Jack McCall on August 2, 1876, at Deadwood, South Dakota. History does not reveal what the fifth “kicker” card was, although legend has it as the five, nine, or jack of diamonds.