One-Eyed Jacks, Suicide Kings and Flushes

[calicard]

Do you ever wonder why a lot of people look at poker players like riff raff? If you take a close look at the history of the game we love so much you will find it is embedded with shady characters and confidence men. Names like Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, Wild Bill Hickock, Wyatt Earp and Soapy Smith. All names notorious for danger and highly questionable when it comes to law abiding. How many poker players were killed in a gunfight after a game? How many miners and cowboys were cheated out of their hard earned pay? Little of you know this but we are still being cheated today by a Gambler named Soapy Smith. He would change the rules of a game to best fit his needs. (Kind of like we did when we were kids) Once he was in a game with a miner in the Klondike and when the showdown came the miner turned up the corners of his mouth and with a big grin flashed 3 aces. The pot was huge about $60,000 in today’s cash. Soapy paused a moment and quite seriously stated “Nice Hand Sir But I believe I have you beat.” (Soapy’s quick wittedness invented a new poker hand on the spot.) It took Soapy about a second to figure out he missed his strt draw but had picked up 5 Diamonds. “Yes Sir I believe I have a Flush” The miner looked bewildered and asked the dumbest question he could have. (Instead of saying there is no such thing as a flush.) He asked “What is a flush?” Soapy went on to impress him with his poker knowledge by stating there are 4 different flushes the Heart flush being the highest possible flush and gave all the suits rankings in the heirachy of the Flush.Really the only flush there was was the one that should have been flushing Soapy’s story down the toilet because he was full of crap. After that the story spread and got bigger and Soapy became the foremost authority on poker hands. Unfortunately soapy got a little greedy and was shot to death by a group of vigilantes that was tired of his shennanigans. After they asked him to give back a miner’s $70,000 that was lost in a rigged game of 3 card monte he refused and the Famous shoot out on Juneau Wharf ensued where Soapy was shot dead. From the beginning poker was destined to be scrutinized mainly because of the characters that were involved in the game. Just think how many times you have been sitting on a monster and lose because 4 to a suit hits the board. Thank Soapy Smith. The sad part of this story is just when poker was gaining a little bit of respectability amongst the masses. Another huge con comes along in the Forum of Fulltilt. In the good old days this would have caused a shoot out somewhere but in today’s world all we can do is cry.
Good Luck out there!!!