Tag Archive: Wild Bill Hickok

Texas Hold'em poker is said to have originated in Rostown in Texas, hence the name. Wild Bill Hickok's timely death helped concrete the game's reputation as being a popular pastime in the late nineteenth century. Over time, this poker variation gradually moved across the US, where it finally ended up in the poker rooms of the mega-gambling resorts of Las Vegas. Now you can play this version of poker online at any number of websites that specialize in poker or online live dealer rooms.

In many ways, it's not surprising that the era of big-haired rock bands would be synonymous with songs about gambling. Both the bands themselves and these songs are about a counter-culture. But being mainly late 70s and 80's rock, don't expect any depth or poetry in the lyrics. Just a strutting rhythm and some huge air guitar solos. A deeper song comes from the country star, Kenny Rogers. And then, bring us up to date with a bang, we have Lady Gaga, with her innuendo-filled smash, "Poker Face."

The American Wild West was certainly wild. Settlers moving westwards across the US would stake land claims and then defend them against all comers. In order to maintain some semblance of law and order, US Marshals kept an eye on frontier towns. One of these was a larger than life character, Wild Bill Hickok. Though immortalised thanks to Hollywood, he's probably best known today among gamblers, thanks to the hand of cards he was said to of been holding when he died playing poker in Deadwood.