James Butler Hickok was known for two things: gunslinging and poker. Unfortunately for the man better known as “Wild Bill,” his two passions converged on August 2, 1876, when he was shot and killed during a poker game.

Hickok is arguably the most famous poker player of all-time, although not necessarily for his facility with cards. He first gained acclaim as a constable by, according to Harper’s Monthly at the time, single-handedly killing all nine members of the McCanles gang in 1861.

Sounds like a violent precursor to nine-handed Texas Holdem. Shooting down your opponents carries a different meaning these days.

That report was almost certainly inflated to boost sales, but after the Civil War, Hickok was able to parlay that fame into a job as marshal of Abilene, Kansas. Then Hickok began appearing in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show in 1872, where he met and befriended Calamity Jane.

The two would later ride on Charlie Utter's wagon train from Colorado to Deadwood in what is now South Dakota. That’s where Hickok ultimately met his demise.

Hickok was playing poker at Saloon No. 10, uncharacteristically with his back to the door instead of his usual corner seat. For reasons that were never determined, “Crooked Nose” Jack McCall entered the saloon and shot Hickok in the back of the head with a .45 revolver.

Legend has it that at the time of his death, Hickok was holding a pair of aces and a pair of eights (both in clubs and spades). The fifth card has never been verified.

Some claim it was the two of spades; regardless, black aces and eights are now known as the “Dead Man’s Hand.”

Hickok was only 39 when he was killed.

He was named a charter member of the Poker Hall of Fame in 1979.