The Outcasts Of Poker Flat Summary

This book from Bret Harte did an excellent job in capturing the attention of the reader, despite the story being incredibly short. “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” tells the events of a band of exiles from the city of Poker Flat and the people they meet while leaving for another town. The group consisted of John Oakhurst, a gambler; Mother Shipton and the Duchess, both prostitutes; Uncle Billy, a suspected thief and drunkard; Tom Simson, also known as the “Innocent”; and Piney Woods, Tom’s lady. At the end of the story, everyone ends up dying, but one death in particular that piqued interest was the death of Mr. Oakhurst. Before dying, he pinned a two of clubs to the bark of a tree with a Bowie knife. This two of clubs pinned to the tree has a

According to Lou Krieger, author of the Poker Player’s Bible, says the ace is the highest ranking card, and the deuce is the lowest in most forms of poker. With this knowledge, one can deduce that getting a deuce while playing poker would be very unfortunate. The chances of emerging victorious after getting the number two card in your hand would be slim if any. Mr. Oakhurst most likely chose the deuce to pin to the tree to symbolize just that. His statement here is that he got unlucky by happening to be trapped in the snow, one whole day away from his final destination. This was really proven when you include the particular suit of the card,

The knife was made by James Black for the American pioneer Jim Bowie, a key figure in the Texas Revolution. In the eyes of T. Edward Nickens on the website Field & Stream, this knife is a symbol of the American frontier’s reckless nature. This relates very much to the story due to the conditions the travelers experienced out in the wilderness. Loads of snow and cold weather when you do not have sufficient shelter are both awful conditions to try and survive in. Uncle Billy running off with the animals did not help them, either. This knife was probably used to pin the card to the tree most obviously because it was probably the only item he could use to pin the card, but it also showed that the rough conditions of the wilderness culminated in his bad