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

deeper meaning because of the value of the card, suit of the card, and how it was hung.
The number of the card is actually quite a sign.

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,

also.
According to John McLeod of pagat.com, there are three situations in which the suit of a card can be a tiebreaker: drawing cards to seat players, deciding who bets first in a form of poker called stud poker, or allocating a chip left over when the pot cannot be evenly split between the winners. McLeod also says that the lowest card in this hierarchy of suits is the clubs. The card chosen by John Oakhurst was the deuce of clubs. The number already was a symbol of bad luck, but the suit of the card managed to really show how unlucky John got. Since Mr. Oakhurst was a gambler, he was most likely aware of the rules of poker and all the intricacies of them. In the end, he most likely felt that the two of clubs was the best card to describe the situation. Though these two symbols really demonstrate his misfortune, there is one more micro-symbol that may be the telling point of the story.
The Bowie knife, the type of knife used to pin the card to the tree, is a very popular knife with collectors today.

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

luck.
The whole gang of travelers experienced poor luck, but it was Oakhurst who seemed to have had it hardest of all. He was ousted from town simply because he was a very good gambler. Afterward, his group stopped to take shelter in the snow when he knew it was not a good idea. Ultimately, he committed suicide and let his poor luck get the best of him. The symbol of the deuce of clubs pinned by the Bowie knife was probably the best way to truly depict all of the events he experienced, along with the fact that it also showcased how difficult the American frontier was to survive in back then. For John Oakhurst, the deuce of clubs was the symbol of his terrible luck.