History Main / DeadMansHand

If you're looking for the book in the ''Literature/WildCards'' series, it's [[Literature/DeadMansHand here]]. Not to be confused with the Old West tabletop RPG, ''TabletopGame/AcesAndEights.''

A Dead Man's Hand, also known as "aces and eights", is a poker hand containing two black aces and two black eights. It was supposedly the hand drawn by Wild Bill Hickok before his death, although this is unsubstantiated. (No one knows what his fifth card was. There are various conflicting claims as to what it was, with the earliest accounts claiming it to be a queen, either of hearts or of clubs, and some believe he discarded it to draw another, but was shot before he could make the new draw.) This hand is now considered unlucky, despite being better than over 95% of five-card hands. It is the lowest/weakest hand in poker to have a name.

* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'': Archer Calamity Jane has a Noble Phantasm called Space Dead Man's Hand. It simulates Wild Bill Hickok's death by having Jane fire a homing bullet that strikes the opponent in the back of the head. At impact, a dead man's hand appears in midair. She's not particularly proud of the fact that her special ability is to simulate her husband's death.

* In one ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica comic, the villain Sportsmaster deals a dead man's hand, which he proceeds to throw at the heroes ([[DeathDealer the cards being razor-edged]]).
* In the appropriately-named ComicBook/SpiderMan one-shot comic-book ''Spider-Man: Dead Man's'' hand, a coroner turns himself into the third - and most powerful - version of Carrion, and unleashes a disease on New York using a virus that turns people into zombie-like creatures under his control. The only clue is his gloating of "aces and eights" right after turning himself into Carrion. (After Spidey consults the High Evolutionary, who was a mentor to Miles Warren, who created the original Carrion, it turns out that the virus alters the first and eighth gene of the human genome, which is important in finding the cure for it.)

[[folder:Film - Animated]]

[[folder:Film - Live-Action]]

* In the prologue of ''[[Comicbook/GrantMorrisonsBatman Batman RIP]]'', Batman speaks to The Joker in Arkham Asylum. The Joker taunts Batman with his upcoming destruction while dealing out a dead man's hand. This doubles as a StealthPun; the eighth letter of the alphabet is H; the manner the Joker dealt the cards spelled out "HAHA".

* [=KenzerCo=].'s Western roleplaying game ''TableTopGame/AcesAndEights'' takes its name from the dead man's hand.

* ''Videogame/Pirate101'': This is the hand that Captain Blood almost lost with in his [[ChessWithDeath Poker game with death]]. (He fled the scene before playing his cards.)
* ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead:'' Season 3's first episode has a character draw aces and eights in a friendly poker game, winning the pot. Sure enough, she gets shot by raiders early in episode 2.

* ''WesternAnimation/ConstantineTheHouseOfMystery''. John Constantine is in an illusion where he's playing poker with his friends and gets the hand. The aces and eights morph into black magic symbols and his friends into demons.

[[quoteright:350:[[https://www.pokerstrategy.com/content/dead-mans-hand/ https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dmh.png]]]]

* "Dead Man's Hand" is the name of the latest album released by metal band Dezperadoz. Of course it's a WesternMetal act, so that's a great name [[SelfDemonstratingArticle to go with the theme]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dmh.png]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dmh_wbh_4473.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The alleged TropeNamer on display at the No. 10 Saloon, in Deadwood, South Dakota.]]

-->And Charlie is the joker in the deck!"

* The Tarot deck is the parent of the deck of cards used for gambling. The numbered suit cards have a one-for-one correspondence with each other and the gambler's cards may be substituted for those of the Tarot. The tarot equivalent of the Dead Man's Hand would be the Eight of Wands (swiftness) the eight of Swords (serious misfortune) the Ace of Swords (can connotate sudden unexpected violent force) and the Ace of Wands(a swift new direction your life is going to take). Or: you are about to receive a very sudden and unexpected violent blow with something either heavy and sharp, or heavy and blunt. Take your pick.

-->" I dreamed I was the dealer of a dead man's hand..."

Subtrope of PortentOfDoom and PlayingCardMotifs.

* The [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels biker gang]] that has been invading Wrestling/{{TNA}} as of summer/fall 2012 uses the dead man's hand as their calling card and actually goes by the name of Wrestling/AcesAndEights.

* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'': Archer Calamity Jane has a Noble Phantasm called Space Dead Man's Hand. It simulates Wild Bill Hickok's death by having Jane fire a homing bullet that strikes the opponent in the back of the head. At impact, a dead man's hand appears in midair.

* ''Series/TheXFiles'' episode "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose", has the titlular character playing poker with Agent Scully and holding a full house of aces and eights with the ace of hearts as the fifth card. As one might suspect from the episode name, he dies. Clyde is a {{seer}} who can tell when someone is going to die, hence the PortentOfDoom.

* ''Series/Daredevil2015''. Done as a VisualPun in "New York's Finest". An outlaw biker gang charges out of their BadGuyBar to take on Frank Castle as the jutebox plays Music/{{Motorhead}}'s "Ace of Spades". On the lyrics "Read 'em and weep" we SmashCut to Karen Page examining a photo of one of the Punisher's victims from a manila folder, but all we see is the corpse's hand.

* ''Series/Daredevil2015''. Done as a VisualPun in "New York's Finest". An outlaw biker gang charges out of their BadGuyBar to take on Frank Castle as the jutebox plays Music/{{Motorhead}}'s "Ace of Spades". On the lyrics "Read 'em and weep" we SmashCut to Karen Page examining a photo of one of the Punisher's victims from a manila folder, but all we see is the corpse's hand.

* In one ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica comic, the villain Sportsmaster deals a dead man's hand, which he proceeds to throw at the heroes ([[DeathDealer the cards being razor-edged]]).

* In ''Film/{{Stagecoach}}'', Luke holds this hand. He is shortly thereafter gunned down by the Ringo Kid.
* In ''Film/TheManWhoShotLibertyValance'', the eponymous character Liberty draws this hand right before being shot.

* In ''Film/TheBalladOfBusterScruggs'', one player is dealt a hand but refuses to play it and walks away from the table. Buster Scruggs takes his seat, and the other players insist he plays the departed player's hand. Buster peaks, sure enough, the Dead Man's hand. Buster tries to politely decline until the next hand of the game, but another player, Surly Joe, insists that since Buster seen them, he must play them, going so far as to draw his gun. Buster [[IndyPloy stomps the plank of the table]], the causing the far end to hit Joe's hand and discharge the gun into his own face, ''three times''. Afterwards [[AvengingTheVillain Surly Joe's brother tries to avenge Joe]], but the brother doesn't fare any better. [[spoiler:And just after that, Buster finally [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter runs into a gunman who's better than he is]] and is killed]]. So that's three deaths within about 10 minutes of getting the Dead Man's Hand.

* ''Literature/DeadMansHand'' is the name of the seventh book of the ''Literature/WildCards'' series by Creator/GeorgeRRMartin. Aces are the murderer's literal calling card.
* Alluded to in the title of ''Literature/FinalDestination: Dead Man's Hand''.
* The fifth book of the ''Literature/KittyNorville'' series is named this. Considering the title character is nearly killed by AxCrazy bounty hunters, then sacrificed to a dark chaotic Babylonian {{Cult}}, the PortentOfDoom aspect is apt. [[spoiler:It also references the BigBad of the overall series who first appears in that book, a vampire (a "dead man") [[TheManBehindTheMan whose hand is behind everything]].]]
* In the novelization of the movie ''Film/DickTracy'', the opening scene with the gangsters playing poker is expanded. One of them draws this hand, and folds immediately after showing a bout of fear. The rest call him a fool, saying he could have won with that hand. (One of them saying, "This ain't Deadwood and you ain't Wild Bill Hickok.") Unfortunately, a few minutes later, Flattop and the other mobsters storm in with guns blazing, as they did in the movie.
* The Creator/JTEdson short story "Deadwood August 2nd 1876" in ''J.T.'s Hundredth'' is a fictionalised account of the killing of Wild Bill Hickcok. In it, he has just discarded his fith card and is reaching for another when he is shot.

* ''Series/TheXFiles'' episode "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose", has the titlular character playing poker with Agent Scully and holding a full house of aces and eights with the ace of hearts as the fifth card. As one might suspect from the episode name, he dies. Clyde is a {{seer}} who can tell when someone is going to die, hence the PortentOfDoom.

* In an early episode of ''Series/CriminalMinds,'' Hotch plays poker with a death-row inmate. When Hotch draws aces and eights, the inmate points out that it should have been his hand.

* The Music/{{Motorhead}} song ''Music/AceOfSpades'' refers to this hand:
--> "Pushin' up the ante, I know you got to see me
--> Read 'em and weep, the dead man's hand again"
* "Rambling, Gambling Willie" by Music/BobDylan contains a direct reference to this hand, as well.
* The Uncle Kracker song "Aces and Eights" is named for the Dead Man's hand.

* Brutal DLX also references this in their lyrics:
-->" I dreamed I was the dealer of a dead man's hand..."

* Michael [=McDermott=] has written a song titled "Aces and Eights". The song says that life can make you feel like:
-->"Looking over my shoulder, holding aces and eights."

* "Dead Man's Hand" is the name of the latest album released by metal band Dezperadoz. Of course it's a WesternMetal act, so that's a great name [[SelfDemonstratingArticle to go with the theme]]

* In the wild west supplement to the ''TabletopGame/{{Munchkin}}'' card game, Dead Man's Hand is a curse card that forces you to discard your whole hand.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}''. ''Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society'' magazine #14 adventure "Aces & Eights". A set of playing cards (two aces, two eights and the joker), will, when put in an X-ray machine, create a map to the location of a 20 million credit treasure. The money was the payroll of the 1188th "Aces and Eights" Lift Infantry Brigade. The man with the cards is killed by the bad guys and the cards stolen, and the [[PlayerCharacter PCs]] must retrieve them.

* [=KenzerCo=].'s Western roleplaying game ''TableTopGame/AcesAndEights'' takes its name from the dead man's hand.
* ''TabletopGame/HoylesRulesOfDragonPoker'' takes the hand's bad luck to its (il)logical conclusion and kicks any player who uses it out of the game.

* In ''VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland'', if the player has Guybrush keep losing against King André and then looking at the losing hands, one of the random comments Guybrush will make is "Aces and eights... that can't be good." This being a Creator/LucasArts game, Guybrush of course doesn't die... though he does ''fake'' his death at one point.
* Happens twice in the ''Videogame/WingCommander'' series. In ''Wing Commander II'', Spirit gets dealt the hand and later kamikazes a Kilrathi-controlled space station. In ''Wing Commander IV'', Vagabond gets the killer hand, and dies later in a mission that goes badly wrong. Bonus points for it being one of the few times the card shark had lost... and to [[ButtMonkey Maniac]], no less.

* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'': Archer Calamity Jane has a Noble Phantasm called Space Dead Man's Hand. It simulates Wild Bill Hickok's death by having Jane fire a homing bullet that strikes the opponent in the back of the head. At impact, a dead man's hand appears in midair.

A Dead Man's Hand, also known as "aces and eights", is a poker hand containing two black aces and two black eights. It was supposedly the hand drawn by Wild Bill Hickok before his death, although this is unsubstantiated. (No-one knows what his fifth card was; there are various conflicting claims as to what it was, with the earliest accounts claiming it to be a queen, either of hearts or of clubs, and some believe he discarded it to draw another, but was shot before he could make the new draw.) This hand is now considered unlucky, despite being better than over 95% of five-card hands. It is the lowest/weakest hand in poker to have a name.

* ''Series/TheXFiles'' episode "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose", has the titlular character playing poker with Agent Scully and holding a full house of aces and eights with the ace of hearts as the fifth card. As one might suspect from the episode name, he dies.

* In ''Film/TheBalladOfBusterScruggs'', one player is dealt a hand but refuses to play it and walks away from the table. Buster Scruggs takes his seat, and the other players insist he plays the departed player's hand. Buster peaks, sure enough, the Dead Man's hand. Buster tries to politely decline until the next hand of the game, but another player, Surly Joe, insists that since Buster seen them, he must play them, going so far as to draw his gun. Buster [[IndyPloy stomps the plank of the table]], the causing the far end to hit Joe's hand and discharge the gun into his own face, ''three times''.

* In ''Film/TheBalladOfBusterScruggs'', one player is dealt a hand but refuses to play it and walks away from the table. Buster Scruggs takes his seat, and the other players insist he plays the departed player's hand. Buster peaks, sure enough, the Dead Man's hand. Buster tries to politely decline until the next hand of the game, but another player, Surly Joe, insists that since Buster seen them, he must play them, going so far as to draw his gun. Buster [[IndiePloy stomps the plank of the table]], the causing the far end to hit Joe's hand and discharge the gun into his own face, ''three times''.

* Advanced ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''. In the ''Magazine/{{Dungeon}}'' magazine #2 adventure "The Keep at Koralgesh", the PlayerCharacters can find a room where four ghosts are playing a card game. When the see the {{PC}}s, they put down their cards and leave. Each of the ghosts' hands has aces and eights.

* In ''Film/TheBalladOfBusterScruggs'', one player is dealt this hand but refuses to play it. Buster Scruggs takes that seat in the game... which ends badly for several characters.