In poker, the dead man's hand is a two-pair hand, namely "aces and eights." The origin of the name, legend has it, is the five-card-draw hand held by Wild Bill Hickok at the time of his murder, which is accepted to have included the aces and eights of both of the black suits (sometimes considered "bullets"), although his biographer, Rosa, says no contemporary cite for his hand has ever been found. The term "dead man's hand" certainly predates the Hickok connection which only occurred in the mid-1920's. Prior to this, the term referred to a variety of hands. The earliest found reference to a "dead man's hand" is 1886, where it was described as "three jacks and a pair of tens." (*Note history records that Bill Hickock was killed August 2, 1876)

There are various claims as to the identity of Hickok's fifth card, and there is also some reason to believe that he had discarded one card, the draw was interrupted by the shooting, and he never got the fifth card he was due.

The Stardust in Las Vegas had a 5 of diamonds on display as the 5th card; in the HBO television series Deadwood, a 9 of diamonds is used; the modern town of Deadwood, South Dakota also uses the 9 of diamonds in displays; and Ripley's Believe it or Not shows a queen of clubs.