Born to the life of a Southern gentleman, Dr. John Henry Holliday arrives on the Texas frontier hoping that the dry air and sunshine of the West will restore him to health. Soon, with few job prospects, Doc Holliday is gambling professionally with his partner, Maria Katarina Harony, a high-strung, classically educated Hungarian whore. In search of high-stakes poker, the couple hits the saloons of Dodge City. And that is where the unlikely friendship of Doc Holliday and a fearless lawman named Wyatt Earp begins- before the gunfight at the O.K. Corral links their names forever in American frontier mythology-when neither man wanted fame or deserved notoriety.
General Note
A reader's guide includes questions and topics for discussion and a conversation between John Connelly and Mary Doria Russell.
Content Note
Players: -- Georgia -- Texas -- Kansas -- Ante: -- Playing for time -- First Hand: -- Deal -- Down cards -- Show cards -- Second Hand: -- Bad beat -- Roughing the edges -- Three grand gone -- Stacking the deck -- Third Hand: -- River -- Ladies high -- Wild card -- Three of a kind -- Fourth Hand: -- Side bets -- Ringer -- Chinaman's chance -- Fifth Hand: -- Joker -- Call -- Under the table -- Sixth Hand: -- No help -- Raising blind -- Turning the play -- Cashing Out: -- Playing for keeps -- Rake: -- Bitch in the deck -- Author's note.