On a websearch I found Cecil Adams answer to what a Dead Man’s Hand was. According to him the fifth card was the deuce of spades. This is highly debatable.
We may never really know what the fifth card was, however there are at least three differing accounts on the matter.
First, the supposed actual hand is on display in Deadwood after being moved from the Stardust Hotel Casino in Las Vegas some time ago. It shows the fifth card as being the 5 of diamonds.
Reported indepedant accounts at the game stated it was the 9 of diamonds.
Ripely’s Believe it or not states it’s the Queen of Clubs.
I suspect that it’s much more likely to be the one on display. Despite the propensity of marketing, it would be more consistant with the independant reports since both cards could bear a resemblance to each other, and would be easily misidentified in the heat of a serious moment.
The Ripley’s report probably is simply trying to capture the symbolism of the black queen which could represent broken nose Jack McCall’s prostitute mother.
I’d be interest in hearing what Mr. Adams based his answer on.
A link to the column is appreciated. Providing one can be as simple as pasting the URL into your post, making sure to leave a blank space on either side of it. Like so: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_307.html