Flat Poker

Oakhurst sat there, cold and still. They said he looked peaceful. A single bullet from a small hand gun nearby had ended his life. John Oakhurst had been both the strongest, and the weakest, of the outcasts of Poker Flat. “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” by Bret Harte was adapted for VOA Learning English and read by Jim Tedder. This district is in northern Sierra County about 10 miles north of Downieville. It includes the Howland Flat, Table Rock, Deadwood, Mt. Fillmore, Potosi, and Rattlesnake Peak areas. It is mainly a placer-mining district.

FlatPoker flat chronicler harte

John Oakhurst

Flat

Flat Blackjack

The protagonist of the story. He is a professional gambler who is forced out of Poker Flat because he wins all the games and takes the townspeople's money. A typical stoic cowboy figure, he is kind, cool-tempered and a believer in the capriciousness of luck.

The Duchess

A prostitute who is exiled from Poker Flat. She is the drama queen of the group, prone to histrionics in the face of the exiles' hard journey.

Mother Shipton

Flat

A prostitute who is also forced out of Poker Flat. She later starves herself to death to make sure that Piney Woods gets to eat.

Uncle Billy

A thief and alcoholic who is initially forced out of town. He takes advantage of the situation, however, when he chooses to steal the exiled group's mules, leaving them stranded in the mountains.

Tom Simson

Poker

Referred to as 'the Innocent,' Tom is a young man who runs away with his lover, Piney Woods, to get married. He admires and respects Oakhurst, by whom he was defeated in a game of poker once; following the game, Oakhurst magnanimously returned Tom's lost money to him, forgiving his lack of experience with gambling.

Piney Woods

Flat Poker Chips

Tom's lover and fiancée, whose father objected to their marriage. Like Tom, she is understood to be pure and innocent. She dies in the Duchess' arms.