67 Not Out: The Dead Man Who Won His Son A Large Amount Of Money

Friday, August 19

The Dead Man Who Won His Son A Large Amount Of Money - By Coincidence

I like some of the old classic coincidence stories. How accurate they are is hard to say, as time tends to alter the tales like Chinese Whispers. Here's the story of Robert Fallon, who won his son a large some of money - but when he was dead!

Back in 1858 a Robert Fallon from England went to San Francisco and got involved in a game of poker at the Bella Union saloon. He was accused of cheating and was shot dead after winning $600.

The belief amongst the gambling fraternity was that money won by cheating was unlucky. The other players asked a passer by to take the dead man's place at the table and gave him the $600 as stake money. They thought they would have no trouble in winning back their money.

By the time the police arrived the new player had turned the $600 into $2200. The police asked for the dead man's $600 so that it could be given to Fallon's next of kin.

It turned out that the new player, plucked from the street at random, was actually Robert Fallon's son! He hadn't seen his father for over seven years.

After proving his identity the cash was his.