While on their rest, the group is met by a pair of runaway lovers on their way to Poker Flat to get married. Once halfway there, all exiles other than Oakhurst decide to stop at noon for a rest, against Oakhurst's wishes. These four set out for a camp which is a day's journey away, over a mountain range. On his way out of town, he is joined by 'The Duchess', a saloon girl 'Mother Shipton', a madam and 'Uncle Billy', the town drunk and a suspected robber. He is among those sent away because of his great success in winning from those on the secret committee. The first of them is a professional poker player, 'John Oakhurst'. On November 23rd of 1850, four 'immoral' individuals are exiled from Poker Flat. In an effort to save what is left of the town and reestablish it as a 'virtuous' place, a secret society is created to decide whom to exile and whom to kill. The town has lost thousands of dollars, and has experienced a moral decline.
Poker Flat is, in the opinions of many, on a downward slope. The story takes place in a Californian community known as Poker Flat, near the town of La Porte.
