Why did John Oakhurst choose the two of clubs to bear his epitaph?

Throughout the Bret Harte story, "The Outcasts of Poker
Flat," there are metaphors about cards that used by Mr. Oakhurst.  For one, he hides the
cards when the situation worsens.  Then, he tells Tom that they have had a streak of bad
luck since they left, but he says, "If you can hold your cards all along, you're all
right."  Finally, Harte writes,

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Mr. Oakhurst set himself coolly to the losing
game before him...."There's one chance in a
hundred"

he tells Tom Simson,
and intends to stay, but his better self urges him to go, as well, for help. But, his
luck has remained bad and Mr. Oakhurst has "turned in his chips."  He has written his
epitaph on the deuce of clubs perhaps because it is the low card in the deck, usually a
losing card.  And, sometimes too, it is a wild card; Mr. Oakhurst hoped he had a wild
card, but it was dark and solitary, so it had no value, no luck attached to it.  Mr.
Oakhurst leaves a symbol that he cannot play against the odds.