Poker is one of the most played card games out there. The game is especially prevalent in the gambling arena.
Casinos and online gambling sites continue to see poker among the top games of choice when it comes to gambling. As much as you and your buddies have played poker
(and we know you’ve played a lot), you may be surprised at some of the fun facts you don’t know about the card game. Purely in the name of fun and out of a general love
for weird facts, we present six things you probably didn’t know about the game of poker.
Fact One: Presidential Guilty Pleasure
Many people are surprised when they find out that 19 United States presidents played poker on a regular basis - and had fun doing it! Names like Richard Nixon, Warren Harding, George Bush,
and Dwight Eisenhower all appear in the annals of presidents gone by with a love of good old-fashioned poker. Nixon is rumored to have cleaned up house while spending time in the Navy;
he won a supposed $6,000, which in today’s currency would be significantly more (about $43,000 in present day cash). Nixon put his winnings to good use, using them to fund his campaign
in the year 1946 - a campaign he emerged from victoriously. Talk about a winning streak!
Fact Two: A Man Really Died
If you’ve played much poker, then you are familiar with the term “dead man’s hand”. Have you ever wondered why people use this term to describe eights and Aces? Wild Bill Hickok, a gambler
and gunfighter in the Old West, was said to be shot while holding Aces and eights. This event took place in a town called Deadwood in South Dakota, where the gunfighter sat in a small saloon known
as Saloon #10. Interestingly, this saloon still stands today and is still serving drinks and providing a place for poker games. If you play a poker game at Saloon #10, you even get a special acknowledgement
for carrying a dead man’s hand. If you’re looking for some nostalgia and great poker, try visiting Deadwood. Try not to get shot, though.
Fact Three: American Roots
As it turns out, Poker got it’s start right alongside jazz music and fancy drinks in the state of New Orleans. Over 70 million Americans play poker today. We may never know who played the first hand
of poker or who invented it, but we do know it was an American-made invention (and a good one, at that). Because Poker first gained popularity in the territory of Louisiana, the French became one of
the game’s biggest fans. Those with the native tongue of French called the game “poque.” You can see how the name poker came about; as more English people began to move to Louisiana, the original
French term became what it is today: poker. As you enjoy the fireworks this month celebrating our country, feel free to play a game of poker. It’s as American as Independence Day.
Fact Four: The Eight Year Game
You heard right - the longest game of poker ever played is on record as having lasted eight years, five months, and three days. Obviously, no official documentation of this remains; however, the theatre
where the exhaustingly long game took place claims that it truly did happen. Found in Tombstone, Arizona, the Bird Cage Theatre may be a fun place to visit. However, we don’t recommend that you try
playing for eight years straight - that can’t be good for your health.
Fact Five: Not Impossible, but Highly Unlikely
Alright, we know this one has been keeping you up at night: can you ever happen upon the same combination of cards throughout the span of your entire life? Well, probably not. Unless you play poker
at least ten times daily and live past 100 years old, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll ever get the same combination twice. You math people out there might appreciate this statistic: the chance of getting the
same combo is about one in 2.5 million. You’re welcome. You may now sleep without distraction.
Fact Six: Dirty Clothes For Good Luck
An old superstition holds that playing poker in not-so-fresh clothing is the secret to a winning streak. Do dirty clothes bring you good luck? If you’re the superstitious sort, you may want to wear some
well-worn dirty socks to your next poker match. Is the “luck” gained from dirty clothes worth offending the other players’ noses? We’ll leave that up to you to decide.
There you have it: six fun, weird facts about poker that you have probably never heard before. Use your newfound knowledge to impress your poker buddies,
or simply revel in the fact that you’re a little smarter than you were yesterday concerning one of your favorite games.
Casinos and online gambling sites continue to see poker among the top games of choice when it comes to gambling. As much as you and your buddies have played poker
(and we know you’ve played a lot), you may be surprised at some of the fun facts you don’t know about the card game. Purely in the name of fun and out of a general love
for weird facts, we present six things you probably didn’t know about the game of poker.
Fact One: Presidential Guilty Pleasure
Many people are surprised when they find out that 19 United States presidents played poker on a regular basis - and had fun doing it! Names like Richard Nixon, Warren Harding, George Bush,
and Dwight Eisenhower all appear in the annals of presidents gone by with a love of good old-fashioned poker. Nixon is rumored to have cleaned up house while spending time in the Navy;
he won a supposed $6,000, which in today’s currency would be significantly more (about $43,000 in present day cash). Nixon put his winnings to good use, using them to fund his campaign
in the year 1946 - a campaign he emerged from victoriously. Talk about a winning streak!
Fact Two: A Man Really Died
If you’ve played much poker, then you are familiar with the term “dead man’s hand”. Have you ever wondered why people use this term to describe eights and Aces? Wild Bill Hickok, a gambler
and gunfighter in the Old West, was said to be shot while holding Aces and eights. This event took place in a town called Deadwood in South Dakota, where the gunfighter sat in a small saloon known
as Saloon #10. Interestingly, this saloon still stands today and is still serving drinks and providing a place for poker games. If you play a poker game at Saloon #10, you even get a special acknowledgement
for carrying a dead man’s hand. If you’re looking for some nostalgia and great poker, try visiting Deadwood. Try not to get shot, though.
Fact Three: American Roots
As it turns out, Poker got it’s start right alongside jazz music and fancy drinks in the state of New Orleans. Over 70 million Americans play poker today. We may never know who played the first hand
of poker or who invented it, but we do know it was an American-made invention (and a good one, at that). Because Poker first gained popularity in the territory of Louisiana, the French became one of
the game’s biggest fans. Those with the native tongue of French called the game “poque.” You can see how the name poker came about; as more English people began to move to Louisiana, the original
French term became what it is today: poker. As you enjoy the fireworks this month celebrating our country, feel free to play a game of poker. It’s as American as Independence Day.
Fact Four: The Eight Year Game
You heard right - the longest game of poker ever played is on record as having lasted eight years, five months, and three days. Obviously, no official documentation of this remains; however, the theatre
where the exhaustingly long game took place claims that it truly did happen. Found in Tombstone, Arizona, the Bird Cage Theatre may be a fun place to visit. However, we don’t recommend that you try
playing for eight years straight - that can’t be good for your health.
Fact Five: Not Impossible, but Highly Unlikely
Alright, we know this one has been keeping you up at night: can you ever happen upon the same combination of cards throughout the span of your entire life? Well, probably not. Unless you play poker
at least ten times daily and live past 100 years old, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll ever get the same combination twice. You math people out there might appreciate this statistic: the chance of getting the
same combo is about one in 2.5 million. You’re welcome. You may now sleep without distraction.
Fact Six: Dirty Clothes For Good Luck
An old superstition holds that playing poker in not-so-fresh clothing is the secret to a winning streak. Do dirty clothes bring you good luck? If you’re the superstitious sort, you may want to wear some
well-worn dirty socks to your next poker match. Is the “luck” gained from dirty clothes worth offending the other players’ noses? We’ll leave that up to you to decide.
There you have it: six fun, weird facts about poker that you have probably never heard before. Use your newfound knowledge to impress your poker buddies,
or simply revel in the fact that you’re a little smarter than you were yesterday concerning one of your favorite games.
