4 Fun Facts & Myths About Poker Through The Years!

Poker is the most popular and romanticized card game in the world. There has been songs written about Poker, movies made about Poker, all other media and even careers!

Out of so many years of play come a few interesting legends, strange superstitions, and (almost) unbelievable facts. Let’s have a look!

There Was Once A Poker Game That Lasted 8 Years!

From 1881 through 1889, the Bird Cage Theatre in Tombstone, Arizona, hosted a poker game that was said to have lasted 8 years! Poker was played continuously 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and stakes were high, with a $1,000 buy-in.

Having been so long ago, there is obvious conjecture over the validity of it being 24 hours uninterrupted, however an amazing story nonetheless, and for sure would have been an unreal experience to have joined that table.

Nixon Financed His Presidential Campaign With Poker Winnings

Former President and famous for watergate scandal Richard Nixon supposedly funded his first political campaign with poker winnings.

Richard Nixon left his job as a lawyer at age 29 to join the US Navy. Here he learnt how to play poker and supposedly became a bit of a hustler with serious game. He returned from his service with thousands of dollars in winnings, which he used to fund his first run for political office in 1946!

James Udall, a former Navy comrade, playfully recalled during a 1970 Life magazine interview how he “once saw him bluff a lieutenant commander out of $1,500 with a pair of deuces.”

Given Nixon’s ability under pressure I think this one could actually have some legitimacy to it.

The Kings From The Deck Of Cards Is Based On Real Kings

French card-makers in the 16th century standardized the suits and designated four kings:

• King David of Israel (from the Old Testament) - King of spades.
• Alexander the Great, BC King of Macedonia - King of clubs.
• King Charlemagne of France, and the first Holy Roman Emperor - King of hearts.
• Roman Caesar Augustus or Julius Caesar. This is undecided - King of diamonds.

All The Possible Hand’s From Texas Hold’Em Poker

As Texas Hold’Em uses a total of seven cards to form a five-card hand, there are around 133 million possible combinations! Meanwhile, in a standard game of poker with a 52-card deck, there are more than 2.5 million possible combinations of five cards!

The best hand in Poker is the Royal Flush. To get this hand, according to Courtney Taylor, PhD, a mathematician at Anderson University - the odds of getting a royal flush are 649,740 to 1.

Now you know how lucky those winning hands really are. Don’t chase the river!