Former US president Richard Nixon was a poker player

It turns out that former US president Richard Nixon, best known for the Watergate, was not indifferent to the game of poker. He became passionate for the game during his military service at the Navy. Nixon was not an ordinary player, his abilities regarded as above average.

His brother in arms, James Udall, has written the following in his memoirs:

‘He was not an aggressive player, but at the same time was not afraid to risk or bluff. His talent and courage was noted by many of his opponents. I’ve even seen him bluffing with a pair of deuces when there was $1 500 in the pot once’.

In the army Nixon was receiving a monthly allowance in amount of $150, but he has managed to earn over $7 000 playing poker for two years, which is equivalent to $100 000 today. Political scientist Steven Ambrose had admitted that the money won in poker, the future 37th US president invested in his first electional campaign.

In his autobiography, Nixon wrote:

‘I’ve realized, that players who have good hand, usually talk less and act calm than the rest; But those who are trying to bluff, behave noisy and bustling’.