Interesting facts about poker

Poker is a very old card game, which gained its popularity due to the simple rules and being highly attractive for players. And, indeed, it’s very easy to learn playing poker for basically everyone. Due to the fact that poker was and currently is so massively popular, everyone is talking about the game and it has a lot of legends (both interesting and not). We’ve collected only a small part of various facts about poker history and different areas outside of the tables, that will be interesting for all fans of the game.

A selection of interesting facts about poker

• It is said, that the name ‘poker’ is derived from the following words: German ‘Pochen’ and ‘Pochspiel’; French ‘Poque’; English ‘Brag’.
• In India people played with round cards and in China with elongated strips.
• In 1937 there was an attempt to introduce the fifth suit, which failed miserably, because too many people would need to buy new decks of cards.
• The four suits correspond to the four classes of people: spades corresponds to the nobility, diamonds to the traders, clubs to the peasants and hearts to the clergy.
• Previously ace was not the highest card in the deck, as it was considered the lowest one, and the highest was the king. Four kings correspond to the four great ruler: King of spades is David, the famous king of Israel; King of clubs is Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia; King of hearts represents Charlemagne of the Carolingian dynasty; and, finally, Caesar Augustus, the Roman emperor, who was killed on the Ides of March, appears in the form of the king of diamonds.
• There’s no accurate information about the fact, how playing cards appeared in Europe. It is possible they were imported from Arab countries or developed independently through observation of Arab players.
• Poker was born in Europe in 1526, evidenced by some literary sources.
• Did you know that sandwiches owe their existence to the love of the game? The duke of the Sandwich county (England), Sir John Montagu, was so addicted to card games, that he ordered to bring him meals right to the playing table, so he would not be distracted from the game. To let him easier hold the cards in his hand he had ordered his servant to put meat between two slices of bread, and that was how the first sandwich was made.
• July 3rd can rightfully be named the most expensive day in the history of poker. Nobody had ever won a pot so large. Antonio ‘The Magician’ Esfandiari took home over $18 millions, as a winner of an unprecedented tournament with a buy-in of $1 million. He outplayed Sam Trickett in a final heads-up.
• The most successful and therefore the richest poker player nowadays is considered Phil Ivey, whose fortune is estimated at approximately $25 millions.
• The     hand is associated with Doyle Brunson, who had won his first World Series of Poker bracelet holding this cards.
• It is told, that     (ace and king) combination is named after the famous tennis player Anna Kurnikova, who looks good, but never wins, as do this two cards, which are often found in the hands of the players.
• The fifth card is unfortunately still not known.
• In the US state of New Mexico to this day there is a law that states that if two candidates have equal number of votes, the winner is determined by any game. A real case occurred in 1998 in the town of Estancia. Both candidates for mayor - D. Farrington and D. Carlsson - scored the same number of votes. Carlsson offered to play craps, Farrington picked poker. Coin toss decided that candidates will play poker, Farrington won the heads-up match and became mayor.