Interesting Facts About Poker

by Siya Shetty Researcher

Poker is the world’s most popular card game. Be it live or online free poker, the popularity of the game surpasses all others. It is depicted typically as a more complicated game than the regular 3 Patti, but also has a gripping effect on its players. Poker is also a game that is skilled-based so it is not based purely on luck, making it much more competitive. The game has a vivid history of about 200 years, which also means it has seen some great moments.

Following are 5 of those mind-blowing poker facts that are bound to dazzle you:

1: Poker originated from the USA

The name of the most popular poker variant, Texas Hold’em might already give away the fact that Poker was started in the United States of America. The city of New Orleans in Louisiana is considered to be the birthplace of the iconic card game. The city of New Orleans has given the world some great entertainment sources. Cocktails were first served in the same city which is also known to be the birthplace of Jazz music.

Tracking down the exact location of where the first game was placed is not possible to be traced, but it has been confirmed that the game was developed & drafted in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

2: The earlier versions of Poker were played with only 20 cards

A deck of cards containing 52 cards has always been prominent in card games. A game of poker today has 52 card games as well as completing the poker hands order. The initial stages of the game though were played with 20 cards & four players. Each player was dealt with five cards & the players would bet on who had the best hand. It is believed by historians that the 52 card deck was introduced to poker in 1834.

3: In medieval times, a game of Poker lasted for about eight and a half years

The Bird Cage Theatre in Arizona shockingly hosted the longest game of poker that lasted a mind-boggling eight years, five months & three days, i.e over 73,000 hours. The game started in 1881 & lasted until 1989. The game also had a hefty minimum buy-in of 1000 dollars so only the elites of the time participated in the game.

4: Poker chips and how they came to be

Poker was initially played for gold dust, nuggets & coins. This created a problem of authenticity & also of betting amounts. The standard units needed to be set & hence poker chips were introduced. Gaming houses & saloons came up with the idea of poker chips & were made of ivory, bone, clay & wood back in the day. They had designs depicting values & were exchanged for money in the gaming house pretty much how it works nowadays in the poker world.

5: UK poker in the Guinness Book

Onchan in the Isle of Man, a self-governing part of the United Kingdom held the biggest game of poker in terms of the number of participants in June 2013. Poker stars hosted the tournament & had a $1 buy-in where the top reward was $25,000. This intrigued 225,000 people to take part in the tournament making it the world record for the largest poker game to have ever taken place.

From being played with 20 cards for gold dust and gold coins to the recent online times, the game of poker has come a long way. The game has seen so many advancements in the enormous time it has entertained mankind. From a time where only the elites played it to now when anyone, even someone who does not wish to put in money can play with poker no deposit bonus instantly being credited to your online wallets while playing on the web.

How much is the game going to evolve in the future & what all changes we might see, is only there for a time to decide. Till then, we can enjoy the multiple variants of poker anytime, anywhere!