24 Winning Poker Facts

By Karin Lehnardt, Senior Writer

Published October 14, 2025

Historians note poker originated either from a 10th century Chinese domino-card game, or it's a descendant of a 16th century Persian game "As Nas."_[15]
The closest European predecessor to Poker is poque and the German game pochen, which both originated from the 16th century Spanish game primero._[15]
Around 1829, French colonists introduced Poque, a precursor to poker in their settlements in North America, especially New Orleans, where English speakers adopted features of the game. From there, it spread up the Mississippi River._[15]

A dead man's hand a pair of black aces and black eights

The Dead Man's Hand is so-named because it supposedly was the hand Wild Bill Hickok was holding when he was shot in the back. The hand consists of two aces and two eights._[9]
The biggest live poker tournament win in history is Antonio Esfandiari's 2012 victory. In a field of 48 players, he won over $18 million in the tournament._[7]
Early poker chips were made from stones, ivory, bone, clay, or small gold pieces._[13]
The website Planet Poker hosted the first online poker game on January 1, 1998, kickstarting what would become a multibillion dollar business._[12]
Before 1830, poker players would play with just 20 cards instead of the modern 52._[10]
CBS aired the first televised World Series of Poker in 1973._[10]
Richard Nixon won thousands of dollars in poker while stationed in Green Island during WWII, which he later used to fund his first run for political office._[3]
The International Mind Sports Association officially recognized poker as a mind sport, like chess and bridge. This recognition allows the game to be showcased at the World Mind Sports Games._[6]
The longest poker game in the world lasted 8 years, 5 months, and three days in the Bird Cage Theater in Tombstone, Arizona._[14]

During the 8 years, about $10 million was exchanged at the Birdcage Poker Table

The Geoffrey Parker Alligator Poker Set is the most expensive poker set in the world, and is valued at over $10.3 million. It is made from 18 carat white gold and diamond-encrusted poker chips with over 22,364 gems that are housed in an alligator hide case._[8]
The Stahl Meteorite Poker set is made from an actual meteorite, It also has five ivory dice made from mammoth tusk. The set is worth over $206,000._[8]
A standard poker chip set usually has 300 chips: 100 white pieces, and 50 pieces for every other color._[10]
Gregg Fisher holds the record for the largest poker chip collection in the world, at 2,222 chips._[11]

A royal flush is the strongest hand in poker and can't be beaten

The odds of getting a royal flush are 1 to 649,740._[10]
Poker chips are also called "checks" or "cheques."_[10]
Casinos prefer that players gamble with chips than with cash because people bet more with chips._[10]
Adding chips to your bet after a play is a type of cheating called "capping." Removing chips is called "pinching."_[10]
In Poker, an "Anna Kournikova" is a hand that looks good but doesn't play well._[1]
Andrei Karpov was losing a poker game so he put his wife up as a stake. When he lost, she left him for the winner._[4]
Actor Ben Affleck once won the California Stake Pokership Championship. He also once lost $40,000 in a single hand._[2]
Players tend to bet more when they are using poker chips instead of cash because chips "feel less real."_[5]

References

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