[JTingly]

Playing cards were invented in China
A fifth suit was added in 1937 but never caught on because people had to buy all new decks
At least 65,000,000 Americans regularly play poker
Dead mans hand is Aces and Eights
Getting dealt 10,2 is referred to as Doyle Brunson because he won back to back World Series with the hand.
In the 1800s, 2,000 to 2,500 riverboat gamblers played poker on American Waterways. By contemporary accounts, no more than four of these poker players were honest all the time. A straight beat a flush at this time.
Las Vegas Casinos are not legally obligated to pay off their gambling debts
Due to French influence, Spades represent Royalty, Diamonds represent Merchants, Clubs represent the peasants, and hearts represent the clergy.
Edmond Hoyle lived to be 97, but died 150 years before Poker was invented.
Playing cards were introduced in Europe in the 1300s
When Columbus landed in 1492 in North America, his men plucked wide leaves from trees, drew pictures on them and played cards.
Historians generally agree that Bill Hickock was a lousy poker player.
Groucho Marx got his name from carrying his poker money in a "grouch bag"
Former President Richard Nixon won $6,000 playing poker in his first two months in the U.S. Navy during WWll. That is roughly equal to $42,640 in 2004 dollars. He used that money as well as more poker winnings to finance his run for the U.S. Congress in 1946, which he won.

I thought the nixon one was amusing and that the dead man hand one was funny too.

Source: http://www.thegamblersedge.com/fun_poker_facts.htm

[geline40]

wow, that was a great research, jtingly and very informative and useful to those who are constantly in this forum... hmmm, Spades - royalty, diamonds - merchants, clubs - peasants, hearts - clergy - I didn't know this until now, it truly represent almost all sectors of society... thanks...

[JTingly]

Haha, no problem, just put it in a simple google search. Yeah, i thought that the class was pretty interesting too when i first learned about it. I also found that the "When Columbus landed in 1492 in North America, his men plucked wide leaves from trees, drew pictures on them and played cards. " was really interesting as well.

[geline40]

Yes, there are many interesting things that we can find in cyberspace like
histories, origins, tutorials, and many more. We just have to make full use of them while we can.

[JTingly]

Yup, hehe, cyberspace, i haven't heard that in awhile! But the hard thing about it is to find the right tutorials, facts, etc. A lot of people just write random crap, and you can just find that come up in your search engine. Do you know any good "searching" techinques gel?

[Thumperfive]

interesting trivia.. now, who can tell me where Dead Man's Hand came from, the aces and eights?

[JTingly]

Legend holds that Wild Bill Hickok was shot to death during a poker game in Deadwood, South Dakota, and that the hand he held was two pair, black aces and black eights. On that most people agree. The fifth card is not known for certain. In order of credibility, the following kickers have been suggested:

Five of Diamonds
The actual card is supposedly on display in Deadwood, previously on display at the Stardust in Las Vegas.
Nine of Diamonds
Listed below in the glossary, this card was supposedly reported by first hand accounts, and is used in a recreation in Deadwood.
Queen of Clubs
On display at Ripley's Believe it or Not.
King of Spades
Appeared in the 1936 movie The Plainsman with Gary Cooper as Hickok.

[MHJ]

Cool stuff. There was quite a bit there that I was unaware of!

[JTingly]

Yup, thats why their called "fun facts" its just facts that you dont know, but their tedious, yet its interesting.