At a first glance, Poker may seem like a pretty simple and straight forward gambling game, but believe it or not, there are lots of curious facts surrounding the game that are as interesting as the personalities of some of its elusive professional players. If you’re an avid player of the game yourself, keep in mind that being aware of such information is not going to increase anyone’s possibilities of winning at poker, however, it is always interesting to know curious details about a game that many people are so passionate about.
Going back a few decades, poker wasn’t nearly as popular as it is today. In fact, it was considered a recreational game by most. Poker’s big mainstream break came when ESPN televised the World Series of Poker. Throughout the 80’s and 90’s, poker tournaments received brief coverage, but nothing major. When ESPN decided to air full tournament play in 2003, poker became a national phenomenon in the U.S. and the influence rapidly spread to other countries. Two years later, there were millions of poker players all over the world. Nowadays thanks to the game has become even more popular thanks to online gambling and pages were you can learn to play it for free at freepoker.org.
As you may already know, Texas Holdem is by far the most popular poker variation. Did you know that it actually has an official recorded birthplace? Texas Holdem was first played in Robstown, Texas and dates back to the early 19th century (although the exact date is unknown). This popular poker variation got its name when a group of Texan gamblers brought it to Las Vegas in the 20th century. However, Texas Holdem didn’t become viral until it was brought to Las Vegas in the late 60’s by a group of Texan poker players that included two infamous characters: Doyle Brunson and Amarillo Slim.
A plethora of superstitions can be found in almost every culture and country, even in those that are advanced and modern. So it seems hardly surprising that there are superstitions galore in the world of poker too. Poker, as any other game of chance has lots of superstition surrounding it. One of the craziest beliefs of playing poker is to wear dirty clothes. According to legends, doing this can increase your odds by a landslide. If you are an animal lover, forget about having your dog with you when playing; according to the tales, if there’s a pooch in the room, you’ll most likely lose everything.
Poker will without a doubt, remain as one of the most popular card and gambling games in the next decades. No other game brings so much excitement, laughs and deceit to the table. Keep playing.