VERY INTERESTING: POKER

 Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about

Facts About Poker – 5 of the Best!

1. The Bird Cage Theatre in Arizona once hosted a poker game that lasted 8 years.

I would not stake my life on this fun fact as most reports of this do say “unverified”. According to the tales told, the Bird Cage Theatre hosted a poker game called the Bird Cage Tournament, which started in 1881. The players were all about high stakes with a $1000 buy-in, and it is said that the game lasted 8 years, 5 months, and 3 days.

2. The very first poker chips were made from ivory, wood, clay, and bone.

Before poker chips, as we know them today came about, poker players used to bet with gold bars and nuggets and even gold dust. It soon became quite impossible to assign value to the rounds being played, and so the need for a poker currency was seen. The gaming houses at the time decided to make bone, wood, ivory, and clay chips to symbolize certain values. Poker players could exchange their money and gold for chips, much like it is done today.

3. January 1, 1998, was when the very first real-money online poker game was played.

Before 1998, online poker games were merely glitch gimmicks with no real money involved. On the 1st of January 1998, real money poker games became available online (on the website “Planet Poker”). This was the start of a multi-billion dollar industry. 

4. Early games of poker were played with a deck of just 20 cards.

According to the history buffs, players only started using 52 cards to play poker in the 1830s. Prior to this, only 20 cards were used with 4 players. Each player was given 5 cards, and the betting would start on whose hand was the best.

5. The very first time that a poker tournament was ever televised was in 1973. 

CBS Sports actually televised the World Series of Poker. Today, you can find many poker tournaments publicized on television, as well as online.

and as always have a chilled day from the Viking