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Poker Facts you never knew:

Poker is one of the most popular card games across the world. How many of these interesting facts did you know?

• Playing cards were invented in China in 1120 AD. They were introduced to Europe in the 1300’s. The Jack used to be called the Knave in the middle ages. It was changed to the Jack because they started to put the first letter on the corners of the card and the King already took up the K.
• The origins of poker are unknown. There is a theory that the word may derive from the German verb ‘Pochen,’ which means to ‘bluff or brag.’
• Dead man’s hands are aces and eights. It received that name because it was the hand that Wild Bill Hickock had when he was murdered in 1876. The accepted version is that the 5 card hand was two black Aces and two black 8′s with the fifth card being the Queen of Clubs.
• The suits in the cards are due to French influence. Each suit represents the four classes of men. Spades represent the royalty. Hearts represent the clergy. Diamonds represent the merchants and Clubs represent the peasants.
• When Columbus came to the U.S shores in 1492, his men picked leaves from the trees and drew images on them in order to play cards.
• There are 2,598,960 potential 5 card poker hands with 52 cards.
• Each king in a deck of cards represents a king from history:
  Spades: King David.
  Hearts: Charlemagne.
  Diamonds: Julius Caesar
  Clubs: Alexander the Great
• There are 2 ‘one-eyed’ Jacks in a deck of cards. The Jack of hearts and the Jack of spades. The King of Diamonds is the only other one-eyed face card. This is because they are drawn in profile. The King of Hearts is called the “Suicide King” because he appears to be stabbing himself in the head.
• In 1937, a fifth suit was added to a deck of playing cards. This never took off as people did not want to have to buy new cards.
• There are beliefs that a deck of playing cards have significant meanings:
  The 52 cards in the deck represent the 52 weeks of the year.
  The four suits represent the four seasons; spring, summer, autumn and winter.
  The 13 cards per suit represent the 13 phases of the lunar cycle.
  If you add up all of the cards in a deck, you will get 364 days of the year plus one joker makes a total of 365.
• Las Vegas Casinos are not legally obligated to pay off their gambling debts.
• Unlike modern day poker, in early century poker the kings were the highest card in their suit and the ace was the lowest.
• The biggest pot ever played on online poker was worth $1.3 million.

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