70 Fun Facts About Poker

Hidden 'lipstick' cameras first showed viewers face-down cards on Late Night Poker in which year?

Late Night Poker premiered on Britain's Channel 4 in 1999; tiny under-table 'lipstick' cameras beneath a glass table showed viewers each player's face-down cards, the innovation that made televised poker watchable.

What term describes a poker player who plays few hands but bets aggressively when they do?

Tight-aggressive (TAG) players enter few pots but bet and raise hard when they do; the loose-aggressive LAG style plays many more hands with the same force.

Which poker variant deals four private cards, exactly two of which must be used with three community cards?

Omaha Hold'em deals each player four private cards and requires exactly two of them to be combined with three of the five board cards; Pot-Limit Omaha is its most widely played form.

What is a 'tell' in poker?

A tell is a change in behaviour that hints at a hand: a trembling hand, a glance at the chips, sudden stillness. Players sometimes fake one, which is why most cultivate a poker face.

Once suits are disregarded, how many distinct hand ranks exist in standard five-card poker?

Ignoring suits, the 2,598,960 possible five-card hands collapse into 7,462 distinct values across nine categories; 2,860 of those values are one-pair hands, the most of any category.

What specific two-pair hand is historically known as the 'Dead Man's Hand'?

Aces and eights, both black, form the Dead Man's Hand, the cards Wild Bill Hickok supposedly held when shot from behind in a Dakota Territory saloon in 1876; Frank Wilstach's 1926 biography fixed the pairing in popular lore.

What poker term describes short-term results swinging away from long-term expected value?

Variance in poker refers to the statistical measure of how a player's actual results will vary from their expected outcome over a specified period, leading to both upswings and downswings.

What poker concept refers to future bets a player can win if they complete their drawing hand?

Implied odds count the extra bets a player expects to win later if a draw completes, so a flush draw can be worth chasing even when the immediate pot odds look short.

What is the commission fee taken by a cardroom or casino from the pot of a poker cash game?

The rake is the cardroom's cut, typically a few percent of each pot up to a fixed maximum; some rooms take nothing when a hand ends before the flop, a policy known as 'no flop, no drop'.

What is it called when a player with a statistically strong hand loses to an opponent who catches an improbable card?

A bad beat is losing with a hand that was a heavy favourite when the money went in; a one-outer arriving on the river is the textbook case.

What term describes a player's share of the pot, calculated from their probability of winning it?

Equity is a player's share of the pot in expectation: the probability of winning times the pot, plus, when a split is possible, the chance of a chop times its size.

What is the term for a draw that needs helpful cards on both of the last two streets?

Also called runner-runner, it is a long shot; a flush needing both cards comes in roughly one time in 24.

Who was voted the first World Series of Poker Main Event champion in 1970?

Johnny Moss was elected champion by his fellow players at the 1970 event, really a series of cash games among a handful of invited pros at the Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas; his prize was a silver cup.

Chris Moneymaker's 2003 Main Event win followed an online satellite costing how much?

PokerStars' records show the qualifying satellite cost $86; Moneymaker's own book title remembered it as $40. The 2003 Main Event was his first live tournament.

Which town does the Texas Legislature officially recognise as the birthplace of hold 'em?

Robstown, near Corpus Christi, was declared the birthplace of Texas hold 'em by a 2007 Texas Legislature resolution; Corky McCorquodale carried the game to Las Vegas in 1963.

In seven-card stud, what name is given to a player's first exposed card?

The door card is the first face-up card each seven-card stud player receives; in hold 'em the same name goes to the first flop card the dealer exposes.

What term describes a player betting all of their remaining chips in a single hand?

Going all-in means wagering every remaining chip; under table-stakes rules a player who does so for less than the full bet can only win the portion each opponent matched, the rest forming a side pot.

Who shot Wild Bill Hickok in the back of the head during a poker game in 1876?

Jack McCall shot Hickok from behind at Nuttal & Mann's Saloon No. 10 on 2 August 1876; acquitted by an impromptu miners' court, he was retried in Yankton and hanged in 1877.

In hold 'em, what are the forced bets made left of the dealer before cards are dealt called?

The blinds are forced bets posted by the two players left of the dealer before any cards arrive: a small blind of about half a bet, then a big blind of a full bet.

What is the title of Doyle Brunson's influential, originally self-published 1978 poker book?

Super/System, first self-published in 1978 as How I Made Over $1,000,000 Playing Poker, sold for $100; Brunson later said it cost him money by teaching amateurs how pros played. Mike Caro and David Sklansky contributed chapters.

What is the term for discarding your hand and forfeiting any claim to the pot?

To fold is to surrender your cards and any claim to the pot; in stud games it is signalled by flipping your face-up cards over, and chips already committed stay in the pot.

Which structure plays like a big-bet game up to a per-player maximum, after which the rest is dealt with no betting?

A cap sets a per-player maximum for the hand; once that ceiling is reached, everyone left is treated as though they had put in their whole stack and the remaining cards are dealt without betting.

What is the poker betting stage after private cards are dealt but before any community cards?

Preflop is the first betting round in hold 'em, taken once each player holds two private cards and before the three-card flop is spread.

What is the term for the top card of the deck being discarded face down before community cards are dealt?

The burn card is the top card dealt face down into the discards before each community-card deal, so a marked or glimpsed top card cannot be exploited.

In poker, what does the term 'Bullets' commonly refer to?

Bullets means a pair of aces as your two private cards; American Airlines and pocket rockets are the other common nicknames for the strongest starting hand.

What is a voluntary blind bet before the deal, typically double the big blind, giving last action pre-flop?

A straddle is an optional blind bet, usually twice the big blind, placed before cards are dealt, which gives the straddling player the right to act last before the flop.

Who created the Poker Hall of Fame in 1979 as a tourist attraction for his Horseshoe Casino?

Benny Binion founded the Poker Hall of Fame in 1979 to draw visitors to his Horseshoe; its first class included Wild Bill Hickok, and Barbara Enright became the first woman inducted in 2007.

Which downtown Las Vegas casino was for several years the only one in the city to offer hold 'em?

In 1969 the professionals were invited to play at the entrance of the Dunes on the Strip, and a year later the game's championship moved to the Horseshoe.

Which poker betting structure uses set bet sizes that cannot vary, smaller in early rounds and larger later?

Fixed-limit play sets every bet and raise at a preset size: in a $2/$4 game the bet is $2 for the first two rounds and $4 after that, the larger amount being the big bet.

Which 1998 film about underground high-stakes poker stars Matt Damon and Edward Norton?

Damon's Mike McDermott loses his whole $30,000 bankroll in one hand to Russian mobster Teddy KGB in the opening act.

Which player is said to be 'under the gun' in a hold 'em hand?

Under the gun is the seat that is first to act before the flop, immediately left of the big blind; the name captures betting with no information about anyone else's hand.

Bookmakers Terry Rogers and Liam Flood brought hold 'em to which continent in the 1980s?

Europe: Irish bookmakers Terry Rogers and Liam Flood brought hold 'em home from Las Vegas, and Rogers's Eccentric Club in Dublin staged the first Irish Open in 1980, the continent's oldest poker tournament.

In which country did poker first become widely popular during the early 19th century?

Poker took hold in the United States in the early 1800s, spreading from New Orleans up the Mississippi on riverboats; the French game Poque, played in Louisiana, is its likeliest direct ancestor.

Which poker player holds the record for the most World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets?

Phil Hellmuth won his 17th WSOP bracelet in 2023, far ahead of any rival; his first came as the 1989 Main Event champion aged 24, then the youngest ever until Peter Eastgate won at 22 in 2008.

What is the highest possible hand in standard poker?

A royal flush, ten through ace in one suit, tops the standard rankings; only five of a kind, which needs wild cards, can outrank it.

What is the term for the forced bet placed by all players before cards are dealt in some poker games?

An ante is a small forced bet every player posts before the deal; antes are standard in draw and stud games and are added in later tournament levels to punish overly tight play.

Jamie Gold's first prize for winning the 2006 WSOP Main Event was how much?

Jamie Gold collected $12 million for winning the 2006 Main Event, a record first prize that stood until Daniel Weinman's $12.1 million in 2023; the 2006 field of 8,773 was then the largest ever.

Which hand consists of five cards of sequential rank, all of the same suit, but not topped by an ace?

A straight flush is five consecutive cards of one suit, ranked by its top card; the ace may sit at the bottom of a five-high run, but it cannot link king and two.

What is the term for a bet or raise made with a weak hand in the hope that opponents will give up better ones?

A bluff is a bet or raise made with a weak hand to make better hands give up; a semi-bluff is one made with a hand that might improve on a later card.

What is the name of the marker used to indicate the player who is currently in the dealer position?

The dealer button, often simply called the "button," is a marker that rotates clockwise around the table to indicate the nominal dealer and thus the order of action for betting rounds.

A five-high straight, 5-4-3-2-A, is nicknamed a bicycle or what?

The wheel, or bicycle, is the five-high straight 5-4-3-2-A; an ace-high straight is a Broadway, and a suited wheel, the 'steel wheel', is the best low hand in ace-to-five games.

In hold 'em, the river is known as which numbered street of the hand?

The river is fifth street: the flop counts as third street, the fourth community card is fourth street, and the fifth and last card starts the final betting round.

Which player is one of only two people to have won the WSOP Main Event three times?

Stu Ungar won the Main Event in 1980, 1981 and, after years of drug addiction, again in 1997; his 1980 victory came in his first major hold 'em tournament.

What poker term describes a player who is considered inexperienced or unskilled?

A fish is a weak, inexperienced player; donkey, or donk, is the other common insult, while a whale is a weak player with an especially large bankroll.

Which of these hands is typically considered the lowest ranking in standard poker?

High card, bluntly known as 'nothing', is the lowest category: no pair, straight or flush, ranked by its top card, then the next, and so on.

What action involves matching the current highest bet to stay in the hand?

To call is to match the current highest bet and stay in the hand; a player without enough chips to match the full amount can put in what remains instead.

Who was the first player to win three WSOP bracelets in a single year, in 1973?

Puggy Pearson swept three bracelets at the 1973 series, one of them the Main Event itself; the three-in-a-year feat was not matched until 1993, when two players each did it.

When hands are revealed after betting on the final round, which player must show first?

The last player to bet or raise on the final round must show first; if no one bet on that round, the player immediately left of the dealer shows first instead.

In which frontier town was Wild Bill Hickok shot dead at the poker table in 1876?

Deadwood, then a lawless gold-rush camp in Dakota Territory, is where Hickok was shot at Saloon No. 10 on 2 August 1876; the town later became part of South Dakota.

What is the common nickname for a pair of kings as a starting hand?

Cowboys is the standard nickname for pocket kings, the second-best starting hand; queens are ladies, jacks are hooks, and a pair of twos is ducks.

In poker, if nobody has bet yet, what is declining to bet while keeping your hand called?

A check declines to bet while keeping your hand; a tap on the table with knuckles or a finger is the customary signal, and if everyone checks the round ends with a free card.

In Casino Royale (2006), Bond's poker game against Le Chiffre takes place in which country?

The game is set at the Casino Royale in Montenegro, though the scenes were filmed in the Czech Republic; Le Chiffre, banker to terrorists, has lost a client's fortune shorting an aerospace company.

What is the poker hand consisting of three cards of one rank and two cards of a different rank?

A full house, nicknamed a boat, is three cards of one rank plus two of another; hands are ranked first by the triplet, so queens full beats jacks full.

In a poker tournament, what term describes the stage when a player is one step away from the prize money?

The bubble is the stage just before the prize money, when one more elimination puts everyone else in the money; play slows to a crawl as short stacks avoid every risk.

What poker term refers to what is dealt face down to each player, seen only by them?

Hole cards are the private cards dealt face down to each player; a hold 'em player may use both, one or neither of them in the final five-card hand.

Which betting structure allows players to bet any amount of chips they have at any given time?

No-Limit poker, most famously seen in No-Limit Texas Hold'em, allows players to bet any amount of chips they have, up to their entire stack, at any point in the hand.

What is the name for the single fourth community card dealt after the flop in Texas Hold'em?

It is a single card, unlike the flop; in many structures the bet size doubles when it arrives.

What is the term for a card, often a community card, that appears to help nobody's hand?

A blank is a card, usually on the board, that appears to help nobody; brick or rag means much the same, while a wet or dynamic board is the opposite, full of draws.

If two players hold hands of the same rank, such as identical pairs, what usually breaks the tie?

That side card is the kicker; suits are never ranked, so hands that differ only by suit are of equal value and do split the pot.

In PLO, what is the maximum amount a player may bet or raise at any point?

In pot-limit Omaha a bet or raise may not exceed the current size of the pot, counting the starting pot, the action so far and the amount the raiser must first match; dealers are often asked to work it out.

What poker term refers to remaining players revealing their hands after the final betting round?

The showdown is the final stage of a poker hand when, if more than one player remains after the final betting round, they expose and compare their hands to determine the winner.

In pot-limit poker, making the maximum permitted raise is known as what?

Potting means making the full pot-size raise; a player can do it simply by announcing 'Pot', while smaller raises are allowed as long as they at least match any earlier raise in the round.

Cash games where the forced bets are at least $200/$400 are known by what slang name?

Nosebleed stakes is the slang for the very highest cash games, conventionally $200/$400 and up; for tournaments the label kicks in around a $25,000 buy-in.

Which Iranian card game did R. F. Foster's 1937 Hoyle call the 'undoubted' ancestor of American poker?

The French game Poque is the other usual suspect; historian David Parlett challenged the As-Nas theory in the 1990s.

How many cards were in the deck used in the earliest known form of poker?

The earliest known form used a 20-card deck, just the aces, kings, queens, jacks and tens, dealt five each to four players; an English actor described such a game on a steamboat in 1829.

Which English actor recorded an early description of poker played on a steamboat in 1829?

Joe Cowell, an English comic actor touring America, described a poker game aboard a Mississippi steamboat in 1829 in his 1844 memoir Thirty Years Passed Among the Players in England and America.

Which actress played poker-game host Molly Bloom in the 2017 film Molly's Game?

Jessica Chastain played Molly Bloom, the former skier who ran high-stakes underground poker games, in Molly's Game, Aaron Sorkin's 2017 directorial debut.

Which 16th-century game is considered the root of the 'straight' poker family and evolved into three-card brag?

Primero, a 16th-century Spanish and Italian vying game, evolved into three-card brag, the gentleman's game popular around the time of the American Revolutionary War.

Which University of Alberta bot 'essentially weakly solved' heads-up limit hold 'em, per a 2015 Science paper?

Cepheus, built by the University of Alberta's Computer Poker Research Group, was shown in Science in January 2015 to lose under one milli-big-blind per game against a worst-case opponent, 'essentially' solving heads-up limit hold 'em.

The full game tree of No-Limit Hold'em is thought to involve more than how many possible decisions?

That is far more than the number of atoms in the observable universe, so the game remains unsolved in full.