Devil’s Royale: Surprising Poker Facts

Planning on attending Devil’s Royale casino night at Polytech’s campus? Want to learn some interesting facts about poker to have some talking points for the night? Look no further, because we’ve got you covered!

Poker’s origin story

This game was originally called “poque” and started with the French colonists in New Orleans during the 17th century. Once the Louisiana Purchase occurred, more English speaking settlers moved to New Orleans and picked up the game. With the English influence, its name evolved to what we know today as poker. It has since been played and enjoyed in the United States for over 200 years.

Evolution of the game

Were you thinking that poker was always played with a full 52 card deck? Surprisingly, that’s not how it was played in the beginning. At first, it was played with 20 cards and only 4 players. Everyone received 5 cards, and the betting was on who had the best hand. It has since evolved to the classic game that we know today, although it does have many variants. The first time it was recorded that a game used a full 52 card deck was in 1834.

Poker chips, then and now

Poker chips are iconic to casinos and the game of poker. When the game first started, chips weren’t used and instead players bet with items of value like gold nuggets, coins, and even sometimes gold dust. This led some gaming houses to create and implement standardized chips so that betting was easier to manage. These first chips were made of varying materials such as clay, wood, bone and ivory and had beautiful artwork on them. Chips like these were in circulation near the end of the 1700’s. Then came the chips that we know today, which started appearing around the 1800’s.

Odds for the best hand

Every poker player is hoping to get a royal flush. To get this winning hand, you need to have the ace, king, queen, jack, and ten of the same suit. The odds of receiving this hand are 649,740 to 1. This may seem like difficult odds, but it is not impossible. If you play often enough, you are bound to get this winning hand every now and then.

Longest poker game played

Back in 1881, there was a poker tournament that lasted years. 8 years, 5 months, and 3 days to be exact. This tournament was held in Tombstone, Arizona at the Bird Cage Theatre, which you can still visit today if you’re up for a day trip! Another fun fact about this tournament was that it had a staggering buy-in of $1000. That would be about $27,000 by today’s standards.

Largest pot in a live game

While you can win some serious money playing poker, few games come close to the largest pot on record. The game had a wildly large pot which was worth $2.5 million when all was said and done. Poker legends Tom Dwan and Paul Phua played against each other for the pot, and Paul Phua ultimately won with two aces in his hand while Tom Dwan had an ace and a queen.

Largest amount of players in a single game

The largest poker game was held on the Isle of Man and had a whopping 225,000 players. This game took place on October 5, 2015. Buy-in was just $1, which attracted many people. The players all had their eyes on the prize pool of $25,000 with the first place prize being $10,000.

If you’re interested in attending Devil’s Royale and trying your luck at poker, roulette, or blackjack, clear your calendar for October 28th from 8-11 pm. We’ll see you there!