Poker Trivia Question #7

Q: Which professional poker player is nicknamed “Robin Hood”?

A: Barry Greenstein, much to his dismay, is sometimes referred to as “Charity Barry,” or “The Robin Hood of Poker.” He gives all of his tournament winnings to charity, some $3 millions dollars to date, and counting.

Poker Trivia Question #6

Q: Who was the first player to win $1 million in tournament play?

A: Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson. Brunson has won ten World Series of Poker bracelets throughout his career, tied with Johnny Chan for the record. He is also one of only four players to have won consecutive main events at the World Series of Poker, in 1976 and 1977.

Poker Trivia Question #5

Q: Which former U.S. president used some of his poker earnings to help fund his campaign for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives?

A: Ex-President Richard Nixon won $6000 during his first two months in the U.S. Navy in World War II, playing poker. His winnings were used to fund his first (and successful) campaign for the U.S. Congress.

Poker Trivia Question #4

Q: The winner of a called hand must show all four of his/her cards in Omaha Hi/Lo split to claim the pot. True of False?

A: True. At the Showdown, a player must show all four of his cards to win the pot. If he verbally misdeclares his hand, and has a better hand than he declares using different cards, then the dealer shall point this out if he notices it, but the dealer's failure to notice it shall not entitle a player to play the higher hand. A player does not need to declare which two cards from his hand he chooses to play. The dealer shall assist any player in reading of hands if the player is unsure of what his best five card hand is or if he misreads what his best hand is. The essence of this rule is the long-standing poker tradition that cards speak.

Poker Trivia Question #3

Q: Which hand in poker is called the “dead man’s hand”?

A: On August 2, 1876, while playing poker at Nuttal & Mann's "Saloon No. 10" in Deadwood, Wild Bill Hickok could not find an empty seat in the corner, where he always sat in order to protect himself against sneak attacks from behind, and instead sat with his back to the door; unfortunately, his previous caution proved wise, as he was shot in the back of the head with a double-action .45 caliber revolver by Jack McCall.

The saloon proprietor claimed that, at the time of his death, Hickok held a pair of aces and a pair of eights, with all cards black, and this has since been called a "dead man's hand".

Poker Trivia Question #2

Q: Which player went on to win the WSOP with just one chip?

A: Jack "Treetop" Straus (1930 - 1988)

Straus won the 1982 World Series of Poker main event, earning $520,000 and his second WSOP bracelet.

Most remarkable about Straus' 1982 win was that he came back from having just one $500 chip left at one point, which lead to the common saying among poker players, "A Chip and a Chair."

Although accounts vary, the most common story is that he pushed all his chips into the pot, was called, and lost the hand. Getting up he discovered he had one chip left over under a napkin on the table. Presumably because he didn't declare himself, "All-in," the tournament directors allowed him to continue playing. Modern lore says that this feat occurred at the final table, but the 1983 book The Biggest Game in Town, reports that this occurred on the first day.

Poker Trivia Question #1

Q: What is the name given to the best possible hand in high-low poker?

A: The Steel Wheel (A, 2, 3, 4, 5 suited)

The perfect hand in such a game is called a "steel wheel", A, 2, 3, 4, 5 of one suit, which plays both as perfect low and a straight flush high.

Note that it is possible, though unlikely, to have this hand and still lose money. If the pot has three players, and one other player has a mixed-suit wheel, and a third has better straight flush, the higher straight flush wins the high half of the pot, and the two wheels split the low half, hence the steel wheel wins only a quarter of a three-way pot.