New in paperback, in English and German

The Ultimate
Poker Book
of Useless Facts

For poker players and fans

Legendary hands, crazy bets, scandals, bad beats, and 111 unbelievable true stories. Not a strategy guide. Not a textbook. The book you retell at the table.

Order on Amazon.com Read a sample

Also available in German: Das ultimative Poker-Buch

Cover of The Ultimate Poker Book of Useless Facts

Cover der deutschen Ausgabe Das ultimative Poker-Buch

111Stories

111chapters, each one its own story

9parts, from bad beats to pop culture

3labels: Documented, Lore, Disputed

2editions: English and German

What is inside

Nine parts. 111 stories.

From the only hand that beats four aces to why the ace of spades looks more important than the other three.

Part I

When the Deck Loses Its Mind

Royal flush against quads, $12.7 million before the flop, and a single out on the river.

Part II

From the Paddle Steamers to the World Series

How a game traveled from the Mississippi to Las Vegas and never left.

Part III

Bracelets, Champions, and the Magic of the Main Event

The people behind the bracelets and the nights that made them famous.

Part IV

Poker Players Will Bet on Anything

Prop bets, marathons, and wagers nobody in their right mind should have accepted.

Part V

Screen Names, Railbirds, and the Digital Wild West

The online boom, its heroes, its nicknames, and its crashes.

Part VI

Superusers, Fake Chips, and the Dark Side

God mode, counterfeit chips, and the scandals that changed the game for good.

Part VII

Poker Players Are Different

Rituals, superstitions, quirks, and people you could not make up.

Part VIII

Cards, Chips, and Words You Never Questioned

Why cards get punched, why a card gets burned, and why there is no color code.

Part IX

Poker Leaves the Cardroom

Poker in movies, politics, pop culture, and places nobody expects it.

Sample: chapter 10

Five Years at the Table for One Royal Flush

Documented

649,740. That is how many five-card hands it takes for one royal flush. In Hold'em you see seven cards instead of five, so the number gets friendlier: one chance in 30,940. Sounds almost doable. At four hours of poker a week, that is five to six years. And that is the flattering version.

Every story wears a label.

Poker runs on legends. So every chapter tells you how solid the story is. And every chapter comes with a source.

Documented

Backed by sources. Numbers, dates, and names, all verifiable.

Lore

The legend as told at the table. Quite possibly true, never proven.

Disputed

Two versions, one argument. We show both and tell you where it wobbles.

Poker facts from the book

Four questions almost nobody can answer.

A few stories from the book to read right here. Free, with sources and with a label.

Chapter 10

What Are the Odds of a Royal Flush?

1 in 649,740. And why it still takes years at the table to see one.

What beats four aces?

Only one hand beats four aces. In 2008 it happened on live TV.

The dead man's hand: which cards did Wild Bill really hold?

Aces and eights, says the legend. No source from 1876 says so.

Why is the ace of spades special?

It is not design, it is a tax. And forging it got you hanged.

All poker facts

Editions

Two editions. One dog.

US edition