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Ever wondered where poker card suits originated? Actually they were thought to be an early Chinese gambling invention of around the 9^th Century. What we now know as Spades, Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs started life a little differently. There were still four suits but these were depicted as coins, a string of coins, a number of strings and then loads more strings on the last suit. These were thought to be ‘money cards’ used for the earliest form of poker – the card itself became the stake.

After growth in popularity through India and Persia, the suits transformed to become a ring, cup, sword and baton – typical signs of wealth, royalty and so on. By way of Egypt they made their way to Europe in the 1300’s. Suits began to vary by country influenced by indigenous symbols. For instance, in Germany they became hearts, bells, leaves and acorns – still used in areas of Germany today.

It was the influence of French King Charles VI that produced the suits we know and use now. The spade, taken from the German leaf symbol, was designed to represent royalty. The club, taken from the German symbol of the acorn represented peasants. Hearts remained the same and stood for the church while diamonds, traditionally the ring, represented the merchants.

A real poker face

Finally, a deck of cards is said to hold religious and astronomical significance. The four suits are the four seasons, red and black are day and night, 13 cards per suit are the 13 phases of the lunar cycle, while 52 cards in the deck are the number of weeks in a year. What’s more, if the value of all cards in the deck is added, it reaches 365 (1 joker added) which represents the number of days in the year – add the other joker and you have a leap year! Of course, all of the above was said to be the excuse of a 15^th Century poker player who, when caught with a deck of cards, claimed their intended purpose was that other than gambling!

Probably the most active player in the professional poker world, Thuan “Scotty” Nguyen ranks among the highest earners among tournament players. He is known in the poker circuit as The Prince. It took quite some time for this Vietnamese refugee to attain his success in the professional poker world. To date, he is the only person to win both a World Series of Poker Main Event and an H.O.R.S.E. World Championship.

He escaped from Vietnam in a small boat and because of his refugee status was given safe passage to the United States. When he arrived in the US with his family, they had a very small amount of money and material possessions with them. He was just 14 years old then. After a year in Chicago, his family then moved to California where he learned how to play the game of poker.

Nguyen began his poker career by first becoming a card dealer to support his family. This served as his training ground. While a dealer, he observed the winners and losers. With this knowledge in hand, he switched sides and in 1988 Nguyen started playing professional poker in Las Vegas to make his family more financially secured. Well, now we know that his gamble paid off.

His other poker nickname is The Train because he projects a fearless aggressive persona while on the poker table yet he is relaxed and easy going. He is also talkative and usually does a running commentary while a match is in session that often distracts his opponents. His 80% win rate at final tables is impressive as well. He says that this might be because of his familiarity of the situation because his been there a lot of times before. He also has this all or nothing attitude and he does take it one hand at a time because winning is everything for him. Plus he has a lot of confidence to boot.

He is also probably one of the best loved poker players by fans because of his charming personality. One of the best all around players around, there’s never a dull moment with him around. He is also famous for saying yeah baby often during competitions and he plays with lots of emotions. He was the one who made up the phrase “that’s poker baby” to refer to a bad beat. One memorable Scotty Nguyen moment happened during the 1998 World Series of Poker Main Event where a full house (8-8-8-9-9) was dealt on the table. Nguyen said to his opponent Kevin McBride, “You call, gonna be all over baby!” McBride called. Nguyen won with a full of 9s.

Though after that momentous win, tragedy struck the Nguyen household. The day after the win, his brother was hit by a car in Vietnam and died. This is the reason why you won’t see Nguyen wear his 1998 WSOP bracelet anymore.

To date, he holds five WSOP bracelets. Aside from the 1998 WSOP bracelet from the $10,000 No Limit Hold’em World Championship, he has also won at the 1997 $2,000 Omaha 8 or Better, 2001 $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha, 2001 $5,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Split Eight or Better and at the 2008 $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship.

Nguyen’s first World Poker Tour event title came in 2006 by defeating Michael Mizrachi in a heads up match during the fourth season of the Gold Strike World Poker Open. His A-Q of spades for a flush won over Mizrachi’s A-J off suit on the first hand of the heads up match. With this win, he is only one of five people who have won at both the main event of World Poker Tour and World Series of Poker titles.

During the 2007 World Series of Poker’s Seven Card Stud High Low Split Event, he placed second to Eli Elezra. After the said event, Nguyen stated that he didn’t played cash games during the last two years because he wants to play in a friendly environment which he can’t find in a serious cash game.

He just missed getting into the final table of the 2007 World Series of Poker main event where he finished in 11^th place in a field of 6,000 plus competitors. That stint earned him prize money worth $476,926. As of 2008, his total earnings have been estimated to reach at least $9,700,000. Aside from the WSOP and WPT events, he has also appeared on the Ultimate Blackjack Tour playing Elimination Blackjack.

In 2003, he co-starred in the poker movie, The Big Blind. He has been a guest of the show Late Night with Conan O’Brien in April of 2004. Other than that, he also appeared on the television via appearances in Poker Superstars International, NBC’s National Heads up Poker Championship, and Poker After Dark.

Although he has achieved worldwide fame, he still goes back to his native country. He spends some of his poker earnings on his family that still lives in Vietnam. One thing he would like to improve on is his money management skills. He spends most of his earnings to have a good time.

Beth is on a winning streak is head to head with the chip leader. She was dealt pocket jacks. She placed a minimum bet and got called. Luck seems to be on her side when the flop was J-8-K. She then bet $300 and the chip leader called. Turn was 8. Full house! She bet $500 and the leader called again. The river is a 3. Beth then went all in. The chip leader called. Leader had K-K. Beth’s lucky streak has ended.

It’s the first time Marie played in Las Vegas. She folded her first hand which is 3-7 off suit. Then on her second hand she was dealt pocket aces. She raised the pot four times the big blind. One player called and the rest folded. Marie then went all in and the player called, flipping 4-5 diamonds. The flop is ace of spades, ace of diamonds and three of diamonds. Marie though that nothing can beat her four aces. Well she thought wrong. Turn was rag but the river was 2 of diamonds giving her opponent a straight flush.

Alice picked pocket aces, both black so she bet $200 on it. Her opponent raised it. Alice then went all in thinking this might make the other player fold but instead the player called and showed his 6-3 diamonds. The flop is A-10-J with one diamond. Alice thought she has this match. The turn is 7 of diamonds. Now Alice became uneasy. One more diamond and she’s going home empty-handed. Finally, the river was revealed. It was 5 of diamonds.

Henry has pocket aces with only five players in a home game. He decided to raise pre-flop. Then someone re-raised him so Henry went all in. The other player called while the rest of the table folded. The other guy opened his A-9 hand. Henry is sure that this is his game when the flop was K-5-3 rainbow. Then the turn was a 9. Henry prayed that river is not another 9. Well, his prayer was unanswered. River was a 9.