When I was a kid, Halloween was a ‘holiday’ we looked forward to almost as much as Christmas and certainly more than Thanksgiving. Our parents would take us out to as many neighborhoods as we could hit before it got too late - we would collect so much candy poundage, I’m surprised (and fortunate) I don’t have diabetes. Seriously. I remember dividing up my candy haul into separate item stacks. Mini Snickers bars were my favorite, but I also liked Hershey’s chocolate bars, for when I felt like a purist. But I remember scoring a few dozen each of the popular brands. Heck, once in a while, some generous house gave out full size candy bars. Of course there were cheapo’s who gave Dum Dum suckers.

But there was no fear of people in the late 70’s when I was a professional 11 year old trick-or-treater. Seems that in the mid 80’s, going house-to-house trick-or-treating became dangerous. Seriously, how many actual news stories did you read of people randomly poisoning Halloween candy? I read none. But Halloween, as a cottage industry for kids collecting candy, dried up by and large by the second Reagan Administration.

Now, I can count on one hand how many trick-or-treaters come to our house every Halloween. For comparison, Halloween 1983, I was sent back to the grocery store by my mother in order to replenish our candy supply from all the kids who came by. By 2000, I entertained the idea of skipping the candy buying altogether. Not many Halloweens ago, I don’t think one kid rang our doorbell for free candy. Preposterous.

Oh well. But dressing up in costumes is still fun. For 2007, looks like Harry Potter-themed costumes will be all the rage, perhaps costumes from Shrek the Third and Transformers. The Simpsons might be big this Halloween, too, but be a little different, be Krusty the Klown. Star Wars characters are still hot, too. For adult couples, it’s always fun to go as a themed pair. Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky have come and gone, of course, but there’s still the popular Pimp and Ho, criminal and cop, Alice and White Rabbit. Some sexy / adult costumes are sometimes just… weird, as evidenced by the construction girl costume and her traffic cone brassiere.

Interesting Facts About Poker
By Adel Awwad

Every gambling enthusiast loves a good game of Poker. Conversely, every trivia player loves a good does of trivia. So, for the gambler a set of poker rules, a deck of cards, some poker chips and an place to ante-up will suffice, but what about all of those trivia lovers out there? Guess what, there a ton of fun and interesting facts about poker that trivia enthusiasts are sure to love. Let’s take a look at some of these amazing poker facts below.

Did you know that nearly 50 million Americans partake in the game of poker every year? Poker is an incredibly popular game, even more so with its increasing availability on the Internet. Further, poker has grown in leaps in bounds: no longer is it just a Thursday night gathering for avid Poker players, it is also a big time gambling business. Such a fact is proven when statistics indicate that some 70 million standard decks of playing cards are sold every single year!

Another amazing poker fact that you can use to astonish your friends is the fact that President Richard Nixon used a large sum of money that he won in a poker game to fund his first campaign for Congress! That’s right, after winning a cool six grand playing poker with his Navy buddies; Nixon won his way into office with his big poker winnings.

Is Richard Nixon the only famous person to be noted to play poker? Of course not! In fact, Groucho Marx earned his name from his poker playing tendencies. Groucho Marx used to wear a grouch bag around his neck all the time. Do you know what was in that grouch bag? You guessed it—his poker money!

Alternatively, we can take a look at John Mantagu, the Earl of Sandwich. Mantagu venerated the game of poker, so much so that he would often engage in hours of gaming and would actually refuse to leave the tables to eat. His solution? He would have someone serve him bread and meat. So, not only do we have the Earl of Sandwich to thank for our noontime meals, we also owe the fascinating game of poker a tribute for the sandwich.

Finally, the origins of poker remain highly debated. Conversely, what there seems to be absolutely no debate about is that poker is here to stay. Poker, possessing both a fascinating history and recreational appeal will continue to be played both online and in brick-and-mortar casinos everywhere!

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