The Phantoms of Poker

The spooky season is upon us, and there are plenty of ghost stories featuring poker phantoms. Let’s take a look at a few of them and see if they give us chills!

In Muriel’s Restaurant in New Orleans, the ghost of the original owner, Pierre Antoine Lepardi Jourdan, is said to haunt the tables where he once lost it all in a hand of poker in 1814. According to legend, he meanders around the second-floor lounge in the form of a shimmering ball of light. This specter plays ghoulish games with shocked patrons. Many have observed objects being moved around throughout the restaurant.

To keep his spirit appeased and friendly, he even has his own reserved table! Each night, a candle is placed with a basket of French bread and a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. This is located in Muriel’s appropriately named Seance Lounge. It’s rumored that he might have also kept some of his servants around in their ghostly forms, as glasses have been observed moving on their own behind the bar. Could you meet Pierre Antoine at his table and play in a ghostly poker game?

That’s not the only poker ghost in the United States, though! The St. James Hotel in Cimmaron, New Mexico is said to be haunted by the ghost of former hotel guest Thomas J. Wright. In 1881, Wright played a poker game with the owner of the hotel. The owner was so sure that he had the winning hand that he bet the entire hotel. Everyone in the game folded except for Wright, who proved victorious. After his huge win, Wright decided to retire for the night. As he headed back to his room, Room 18, he was shot from behind by an unknown assailant!

His malevolent spirit is said to still reside in Room 18, and according to employees at the hotel, no one is allowed in the room to this day. Thomas J. Wright’s spirit is said to dislike company. There have been reports of patrons being pushed for entering the room, and of an angry ball of orange light floating near the ceiling. His room is kept sparse with only bare furniture, a bottle of Jack Daniels, some shot glasses, and a deck of cards.

Do you think you could take on a spirit, poker pals? Or would their supernatural state give them supernatural abilities at the tables? And would you even want to challenge a spine-chilling shade? Who knows what price you’d have to pay if you lost!