Your weekly poker game may be making you sick, and not just because beer and cigars might be involved. You're not only playing chance with your money, but your health as well. In fact, the odds are that you're actually more likely to leave the card table with a new cold brewing than you are with the winning bet. Obviously, this is due to people coughing or sneezing into their hands and then dealing out cards and passing around chips.

Dr. Will Sawyer, who has dedicated his career to the importance of proper hand washing, says that germs can only float through the air about 3 feet. This means they are most commonly spread through direct contact -- such as touching contaminated playing cards and then touching your eyes or mouth. He also goes so far as to say that if people wash their hands often enough and at the right times they can avoid ever getting a gastrointestinal or respiratory illness again.

I do believe in the power of hand washing, but that's a pretty bold claim!