The "pot" is based on "bucks" or "buttons" that were found in many ivory and early clay composition sets. As in hold em today a button is passed to indicate who will be the small blind (to the left]. There were several of which I have three--one is the pot; another a ram. They were three dimensional and can be seen in Dale Seymour's book. Neat lay out. I would think that Jim's kitchen table anecdote is correct.