There is some truth behind Gus' self-proclaimed poker skills. Dulé Hill, who plays Gus, appeared on Celebrity Poker Showdown (2003) in both the second season and the seventh season. He won both times.
His "sensory deprivation" experiment where he can't hear anything is a continuation from the last episode where he used Juliet's scarf as a blindfold for the same experiment.
At 25:46 in the episode Shawn says, "That's very Cameron Fry of you." This is a reference to a character in the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
The main cast of Psych played poker together frequently early on in the filming of the show according to Timothy Odmondson and Maggie Lawson on their podcast
Dan Lauria played Mr. Arnold, the father on the 80's/90"s version of The Wonder Years. Dule Hill will be playing Mr. Williams, the father, on the 20's version of The Wonder Years.