The beginning
Poker has so many variations. Some games like the Omaha Hi and the Seven-Card Stud are available in most casinos. Others, like DewaPoker, are available online on your mobile phone. There is very little information on how the poker variation, Texas Hold’Em, started. The Texas Legislature considers Robstown, Texas as the game’s place of origin in the early 1900s. After that, the game spread throughout the entire state of Texas.
The dawning
In 1963, the game was first played by Corky McCorquodale at the California Club in Las Vegas. Texas Hold’Em became very popular and was quick to spread to the Dunes, Stardust, and Golden Nugget. In 1967, there was a famous group of Texan gamblers and card players. They are Amarillo Slim, Crandell Addington, and Doyle Bronson. During this time, “ace high” switched from the older form of the game in which aces are low. According to Addington, people do not call it Texas Hold ’em back then and that they only call it Hold’Em. You only bet twice in Draw Poker, while in Texas Hold’Em you bet up to four times. He said it meant that you could play this game with strategies, and you can consider this as a thinking man’s game.
A better location
For a few years, it was only the Golden Nugget Casino that offers the game in Downtown Las Vegas. The Golden Nugget’s poker room during that time has oiled sawdust covering the floors. Thus, the term “sawdust joint.” Due to its location and decors, this poker room did not get a lot of wealthy drop-in clients. The professional players looked for a more suitable place. In 1969, the Las Vegas professional players got an invitation to play Texas Hold ’em. The game was at the entrance of Dunes Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. It was a better location with a lot of inexperienced poker players. Because of that, Texas Hold’Em became a very lucrative game for professional players.
World Series of Poker or WSOP
In 1970, Benny and Jack Binion acquired the rights for a convention and named it World Series Poker. They held it in their Las Vegas casino, Binion’s Horseshoe. Then, Tom Thackrey, a journalist, made an interesting suggestion. Because of him, the no-limit Texas Hold ’em became the main event of the tournament. The interest in the main event continued to grow. From eight participants in 1972, numbers increased to one hundred participants in 1982. By 1991, there were over two hundred participants already.
More publicity
Doyle Brunson published a revolutionary poker strategy guide worth a hundred dollar. The title was “Super/System.” In 1978, the book revolutionized the way of playing poker. It was one of the first books that discussed Texas Hold’Em. Up to today, it is still one of the essential books on the game. In 1983, Al Alvarez published another book, “The Biggest Game in Town.” It was a book detailing what happened on the 1981 World Series of Poker. The book brought the game to a much wider audience.
The legalization
By 1980s, the interest in Hold’Em was also growing outside of Nevada. California has legal card rooms that offer Draw Poker, but Texas Hold’Em was still not permitted. It was only in 1988 that Hold’Em became legal. Texas Hold’Em became available in card rooms throughout the state right after that.