Like all modern games, the traditional game of poker, began its life as a combination different games that were played around the world. Versions of the game, usually played with checkers instead of cards, were played in China, the Middle East and in South America.
The card version of Poker game began to raise its head in, where else but the New Orleans of the early 19th century. The floating river boats and saloons on the Mississippi River was where traditional 5 card poker in all its variations were evolved and legends were born that remain intact to till this day. Anyone who ever saw the famous film “ The Cincinnati Kid†starring Edward G. Robinson and Steve McQueen will never the forget the drama of the last turn of the card, when Lancey Howard made a Full House to defeat the Cincinnati Kid, and send him reeling into financial oblivion.
That is what poker is all about and why it has captured the imagination of so many people.
Constantly evolving, the game sparked off another version, Texas hold’em poker, whose basic origins are clouded in mystery. Rumor has it that Texas hold’em poker was played in the saloons of Robstown, Texas in the earliest days of the Twentieth Century. Its fame and popularity spread through the Lone Star State, and was honed and refined there up till the mid-nineteen fifties. During that time, a well known Texan character, Benny Binion, decided, for the good of his health, to move to Las Vegas where he decided to buy into one of the casino’s there. He introduced Texas hold’em poker to the local population and the game soon became a hit. Following in the path of Benny Binion, came one or two other Texas hold’em poker, the famous Amarillo Slim Preston and the even more legendary figure, Doyle Brunson.
Binion, even before he arrived in Las Vegas, was an expert at arranging face to face tournaments between high stakes Texas hold’em poker players. In Las Vegas he continued with the tradition. In 1970 he veered a little from his past format by organizing a buy- in Texas hold’em poker tournament. In this tournament, which became the fore runner of the “World series of Pokerâ€, the formula of prize money being divided by the players who reached the final table was first used. In this first version of the “World series of Poker†there were only 50 entrants! Nowadays, there are many thousands, who enter every year, despite that fact that the entry fee is more than the first prize way back in 1970!
The internet explosion of the 21st century has seen the expansion of Texas hold’em poker as a game played and enjoyed by millions, Texas hold’em poker tournaments are going on all the time, all over the World. Players are pitting their wits and their skills to win the considerable cash prizes on offer. By winning certain tournaments, an aspiring Texas hold’em poker champion can find himself taking part in one of the televised tournaments, with prizes running into the hundreds of thousands.
And what of the people who started it all? Benny Binion passed away in 1989 But his legend lives on in the “World series of Poker†Doyle Brunson, now in his late seventies, still takes part in the tournament every year.
Now Texas hold’em poker has evolved into becoming the most popular card game in the World, both on and off line. Get on line and find out why!