History of Texas Holdem Poker
There is no definitive birth date of Texas Hold'em, but it is generally accepted that the origins of the game began in Texas in the early 1900s. Many have propagated the lore that the seven card derivative was borne out of the Texas cattle drives or by Texas ranch hands as a way to include more players in the game, using a single deck. Although the cattle drive theory has an element of Western charm, the era of the Texas cattle drives had come to an end by the 1890s with the proliferation of the railroad and more regional meat packing plants.
In 2007 the Texas Legislature recognized Robstown, Texas as the games official birthplace. The town was founded in 1906 at the juncture of two railroads, the Texas and Mexican railroad and the Brownsville and Mexican railroad. By that time, ranching had already ceased to be a factor in Robstown's economy, long replaced by cotton and other agribusiness. Much of the only known ranchland, Driscoll Ranch had already been sold off to lay tracks for the railroads by then. And the rest of the ranch was bought and developed by land promoter developer George Paul before the town's founding. So if Robstown is indeed the game's birthplace, it was more likely to be played by Czech and German immigrant farmers, who had moved to Robstown in search of cheap farmland, than cowboys.
But whether it was first played by ranchers or farmers, Texas hold'em had found a foothold among Texas road gamblers by the late 1950s and early 1960s. Some of Texas Hold'em's early and well known players include Crandell Addington, Doyle Brunson, "Amarillo Slim" Preston, Johnny Moss and Brian "Sailor" Roberts. Felton "Corky" McCorquodale is credited with introducing Texas hold'em to Las Vegas in 1963 at the now extinct California Club. Brunson, Slim and Addington could be found playing it, soon after, at the Golden Nugget, next door.
In 1969, the Texas professionals were invited to play Texas hold 'em at the entrance of the Dunes Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Attracting a slew of inexperienced tourists, the game at the Dunes was very lucrative for the professionals. The big games at the Dunes would also be where three-time World Series of Poker Champion Stu Ungar honed his skills. In 1971, the second year of Benny Binion's World Series of Poker, the event was changed to no limit Texas hold'em. The main event of the World Series has been Texas hold'em ever since.
Texas hold'em gained in popularity in the first few years of the 2000s, fostered in part by the movie Rounders and the advent on online Poker. But it exploded in 2003, when an unknown online player, Chris Moneymaker, won the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour debuted on the Travel Channel Network.
Texas Holdem Rules
Texas Holdem poker is the most popular of the many poker variants played in the United States. Texas Holdem has a set of rules that are different than other other popular poker games. Unlike Draw or Stud poker, Texas Holdem includes community cards, meaning that some cards are available to be used by all poker players.
Texas Holdem uses a disc called a dealer "button" to indicate from where the cards are to be dealt. This button rotates clockwise after each hand, so that every player will have the same opportunity to make bets from all betting positions over time. Prior to the deal, the two players to the left of the button place live bets called the small and big blinds. These poker bets are called "blinds" because they are made prior to seeing any cards. The big blind is always twice the amount of the small blind. These forced bets function like antes and provide an automatic poker pot to compete for. In poker tournaments, the "blinds" increase on regular pre-determined time intervals. For poker ring games, these blinds are fixed.
Play begins with each poker player being dealt two cards face down. These cards are the poker players' hole or pocket cards. These are the only cards each poker player will receive individually for that hand, and they will only (possibly) be revealed at the showdown which occurs after all five community cards have been dealt and all betting is complete.
Texas Holdem rules dictate that the hand begins with a "pre-flop" (before the community cards are dealt) betting round, beginning with the poker player to the left of the big blind and continuing clockwise. The starting minimum poker bet is equal to the forced big blind. Of course, a poker player can raise more than the value of the big blind as well. The round of betting continues until every player has either folded, bet, or matched ("called") the amount put in by all other active poker players. Pre-flop, the last person to make an initial betting decision is the "big blind". Texas Holdem play can end at any time if a person makes a bet that no other poker player is willing to match.
After the pre-flop betting round has completed, assuming there remain at least two poker players in the hand, the Texas Holdem dealer deals the flop, or three face-up community cards. A second round of betting follows. This and all subsequent betting rounds begin with the poker player to the dealer's left (represented by the dealer button) and continue clockwise. The last Holdem player to act from this point forward is the active player holding the dealer button, or, if that poker player has folded, then the last poker player to act becomes that poker player nearest to the right of the dealer button. Because this person gets to see all of the action beforehand, this is considered the strongest position at the poker table.
After the flop betting round ends, a single community card (called the turn or fourth street) is dealt, followed by a third betting round. A final single community card (called the river or fifth street) is then dealt, followed by a fourth and final betting round.
Texas Holdem hands are formed by using any five out of the seven cards (5 community + 2 hole cards). All poker players have the same ability to leverage the shared community cards to form their hands as well.
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