The early history of Hold’em
We have to go back as far as the early 1900s to find the official birthplace of Texas Hold’em, which is believed to be the small town of Robstown in Texas. After gaining popularity throughout the state, largely down to the fact it was moved to Dallas, a much larger city, it was taken to Las Vegas by Texan card players.
In the late 1960s, it was only played in one casino in downtown Vegas: the Golden Nugget Casino. Not well known by high-profile players, it wasn’t until two years later that it was also made available at Dunes Casino, and a year later it increased in popularity again.
In 1970, Benny Binion hosted the first-ever World Series of Poker tournament at his casino: Binion’s Horseshoe and this sparked a further boost in popularity. The inaugural tournament consisted of just a handful of events and seven players; but since then, Hold’em has always been played in the Main Event – and each annual tournament has grown both in terms of events and players.
World Series of Poker
Over time, many variants of Poker have been played – with some not returning to the schedule; for example: H.O.R.S.E, S.H.O.E and Chinese Poker. However, Texas Hold’em and its variants are among the most popular events.
As we mentioned, the Main Event: the $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament has been in play since 1972 (the year before, the event was the same but had a smaller buy-in). The winner of the Main Event gets a monetary prize (which varies depending on the number of entrants), a prestigious gold bracelet and the honour of being ‘World Champion’ with their photo placed in the Gallery of Champions at Binion’s.
In 2003, history was made when amateur online Poker player, Chris Moneymaker won the Main Event at the World Series of Poker. He outlasted 838 opponents and scooped a pretty decent $2.5 million in prize money. He had earned a seat at the Main Event by winning multiple Poker satellite tournaments online. He was the first online player to ever win the Main Event and this sparked the ‘poker craze’ with what was known as the ‘Moneymaker effect’. Not only did online poker become more popular, but Poker tournaments were televised, using hole-card cameras to make it a lot more entertaining for the viewer.
Hold’em in popular culture
Poker, notably Texas Hold’em has featured in a number of films over the years and the 1998 blockbuster Rounders is also accredited with sowing the seeds which sparked the Poker boom at the turn of the millennium. The film also incorporated the 1988 WSOP final table showdown between Johnny Chan and Erik Seidel.
The 21st film in the James Bond franchise, Casino Royale (2006) also featured Texas Hold’em, largely down to the Poker Boom (as in the novel, 007 actually plays Baccarat with Le Chiffre).
Why Hold’em?
- It’s one of the easiest Poker games to understand, making it perfect for beginners. Once you have learned Hold’em, you can move on to other variations (for example, Omaha has a lot of similarities with Hold’em). But they do say, Hold’em doesn’t take long to learn, but a lifetime to master – so if you want to be the best, you need to practise and read up on it
- It’s the variation that everyone knows and plays. While online, you’re sure to find plenty of choice, particularly with regards to some of the more obscure varieties, there are people out there who don’t realise there are other variations of poker and not just Hold’em
- It makes good TV. This may not have been the case in the past, but with the introduction of the hole cam, viewers are able to see what hole cards each player in the tournament has. This, in turn, keeps the viewer more entertained and fuelled the need for televising many Poker tournaments and not just the World Series
