Texas Hold’em, “The Cadillac of Poker”, was invented in the early 1900’s in Robstown, Texas. Even though it was played by many travelling card players throughout Texas and surrounding states the game didn’t make its way to Las Vegas until 1967. Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim, and Crandell Addington will forever be known as the men who brought the game to Vegas.


Many will debate how Texas Hold’em became so popular. Several factors contributed to the success of the game within a short amount of time:

• The release of the movie Rounders in 1998.
• The WSOP Main Event victory by Chris Moneymaker in 2003. On-line poker was proving to become an easy way to play poker at any time.
• An NHL lockout during the 04/05 season and the birth of the World Poker Tour added to the explosion of televised poker that swept the nation.
• Hole cameras being used to show the players cards, thus allowing television viewers to watch how a hand is played knowing the same information as the player.

Texas Hold’em is a game that is generally played with between two to eleven players. Each player receives two cards that only they know. A total of five other cards, known as community cards are then dealt an used by all the players involved in the hand. Players use any combination if the community cards and their cards to form the best possible five-card hand they can. Throughout the hand, there are a total of four betting rounds and the pot is won by the player(s) showing the best hand.

Like other poker games, Texas Hold’em can be played in a ring cash game or in a tournament format. Tournament poker is seen as a way to risk a small amount of money and earn a considerable sum if they can combine their skill and some luck. The Main Event for the WSOP has always been played with Texas Hold’em proving that it is the game of choice when excitement, strategy and luck all need to play a part in determining a champion.