Daphne Greene asked:


When it comes to card games, Hold’em is king. I apologize to all of you Go-Fish sharks and master pineapplers, but when it comes down to gross games and money played, it is not even close — Texas Hold’em reigns supreme.

While the global numbers are nigh impossible to get at, Party Poker, one of the three major online poker sites, reports numbers like these: of the 8,619 cash game players online as of 1:00pm MST, January 21, 2008, 8,196 were playing Hold’em, with 6,454 participating in a No Limit game. More than 20,000 cash game players will log on and move money on Party Poker on the average Monday, with nearly 95% of them doing it in Hold’em rooms.

Why? Why does Hold’em so dominate the world of poker? The following two part series will explore both the history of Texas Hold’em and poker as a whole as well as the qualities of the game itself which have contributed to its meteoric rise.

As far as the history books are concerned, poker as we know it began sometime in the 1820s in New Orleans. Some sailors began to bet on who they thought possessed the best three card hand dealt from a deck of somewhere between 20 and 32 cards. There were no suits on the cards, and in their minds there was no such thing as a straight.

Then poker took to the river. Fueled mainly by the Mississippi River Boat, by 1850 poker had grown into a national game, the 52 card English deck had been introduced and the term “river boat gambler” had been coined. During the course of the American Civil War, the flush, the straight, the five card hand, stud and draw poker were all integrated into the way the games were played. As far as we can tell today, the most popular games of the pre-1900 period were a French cousin of poker called faro – kind of a cross between baccarat and craps – and five-card draw. Some of the early five-card draw champs remain notorious even today, most notably Wild Bill Hickok. Recently, Ole’ Bill was at the center of the first season of HBO’s acclaimed “Deadwood” series, where he once again met his demise at the poker table, famously holding two pair, Aces and Eights, forever known as “The Dead Man’s Hand.”

Then the joker came in 1875, lo-ball around 1900, and in 1925 Texas Hold’em was officially recognized by Dallas, Texas when community cards were introduced. In actuality, Texas Hold’em was born around a decade earlier in Robstown, Texas, a town of about 13,000 people that still stands today.

Not much is known about Poker history between 1920 and 1955, probably because it was considered a dirty form of entertainment and was marginalized by mainstream media. Then in 1955, a strapping young man courted by the Minneapolis Lakers who shattered his whole leg at once and would go on to change the face of poker forever.

Doyle Brunson was born in Texas in 1933 and had plans to be a basketball player until he broke his leg in 1954 performing some manual labor, an injury for which he still needs a crutch. Over the next 13 years, Doyle would travel the country playing in largely illegal games with his friends Amarillo Slim and Sailor Roberts until 1967, when Doyle Brunson came to Las Vegas.

Until 1967, Hold’em did not exist in Las Vegas. Brunson, a Texas boy who’d been playing Hold’em for fifteen years by 1967, first brought the game to the Golden Nugget Casino. Despite his growing reputation as a high-stakes gambler, Hold’em was relatively obscure in Vegas, so Doyle and friends mostly played stud. Only occasionally could they find enough interested strangers to get a Hold’em game going. But Doyle loved his home state’s game, and was confident that it would grow.

The first big turn came in 1969 when the Gambling Fraternity Convention, which would be renamed the World Series of Poker the following year, began playing Texas Hold’em for a number of its tournaments. In 1972, the now World Series of Poker Main Event became No Limit Texas Hold’em, and the growth has been exponential ever since. The first main event was a table of 8 players, where the winner was voted on by the players – now the tournament is regularly above 6,000 entrants.

The next major step up for Hold’em occurred again through Doyle Brunson: as Texas Dolly published a series of books, from Super/System to “How I made One Million Dollars Playing Poker” Doyle was legitimizing both the card player career and Texas Hold’em the game. By 1982, 104 players were buying into the main event. The figure grew consistently by 15-50 entrants each year until 1998, when the movie “Rounders” was released. The following year saw the field grow by 119 entrants to 512 total players.

By 2003, that number had grown to 839, an already impressive number more than 100 times the original field. Players like Phil Hellmuth and other so-called Hold’em specialists or gamblers who only played Texas Hold’em had risen up to claim international fame. It seemed as if the WSOP Main Event was on pace to hit 1,000 entrants in the next 5 years, a staggering number considering the $10,000 price tag that came with a seat in the tournament – then came the NHL strike.

Outside of anything Doyle Brunson did, the NHL strike was the single most important event in the history of Hold’em. With the NHL on strike, ESPN2 had a huge slate of programming that needed to be filled. Enter Chris Moneymaker.

Moneymaker gained entry to the Main-Event through a satellite tournament as he had nowhere near enough money to his oh-so- appropriate name to pony up the $10,000. 3 days, 1 unbelievable call on a Dutch Boyd bluff and a big bluff of his own on runner up Sammy Farha later, Chris Moneymaker had won $2.5 million and the coveted Main-Event bracelet. Much to the surprise of the ESPN network, when the numbers finally came in, the Nielson ratings for the 2003 WSOP had been higher than the previous year’s NHL showings. With that, No Limit Texas Hold’em became a nationwide craze.

Chris Moneymaker became the poster boy for the rags-to-riches, anyone-can-do-it poker star; the following year, a mind boggling 2,576 people paid the buy-in, only to be dwarfed by the following year’s 5,619 and 2006’s small city of 8,773.

More than just an explosion of WSOP entrants, there was an explosion of online gaming as well. In 1998, there was only one online gaming site, Planet Poker, played on regularly by less than 2,000 players per day. In 2000 and 2001, there was the rise and fall of Dutch Boyd’s infamous Poker Spot. It was not until Party Poker began its exhaustive television advertising campaign in 2003, capitalizing on Chris Moneymaker’s Cinderella story, that online gaming became the entity that it is today. With 20,000 players on a slow day, Party Poker and other major sites have become the largest arena for poker in the history of the world.

So why is Texas Hold’em so by far and away the poker game of choice? In part, because of the work of Doyle Brunson, in part because of the WSOP Main Event, online giants like Party Poker, even Chris Moneymaker and the NHL strike played a role. In part two of the series, we will investigate the inherent qualities of Texas Hold’em itself which have contributed to its rise.

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Sean Moronse asked:


The series of world club 2008 is going to be a fun and exciting time with metric tons of money at stake and a chance to win millions and millions of dollars. In order to play in world series of poker (series of world espn aka the bat) that you can buy directly for $ 10,000 or satellite win a ticket to this main event for little as 2 U.S. dollars! If you go in full tilt the bat or the stars of the bat you can see mini events point lead at the main. Start on one point and 2 stations finishing main pass to the next point, while the third place wins another ticket in the same place. There are a total of 7 points. Towards the highest points 5, 6, 7, if finished after the third place you still wins the premises to points that were a. The only way to really lose points when this game is to finish above fifth place in successive rounds. It's fun and exciting and won best meaning win the world series of integrated circuits to bat that are good for the main event. For 2 U.S. dollars you can have a series of world 10k + ticket bat. Not only win a ticket at the primary, you get 2500 U.S. dollars in travel expenses that will pay your plane ticket and hotel! Each point puts him closer to series of world event circuit bat. You can check the series of world club homepage of the latest results that are up to date until seconds. Last year I won a ticket in the primary. I was not never been so happy in my whole life. I thought that I am going to have themselves a good chance win it this year, but unfortunately something came up and I was forced to sell my ticket. I got $ 11,200 for my ticket and travel. Rather than the full value $ 12,500, I received only 1300 U.S. dollars less for selling it. Which means, even if you 're planning to sull'assistere series of world club, if you win a ticket can always sell it for a beautiful piece of enormous change. There is nothing like a series of world satellite club and is the only honest way to go because of what is easy to win a seat. If you can play, you can be the world series next winner of the bat! You have to really take your time in the conquest of these events satellites of the ticket. You can become the next WSOP winner and always be famous. Will receive millions and millions of dollars in approvals and become a world renown player of the bat. People will go to google and scriv inside the serial machine world club beyond the winners and vederà your name. Playing in this event is just as the conquest of a single table sits 600 + n go 's simultaneously. That 's how you have to consider them. In the play, you have prendergli a table at a time, the victory that postpones and past! I wish him the best of luck!

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Nick Laurrell asked:


BEGINNING the 1 pint Luck sucks but the portion of ™ S.A. itâ € of the game. The axes get incrinati, rossoreare are on the river and sometimes the fall is 7 2 2. The best hand when the money go inside is not always the hand with the money when € ™ s entirely of itâ said and done with. There are more than 50 events in the series of world club each year (54 to be exact) and most of them are losers from the € ™ VE youâ of people do not ever heard of or never again. Most victories in the WSOP is correct by players who know enough to get comfortable at a table but who never inciamperà still on a lucky enough to require a member of the jewelry for their other wrist. For most of the winners of the WSOP bracelet, their victory is their fifteen minutes of fame. But there are some exceptions. 110 different nations have more than 1 series of world bracelet of the bat. 110 people were climbing through the fields small as 6 to multiple tournaments so large as 8,770 and losers of WSOP. Those 110 players are generally the greatest 110 players of the club 38 years ago (the WSOP began in 1970.) So in preparation for the beginning of the May 30 series of 2008 world club, here are the ten biggest players in the history of WSOP. 10. The bracelets, 26, "5 of the â € of Phil Ivey collects There is no player in the world today feared for Phil Ivey. It is aggressive, protection and a master of a broad alignment of different games. It is a regular at great game and that of a legendary handful of players win is an event of WPT and WSOP. It is one of 4 players to win 3 of WSOP bracelets during a single year (Phil Hellmuth, Ted Forrest and Doyle Brunson are the other 3.) Since 2000, he won 5 bracelets all in the few events that do not involve the em, € ™ nl of Holdâ held each year (which are fixed with notoriously pro grizzled.) owns victories in a prisoner lives of 7 cards, in a captive screw Hi / Lo 7 of maps, in SHOE (em € ™ of the Holdâ, Omaha and captive screw) and 2 within the limits of Omaha POT. His victories have place: 2000 Omaha limits of $ 2,500 to $ 195,000 POT 2002 $ 2,500 a screw prisoner Hi / Lo of seven cards for $ 118,440 2002 $ 2,000 S.H.O.E. for $ 107,540 2002 $ 1,500 lives a prisoner of seven cards for $ 132,000 Omaha 2005 a limit of $ 5,000 to $ 635,603 POT Perhaps the only thing more impressive of the events that won is the little has almost won. 2002 in the main (631 player) has finished the twenty-third, 2003 in the main (839 players) has finished the tenth and 2005 in the main (5,619 players) has finished the twentieth. The only other player with all the species of similar success in the recent history of the principal is Dan Harrington (who has done the final table of 2003 that 2004 major events.) Ivey is also the only man to defeat heads thin Amarillo legendary player up (which did on the road to his first bracelet, 2000 $ 2,500 PL Omaha.) And while it has nothing to do with the WSOP, Phil Ivey also won $ 16,000,000 above heads three days on the game with the billionaire Andy Beal. Referred often as the œ â € of a Tiger Woods of poker, Phil Ivey of the â € is an unwelcome front of the whole table WSOP as there is today in the world. Even more frightening is that fire of the € ™ t even doesnâ of the game throughout the tournament "longer than the â € to his multiple victories has left very little buy-Central Institute of Statistics that the winner be bracelet average of 5 times. 9. The bracelets, 33, "5 of the â € dell'Allen Cunningham collects Who? Significate, what kind? Allen Cunningham is the most dangerous type of "â € of player mallet not notice what ever. ™ s Heâ € of enchanting, subtly framed, blond and possessed of a contegno generally agreeable. Even has a dog named Muffin. But since 2001, when the 24 old at the time of year in the first place proved WSOP on the scene, no other player in the world have won more bracelets. Its total 5 bracelets are tied with similar Phil Ivey and Stu Ungar, collects his 33 put him in the top 20 throughout the € ™ s of heâ and time running just 31 this year. As Ivey, Allen won his bracelets in 3 different games: Deuce vine prisoner of 7 cards (2001 $ 5,000 7 shaft drive the screw prisoner,) seven em to € ™ of draught (Deuce 2002 $ 5,000 draught seven) and Holdâ (2005 $ 1,500 em € ™ of the nl Holdâ, em € ™ of the 2006 $ 1,000 nl Holdâ with Rebuys and em € ™ of the 2007 $ 5,000 PL Holdâ.) Its victories: 2001 $ 5,000 lives a prisoner of seven cards for $ 201,760 Deuce 2002 $ 5,000 draught seven for $ 160,200 2005 $ 1,500 no em € ™ of the Holdâ limit to $ 725,405 2006 $ 1,000 no em € ™ of the Holdâ boundary with Rebuys for $ 625,830 2007 ™ M. of € of Holdâ limit of $ 5,000 to $ 487,287 POT It is one of only 5 players in history to win a bracelet during 3 years later (Doyle Brunson, moss, Johnny, Gary Berland and Erik Seidel is the other.) He also finished fourth in the pipeline for 2006 that has characterized l ' buy-Central Institute of Statistics dell'annotazione 8773 (and took home a skilful control of $ 3.5 million +.) In 2005, after making it to 4 different final tables, Allen was named the player of the year. While the casual fan may not recognize Allen Cunningham to a table, you can bet that his colleagues are pro the bat. In 2006, he was voted by his peers as the best all around the player under the age of 35. It is the culmination of the world of club and observes likely to stay there for a long time. 8. The Ferguson of Jesusâ € of the œ of the â € Chris 5 of 51 bracelets collects 1 victory main event Chris Ferguson is the player most recognizable club on the planet. Among his beard long, his cowboy hat and his resolute ™ s of itâ € "of the â € personally of the table as it emerged from a nightmare of € ™ s playerâ of the bat. It is illegible, he has a PhD in computer science from UCLA, he or won or came in second by 3 4 in national tournaments heads-In held on for ever and more, can cut a banana throwing a card game it. When the bat, ™ s Jesus of the heâ €. Chris owns five of WSOP bracelets:  2000 $ 2,500 seven shaft drive the screw prisoner for $ 151,000 Event of the pipeline of  2000 for $ 1,500,000  2001 $ 1,500 Omaha Hi / Lo has split eight or better for $ 164,735  2003 $ 2,000 Omaha Hi / Lo has split eight or better for $ 123,680 The "half 7 of assets of € â em ™  € of the 2003 $ 2,000 Holdâ carder the screw prisoner for $ 66,220 It is also the only player in history to win 3 events WSOP Circuit. While the $ 1.5 million that he received for winning the 2000 events main line as its biggest single day of pay, his 51 total cashing in the WSOP align absolute fifth (behind Phil Hellmuth, men Nguyen, TJ Cloutier and berry Johnston .) Realization of enormous ™ SA of the Thatâ € for someone who is only buying in WSOP since 1995. Despite his inclination for the shipment of its opponents, is widely regarded as one of a kind in more pleasant bat from the table. To see the rest of the top 10, read Part 2 of the ten biggest players in the history of the series of world club.

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Nick Laurrell asked:


BEGINNING the 1 pint Luck sucks but the portion of ™ S.A. itâ € of the game. The axes get incrinati, rossoreare are on the river and sometimes the fall is 7 2 2. The best hand when the money go inside is not always the hand with the money when € ™ s entirely of itâ said and done with. There are more than 50 events in the series of world club each year (54 to be exact) and most of them are losers from the € ™ VE youâ of people do not ever heard of or never again. Most victories in the WSOP is correct by players who know enough to get comfortable at a table but who never inciamperà still on a lucky enough to require a member of the jewelry for their other wrist. For most of the winners of the WSOP bracelet, their victory is their fifteen minutes of fame. But there are some exceptions. 110 different nations have more than 1 series of world bracelet of the bat. 110 people were climbing through the fields small as 6 to multiple tournaments so large as 8,770 and losers of WSOP. Those 110 players are generally the greatest 110 players of the club 38 years ago (the WSOP began in 1970.) So in preparation for the beginning of the May 30 series of 2008 world club, here are the ten biggest players in the history of WSOP. 10. The bracelets, 26, "5 of the â € of Phil Ivey collects There is no player in the world today feared for Phil Ivey. It is aggressive, protection and a master of a broad alignment of different games. It is a regular at great game and that of a legendary handful of players win is an event of WPT and WSOP. It is one of 4 players to win 3 of WSOP bracelets during a single year (Phil Hellmuth, Ted Forrest and Doyle Brunson are the other 3.) Since 2000, he has won 5 bracelets all in the few events that do not involve the em, € ™ nl of Holdâ held each year (which are fixed with notoriously pro grizzled.) It's victories in a prisoner lives of 7 cards, in a captive screw Hi / Lo 7 of maps, in SHOE (em € ™ of the Holdâ, Omaha and captive screw) and 2 within the limits of Omaha POT. His victories have place: 2000 Omaha limits of $ 2,500 to $ 195,000 POT 2002 $ 2,500 a screw prisoner Hi / Lo of seven cards for $ 118,440 2002 $ 2,000 S.H.O.E. for $ 107,540 2002 $ 1,500 lives a prisoner of seven cards for $ 132,000 Omaha 2005 a limit of $ 5,000 to $ 635,603 POT Maybe only thing impressive the events won the poca almost has won. 2002 in the main (631 player) has finished the twenty-third, 2003 in the main (839 players) has finished the tenth and 2005 in the main (5,619 players) has finished the twentieth. The only other player with all the species of similar success in the recent history of the principal is Dan Harrington (who has done the final table of 2003 that 2004 major events.) Ivey is also the only man to defeat heads thin Amarillo legendary player up (which did on the road to his first bracelet, 2000 $ 2,500 PL Omaha.) And while it has nothing to do with the WSOP, Phil Ivey also won $ 16,000,000 above heads three days on the game with the billionaire Andy Beal. Referred often as the œ â € of a Tiger Woods of poker, Phil Ivey of the â € is an unwelcome front of the whole table WSOP as there is today in the world. Even more frightening is that fire of the € ™ t even doesnâ of the game throughout the tournament "longer than the â € to his multiple victories has left very little buy-Central Institute of Statistics that the winner be bracelet average of 5 times. 9. The bracelets, 33, "5 of the â € dell'Allen Cunningham collects Who? Significate, what kind? Allen Cunningham is the most dangerous type of "â € of player mallet not notice what ever. ™ s Heâ € of enchanting, subtly framed, blond and possessed of a contegno generally agreeable. Even has a dog named Muffin. But since 2001, when the 24 old at the time of year in the first place proved WSOP on the scene, no other player in the world have won more bracelets. Its total 5 bracelets are tied with similar Phil Ivey and Stu Ungar, collects his 33 put him in the top 20 throughout the € ™ s of heâ and time running just 31 this year. As Ivey, Allen won his bracelets in 3 different games: Deuce vine prisoner of 7 cards (2001 $ 5,000 7 shaft drive the screw prisoner,) seven em to € ™ of draught (Deuce 2002 $ 5,000 draught seven) and Holdâ (2005 $ 1,500 em € ™ of the nl Holdâ, em € ™ of the 2006 $ 1,000 nl Holdâ with Rebuys and em € ™ of the 2007 $ 5,000 PL Holdâ.) Its victories: 2001 $ 5,000 lives a prisoner of seven cards for $ 201,760 Deuce 2002 $ 5,000 draught seven for $ 160,200 2005 $ 1,500 no em € ™ of the Holdâ limit to $ 725,405 2006 $ 1,000 no em € ™ of the Holdâ boundary with Rebuys for $ 625,830 2007 ™ M. of € of Holdâ limit of $ 5,000 to $ 487,287 POT It is one of only 5 players in history to win a bracelet during 3 years later (Doyle Brunson, moss, Johnny, Gary Berland and Erik Seidel is the other.) He also finished fourth in the pipeline for 2006 that has characterized l ' buy-Central Institute of Statistics dell'annotazione 8773 (and took home a skilful control of $ 3.5 million +.) In 2005, after making it to 4 different final tables, Allen was named the player of the year. While the casual fan may not recognize Allen Cunningham to a table, you can bet that his colleagues are pro the bat. In 2006, he was voted by his peers as the best all around the player under the age of 35. It is the culmination of the world of club and observes likely to stay there for a long time. 8. The Ferguson of Jesusâ € of the œ of the â € Chris 5 of 51 bracelets collects 1 victory main event Chris Ferguson is the player most recognizable club on the planet. Among his beard long, his cowboy hat and his resolute ™ s of itâ € "of the â € personally of the table as it emerged from a nightmare of € ™ s playerâ of the bat. It is illegible, he has a PhD in computer science from UCLA, he or won or came in second by 3 4 in national tournaments heads-In held on for ever and more, can cut a banana throwing a card game it. When the bat, ™ s Jesus of the heâ €. Chris owns five of WSOP bracelets:  2000 $ 2,500 seven shaft drive the screw prisoner for $ 151,000 Event of the pipeline of  2000 for $ 1,500,000  2001 $ 1,500 Omaha Hi / Lo has split eight or better for $ 164,735  2003 $ 2,000 Omaha Hi / Lo has split eight or better for $ 123,680 The "half 7 of assets of € â em ™  € of the 2003 $ 2,000 Holdâ carder the screw prisoner for $ 66,220 It is also the only player in history to win 3 events WSOP Circuit. While the $ 1.5 million that he received for winning the 2000 events main line as its biggest single day of pay, his 51 total cashing in the WSOP align absolute fifth (behind Phil Hellmuth, men Nguyen, TJ Cloutier and berry Johnston .) Realization of enormous ™ SA of the Thatâ € for someone who is only buying in WSOP since 1995. Despite his inclination for the shipment of its opponents, is widely regarded as one of a kind in more pleasant bat from the table. To view the rest of the top 10, read Part 2 of the ten biggest players in the history of the series of world club.

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