Global Sports: Texas Hold 'Em Spreads Like Wildfire In The Gaming World

Monday, November 29, 2010

Texas Hold 'Em Spreads Like Wildfire In The Gaming World

By Todd Fox


Texans boast that everything is big in the big state of Texas, so it is no wonder that Texas Hold 'Em is now a big game everywhere. Originating in Robstown, Texas, it was introduced in Las Vegas in 1967 and has not looked back since then.

Texas gamblers Amarillo Slim, Doyle Brunson and Crandell Addington are credited with bringing that bit of Lone Star showdown to the strip. Most amateurs who played the game converged in the popular Golden Nugget Casino.

A few years later, the now defunct Dunes Casino tried to get the professional players into the game with a Texas Hold 'Em tournament in 1969. To drum up the game's popularity, a World Series of Poker was started with eight invited players playing in a no-limit Texas Hold 'Em contest. It is the main draw of this big poker event. In 1978, dedicated player, Doyle Brunson, wrote a strategy guide called Super System, which was followed by Al Alvarez's book chronicling Texas Hold 'Em as the feature attraction of the World Series of Poker.

Texas Hold 'Em soon was shown being played in some films. The Rounders (1998) with Matt Damon featured a slick side to poker playing professionals. A scene of the actual game between Erik Seidel and Johnny Chan in the 1988 World Series of Poker was shown in the film.

The game became even more popular when online poker websites were established in 1998. Ordinary people were introduced to and started playing the game online from their homes and some even became very good players.

Some poker sites provided online tournaments that were gateways to the World Series of Poker. As a matter of fact, online tournament graduates won the World Series of Poker in 2003 and 2004. In 2006 there were 8,000 participants worldwide in the Texas Hold 'Em World Series of Poker and the grand prize totaled $12,000,000, a far cry from the eight players who first played in the tournament.

Keeping the excitement going is a regular television series, World Poker Tour. With the growing number of sponsors, Texas Hold 'Em has gone a long way from its former place in dingy bars and gambling houses to become a regular feature of the sports networks with nationwide viewership.




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