EPoker Network

There are many theories and legends about the roots of poker dating back to origins from China in 900 AD, likely derived from a domino game.  For example, the Chinese emperor Mu-tsung was believed to have played a poker-type game using domino tiles or “cards” on the Eve of New Year in 969 AD. Another example is card fragments…probably dating back from the 12th or 13th century…found by archeologists in Egypt suggesting a type of Hold'em originated in the region.

Some people believe that the cards used nowadays in Texas Hold'em came from the Indian card game of Ganjifa, or that the game originated from 'as-nas' which is a five-player game from Persia.  The game used a 25-card deck with five suits, but it only dates to the 17th century. However, the French game of 'poque' is believed to be the most legitimate of all the claims, which was brought by French settlers to New Orleans in 1480.  Texas Hold'em and poque have many similar game skills such as bluffing and betting…even the deck of cards used for both games is similar.  Over time, it replaced the easily “rigged” game of 3 card monte, which was played by gamblers on the riverboats and in the area gaming parlors.  Again though, these are all theories on the origins of poker type card games, none of which are Texas Hold’em. 

Popular legend has it  that almost all cattlemen on ranches wanted to play seven card stud, the most common game of the time…but there were not enough card decks available to let everyone take part.  They solved this problem by only dealing each player two pocket cards, instead of five, and all players had to share five cards dealt face up in the middle of the table (community cards).

Nevertheless, we can lay all this to rest with full legal authority!

For Texas Hold’em we can look to the state of Texas for the most authoritative and legal history.  The Texas State Legislature officially recognizes Robstown, Texas as the game's birthplace, dating the game to the early 1900s in their house resolution bill 80R4508 JHS-D.  Excerpts from this state bill:

The game's invention dates back to the early 1900s when it is traditionally held that the first hand of the popular card game was dealt in the city of Robstown, and from there it traveled northward in the hands of "rounders" and up the sleeves of cardsharps who quickly recognized the game's potential for mass appeal; and
            WHEREAS, Poker legends such as Crandell Addington and Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson helped further popularize the game in and around Texas in the 1950s, and they and others eventually brought Texas Hold'em to Las Vegas, where it was first played at the Golden Nugget Casino in 1967; three years later, the inaugural World Series of Poker was played at the Horseshoe Casino, featuring no-limit Texas Hold'em to determine the world champion, and that annual tournament has continued to grow in both size and stature with each passing year…”

“They didn't call it Texas Hold 'em, back then it was just called hold 'em”.  According to Doyle in his book, “I thought then that if it were to catch on, it would become the game. Draw poker, you only bet twice; Hold 'em, you bet four times.  That meant you could play strategically.  This was more of a thinking man's game."
 
For several years the Golden Nugget Casino in Downtown Las Vegas was the only casino in Las Vegas to offer the game.  In 1969, the Las Vegas professionals were invited to play Texas Hold 'em at the entrance of the now-demolished Dunes Casino on the Las Vegas Strip.  This prominent location, and the relative inexperience of poker players with Texas Hold 'em, resulted in a very remunerative game for professional players.

Tom Moore added the first ever poker tournament to the Second Annual Gambling Fraternity Convention held in 1969.  This tournament featured several games including Texas Hold 'em. In 1970 Benny and Jack Binion acquired the rights to this convention, renamed it the World Series of Poker, and moved it to their casino Binion's Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas.  After the first year, no-limit Texas Hold 'em has been played as the main event.

Interest in Hold 'em outside of Nevada began to grow in the 1980s as well and spread to card rooms in California which only offered Draw Poker…as stud poker was deemed a game of chance, and therefore illegal.  In 1988, Texas Hold 'em was declared legally distinct from "stud-horse" in Tibbetts v. Van De Kamp, 271 Cal. Rptr. 792 (1990).  Almost immediately, card rooms across the state offered Texas Hold 'em. (Often presumed that this decision ruled that Hold 'em was a skill game, the distinction between skill and chance was not entered into California jurisprudence regarding poker itself.)  After a trip to Las Vegas, bookmakers Terry Rogers and Liam Flood introduced the game to European card players in the early 1980s, and it is now enjoyed around the world.