What The History Books Have To Say About Hold’Em

Open up the book on Texas Hold’em origins and you might find out something interesting. We’ve scoured the sources to put together a little history on everyone’s favourite poker game.

So pull up a seat and learn something new about the old roots of Texas Hold’em.

Texas hold’em origins started in Robstown

The Texas Legislature states that Texas Hold’em origins lead straight back to Robstown. This Texas city is in the southern part of the state and despite its modest size, it has had an outsized impact on the history of poker.

A 20th century phenomenon

It might feel like Texas hold’em has been around forever, but that is certainly not the case. Experts think that the game was probably first played around the turn of the 20th century. For the next 50 years or so, it gained popularity across the state of Texas, but was still not widely known outside of its borders.

When hold’em hits Vegas, everything changes

From the 1940s until the 1960s, Las Vegas saw a huge swell of developments. Everyone wanted to build casinos, visit and soak up some of the action. This is where the poker scene really solidified too.

World Series of Poker founder Crandell Addington was always looking for different poker games. In 1959, he played Texas hold’em for the first time and realised that this game was something special.

That’s because hold’em allows you to be more strategic than other popular game types of the time. And that makes for a way more interesting game. Another icon of the game, Corky McCorquodale was another early advocate of hold’em and he’s credited with bringing it to Vegas.

It gained cult status over the course of the 1960s, but it’s real breakthrough moment was in 1969 with a showcase held in the entrance of Dunes Casino. For the first time, the wider public could see what was so different about this game compared to traditional draw poker.

Texas hold’em and the WSOP

The very first WSOP Main Event tournament was a no limit Texas Hold’em event. That was back in 1971 and since then, it’s always been the game type you play if you’re lucky (and skilled) enough to play that event.

At the beginning, the WSOP was a fairly modest affair. But when Al Alvarez published his book about the 1981 WSOP, the world got to see what was so special about it. The Biggest Game In Town was published in 1983 and, as well as detailing the WSOP, it also discusses the intricacies of hold’em too.

Doyle Brunson, the famous WSOP champ, self-published an incredible book that people still rely on today. It was pretty much the first major strategy book on Texas hold’em. Called Super/System, it had guest chapters from lots of prominent players. Despite a hefty $100 price tag back in 1979, it was a huge seller. Although Brunson always laments that giving away his strategy secrets to his opponents in that book probably ended up losing him way more money on the felt than he ever made from book sales.

Now that you know about Texas Hold’em origins, maybe it’s time to play yourself?

Inspired by the colourful past of the game? You’ve freshened up on Texas Hold’em origins, so hit the tables and write your own piece of poker history. If you’re looking for somewhere great to hit the felt, take this bet365 bonus code and get a welcome offer to remember.