While no one is absolutely sure about the developmental roots of Poker, it is generally accepted that Poker was first developed in the early to mid 1800’s around New Orleans. The game started to spread on the gambling riverboats of the Mississippi before gaining popularity through the rest of the USA and the World. Over the decades different varieties of the game have waxed and waned in popularity including Draw and Stud variants. The current most popular version of the game, Texas Hold’em, which utilizes “community cards”, is believed to have been introduced by a gambler by the name T. Blondie Forbes. Texas Hold’em maintained relative anonymity until the 1970’s when The World Series of Poker was first televised. Over the years, the Hold’em variant continued to grow in popularity until 2003. This year marked a tipping point in popularity for this version of poker when an unknown player, Chris Moneymaker, won $2.5 million dollars at the Main Event of The World Series of Poker. Since then, no other variant has come close to the popularity of Texas Hold’em, the most popular poker game in the world.
Texas Hold’em Poker Rules
- All players put in the Ante if applicable.
- Small and Big Blinds post the forced bets
- Starting with the Small Blind, the Dealer deals 1 card at a time face down to each player until everyone has 2 cards (Hole Cards).
- A round of betting starts with the player to the Left of the Big Blind.
- The top card of the deck is put face down into the muck (the Burn card). The next 3 cards are dealt face up for the flop.
- A round of betting starting with the first player to the Dealers left.
- The top card of the deck is put face down into the muck (the Burn card). The next card is dealt face up for the Turn.
- The third round of betting commences.
- The top card of the deck is put face down into the muck (the Burn card). The next card, the final card, is the River, the fifth card dealt face up.
- The final round of betting.
- The Showdown occurs with all players showing their hands. The best hand wins.
For a more in depth look at Texas Hold’em, click HERE.