Poker History
See also
The game of poker originated around New Orleans in about 1820 The word «poker» came from a French card game named «Poque» that probably mispronounced its way into the language as «poker». Poker evolved throughout the mid-1800s, the deck expander to contain fifty-two cards, and the game worked its way up the Mississippi on the riverboats. It was played by Civil War soldiers on both sides and banned out to other areas of the country when these soldiers went come from the war. In the early 1900s, through about the 1930s, the poker world existed at a collection of scattered locations - games were held in private residences, clubs, and hotels.
In 1931, Nevada voted to make gambling legal. The building of Hoover Dam in the mid-1950s created both the power and water for a desert city, and it also sent workers up the road looking to gamble, thus helping Las Vegas get underway.
In 1949, a marathon heads-up poker game between two famous gamblers, Nick (the Greek) Dandalos and Johnny Moss, at Binion's Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas brought attention to the game. The match took place over a five month period, and Moss was the eventual winner.
The 1950s were a time of the famous «road gamblers» of Texas, men who traveled the highways to Dallas, Fort Worth, and many stops in between.
In 1970, Benny Binion, owner of Binion's, started the World Series of Poker, a competition among the world's best players. Johnny Moss was voted the best player, and the following year, 1971, Moss was the winner again. In 1972, Thomas «Amarillo Slim» Preston won the title. With numerous colorful television appearances on the Tonight Show and others, he brought new attention lo the game. There were seven players the first year the World Series of Poker was held, and thirteen the second year. Today, the event has mushroomed in size, and there are thousands of participants (and thirty-four preliminary tournaments). A guaranteed $2 million first prize goes to the winner of the main event. Many other tournaments have followed in its wake, and online poker, both tournament and live-action, appeared in the late 1990s.
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