Texas Hold 'Em History

Texas hold 'em history reads like a movie script
and helps explain why its the most popular
form of poker...

Texas hold 'em is now the world's most popular form of poker and is without question the online game of choice. A lot of you younger players are probably unaware of it's history which reads like a Hollywood script.

Poker in the United States in 1960 was against the law in every state except California and Nevada. Hold 'em was invented by five Texans: Jack Strauss of Houston, Jesse Alto from Corpus Christi, Tom Moore from San Antonio, Pinky Rhoden from Lubbock and a fifth card player aptly nicknamed "Duck" Mallard. Despite the constant threat of police raids, these five poker mad cowboys held high stakes games all over cattle country.

Known as "road" gamblers, the Texans eventually toured hold 'em all the way to Nevada, disguising their illegal entertainment under the cover of religious meetings and fraternal organisations. No prizes for guessing their favourite form of Texas hold 'em was no-limit.

Incredibly, it's still illegal for most Americans to play online poker; so pause and think just how Lady Luck dealt you your first great hand by making you a UK citizen. Before you do that however, here's a tip that becomes more obvious the more hold 'em you play.

In no-limit games, your most important tactic is to try and get your opponent into a situation where if he makes a bet he's actually risking his entir