It was initially known only as “Hold’em,” but as it spread throughout Texas and beyond, the state label stuck. The Texas State Legislature officially recognizes Robstown, Texas, as the game’s birthplace. Lastly, there is the “showdown,” with each remaining player exposing the best five-card hand, using any five cards among the hole cards and the five open cards on the board. Next comes a fourth community card known as the “turn,” a third betting round, a fifth community card called the “river,” and a fourth and final betting round. Collectively, the three cards are referred to as the “flop.” This is followed by a second betting round. Then, three community cards are dealt “open,” face up, in no special order or pattern. In Texas Hold’em, each player is dealt two concealed “hole” cards, followed by a betting round. That’s when the version known as “Texas Hold’em Poker” was first played, allegedly the invention of a Texas road gambler named Blondie Forbes, who was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1980 for his creation. The idea of having “community cards” shared by players was a novelty first introduced in the 1920s. The Birth of Texas Hold’emĪccording to poker historians, split-pot and lowball poker games became popular only after the turn of the century. The first “Wild Card” poker was seen around 1875. Over the next several decades, it spread from there to the Western frontier via riverboats, on which gambling was a common pastime.īy the start of the California Gold Rush in 1848, the 52-card deck had been adopted for poker, along with new rules that included a winning combination of suited cards called a “Flush” and a card-replacement convention known as the “Draw.” It was not until after the Civil War (1861-65) that the winning sequence called a “Straight” was added and a non-drawing version of the game, “Stud,” was introduced. In 1829, it was played with a deck of just 20 cards and four hands dealt, made up of five cards each. The game known today as “Poker” got its start in New Orleans.

It was played in almost every gambling hall in the Old West from 1825 to 1915.

The original game of choice among cowpokes, miners and pioneers was “Faro,” a betting game using a standard 52-card deck. Card playing was as much a part of America’s “Wild West” era as cattle drives, stagecoaches, saloons and six-shooters.

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