Poker
Authority: TDA (Poker Tournament Directors Association) Rules
Texas Hold'em uses a standard 52-card deck. Players receive 2 hole cards and combine them with 5 community cards to form the best 5-card hand. Hand rankings from highest: Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four of a Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, Three of a Kind, Two Pair, One Pair, High Card.
| Parameter / Specification | Standard Value | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Deck Size | 52 | cards (No Jokers) |
| Hole Cards per Player | 2 | cards |
| Community Cards (Board) | 5 | cards (Flop 3, Turn 1, River 1) |
History & Origin
Poker's ancestors are thought to blend elements from European, Middle Eastern, and Chinese card games, but the game as commonly recognized today took shape in the early 1800s in the United States, first documented as "poque" played in the gambling houses of New Orleans. From there it spread up the Mississippi River and across the frontier, picking up variations along the way.
Texas Hold'em specifically traces back to Robstown, Texas, in the early 1900s. After circulating around Texas card rooms for decades, it was brought to Las Vegas in 1963 by a group of Texas road gamblers, including Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim, and Crandell Addington, who introduced it at the Golden Nugget casino.
Rise of Tournament Poker
The first Texas Hold'em tournament was held in 1969 at the Dunes casino on the Las Vegas Strip, and its success helped push the game out of backroom obscurity. In 1970, casino owner Benny Binion invited a small group of the era's best players to his Horseshoe Casino for a series of cash games meant to settle who was the best poker player alive -- the informal beginning of the World Series of Poker.
No-limit Texas Hold'em has served as the WSOP's signature game since 1971, and the tournament's Main Event later cemented Hold'em as the dominant form of poker played and broadcast worldwide.