As it turns out, Texas Hold’em proved to be quite lucrative for high-rollers – partly because the structure of this poker variant allows for so many rounds of betting – attracting serious players who enjoyed trying out their poker tournament strategy against their opponents. Legend has it that many professional players were attracted to the variant in Vegas when a pop-up game was played at the entrance to the now-defunct casino The Dunes on the Strip. This meant that without the drawcard of professional players, the poker variant got off to a sputtering start. It didn’t catch on right away because if you wanted a game of Hold’em back in the day, you had to head to less well-known casinos, which weren’t attracting high-rollers at the time. This is when the players Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim and Crandell Addington brought the game to Las Vegas. It seems unbelievable that Hold’em was largely unknown outside the state of Texas until 1967. This variant can be proud of its heritage! Was the variant an instant hit in the US? (These days you can hike, paddle and catch a movie in the tiny town, but of course you won’t find a poker game in progress because gambling’s still illegal in the state.) Some believe a Texas road gambler called T “Blondie” Forbes developed the variant in the 1920s regardless of whether that’s true, the state does officially recognize Robstown as the birthplace of Texas Hold’em poker. We do know that Hold’em can be traced to Robstown in Texas, and seems to have been played as far back as the early 20th century. Most agree it has ties to older games like the French “poque,” German “pochen” and Irish “poca,” and was brought to the US by immigrants who played the game on riverboats that plied their trade along the Mississippi River. Yes, it did, although we can’t say for sure where or when the game of poker itself originally started. But how exactly did this variant emerge and is it really somehow connected to Texas? We answer this and many of your other Texas Hold’em questions below! Did Hold’em really originate in Texas? BetMGM goes a step further by providing a “poker school,” where you can find everything you need to know about this popular game. If you play Texas Hold’em poker online, you’ll know that the best online poker sites will always offer a wide selection of tables, tournaments and stakes for players to enjoy. Texas Hold’em poker is by far the most popular variant of the game throughout the world.

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