As
for poker, Lawrence, its earliest reference is
in 1834 among the writings of Jonathan H. Green.
Green mentions the rules to what he called the
"cheating game," then being played on
Mississippi riverboats. Green, who couldn't find
reference to it in Hoyle, decided to name the
game Poker. The game Green described was played
with 20 cards, and used only aces, kings, queens,
jacks and tens. Up to four people could play;
each dealt five cards. The now-standard 52 card
deck ultimately replaced the 20 card deck, and
during the Civil War, modifications such as open
cards (stud poker), the straight and the draw
were established.
It wasn't until 1967 that Texas Hold 'em was introduced
in Las Vegas by the likes of gambling legends
Doyle Brunson and Amarillo Slim. It wasn't many
years thereafter for Hold 'em to eventually replace
seven-card stud as the most popular poker game
in U.S. casinos.
Texas Hold 'em's popularity at present is because
the granddaddy of all tournaments, the World Series
of Poker, is based on Texas Hold 'em, the game's
exposure to film, television and literature, internet
advertising and play, and the Cinderella story
of Chris Moneymaker, who had never played in a
"live" tournament, before winning the
main event in the 34th annual World Series of
Poker Championship in 2003.
My guess is that players in general would lean
towards Hold 'em as more "intellectually
stimulating" because with draw poker, you
wager only twice, but with Hold 'em, you are betting
four times, so tactical betting comes into play
more.
As for "hope springs eternal," for some
it comes from the community cards on the board,
for others from the fact that Moneymaker -- a
rookie of just three years playing experience
- qualified at an online tournament in which he
parlayed an entrance fee of only $40 to a win
of 2.7 million.
Calculate all you want the risk/reward ratio that
reflects the Moneymaker formula of $40 to win
2.7 million through the online route, or, spin
in your mind, "if he can do it, so can I,"
but Moneymaker got decent cards throughout, got
away with a whole lot of bluffing, had loads of
luck, and like Lancey, made the wrong moves at
the right time.
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Columns By Mark Pilarski
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