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By CRAIG CROSBY
Staff Writer 12/09/2007

By CRAIG CROSBY

Staff Writer

While Texas hold 'em's popularity has exploded in recent years, the game itself has been known to hard core poker players for more than a century.

While the exact origin of Texas hold 'em is unknown, there is a popular legend that the game originated in Robstown, Texas, in the early 1900's, according to the online poker site WorldCasinoDirectory.com.

Games were played for food or other commodities, said Gail Cress of Fairfield, a Texas hold 'em player who has researched the game's history.

"It wasn't a money thing, it was just for fun," she said.

The game spread to Dallas in the 1920's and was later introduced in Las Vegas, "by a few Texan gamblers and card players," according to World Casino Directory.

The World Series of Poker added Texas hold em in the 1970's, but the game remained relatively unknown to the general public. The World Series, and Texas hold 'em, were prominent in the 1998 movie "Rounders," starring Matt Damon.

But most players agree that the game took off with the development of a television camera that allowed viewers to see the cards being held by the players. Then, in 2003, Chris Moneymaker parlayed a $39 online entry fee for the World Series of Poker into $2.5 million.

Perhaps most importantly, millions of people watched Moneymaker's dream come true on ESPN.

"Poker entered a new age following Moneymaker's victory," notes the World Series of Poker Web site, WorldSeriesOfPoker.com. "Overnight, many professional poker players became celebrities -- and celebrities suddenly wanted to become poker players. Poker had captured the public's imagination."

And with the World Series of Poker circuit players from across the country can now sit down with the best players in the world.

"You can drive down to Foxwoods any day of the week and get into a $1,000 tournament," said Lt. David Bowler of the Maine State Police's gaming division. "Professionals play every day, all around the country. That's the popularity."

Craig Crosby--861-9253

ccrosby@centralmaine.com

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