Poker may seem like a pretty straight forward card game, but some of the facts surrounding its presence are more mysterious than the personalities of some of its most elusive pro players. Such information is not going to help anyone become a better poker player, but it is interesting nonetheless and could make for entertaining trivia at the tables; might even win you a side bettor two.
For instance, did you know that today’s most popular poker variations, Texas Holdem, actually has an official recorded birthplace? Texas Holdem was born in Robstown, Texas and dates back to the early 1900’s (exact year unknown). However, the game didn’t become popular until it was brought to Las Vegas in 1967 by a group of Texan poker players that included the legendary Doyle Brunson and Amarillo Slim.
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Texas Holdem caught on almost instantly and was already popular enough in 1970, when Benny Binion hosted the very first World Series of Poker tournament, to make the line-up. It was one of five games played throughout the series and by the next year, Texas Holdem poker took over as the Main Event game of choice.
Did you ever wonder what some of the top professional poker players did before they became millionaires at the card tables? Doyle Brunson sold office equipment; his first and only job before becoming a highly successful career poker player. Prior to winning his first WSOP Championship in 1985, Johnny Chan was employed as a short order chef. Obviously poker was the more appropriate career choice for the Chinese-American player, who now has 10 bracelets under his belt. The esteemed 4-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu had no former job at all. At the ripe age of 16, he was already playing poker, hustling in pool halls and betting on sports. His success was so immense that he quit high school and never looked back.
Once considered a recreational game by most, poker gained ultimate popularity when the World Series of Poker became a fully televised series on ESPN. The tournament received brief coverage, mostly recaps, throughout the 1980s and 1990s, but when ESPN decided to air full tournament play in 2003, the entire country took notice. By 2005, there were more than 50,000,000 poker players in the United States alone, one third of which were females.
We’ve already made reference to the illustrious Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson twice now, why stop there? After all, he is arguably the most mysterious poker player in the history of the game. One of the most interesting facts by far is that Doyle refuses to play one, and only one, hand in Texas Holdem. He will instantly fold A-Q every single time it is dealt to him. Most would consider an A-Q to be a great hand, but according to Doyle, there are simply too many ways to beat A-Q. Strangely enough, Brunson will always play a hand of 10-2, believing it to be good luck as it was his final winning hand in not one, but two, World Series of Poker Championships.