A More Recent History of Poker
Poker experienced a resurgence in popularity since the early Seventies, even exceeding its previous status as a gambling game. This was triggered largely by the emergence of the tournament series called the World Series of Poker.
The very popular World Series of Poker known today was developed by Benny Binion and his sons, Jack Binion and Ted Binion, casino owners and poker players in Las Vegas.
The original concept of the World Series of Poker was created earlier by Tom Moore, though, in San Antonio, Texas in 1968. The invitational event was held in Reno's Holiday Hotel and Casino.
In 1970, the Binion family held the World Series of Poker at Binion's Horseshoe in Las Vegas. They have since then parlayed not only the tournament series but also the game of poker, itself, as a major casino draw everywhere.
Since 1970, the Binion family held the World Series of Poker every year in Las Vegas. Eventually, in 2004, they sold Binion's Horsesoe and the rights to the World Series of Poker to Harrah Entertainment which sold the hotel and casino but continues to hold the tournament series which is now bigger than ever.
The World Series of Poker is considered the largest poker tournament series worldwide, with each set including more than fifty events and lasting more than a month. All the major variants of the game are included, and the winner of each event is awarded a bracelet. The final game and main event of each tournament series is the $10,000.00 no limit hold'em. Thousands try to join this because the winner receives a prize of several million dollars.
In the Seventies, after the launch of the World Series of Poker, several books on poker strategy were released. Foremost were Doyle Brunson's Super/System, Mike Caro's The Book of Tells and David Sklansky's The Theory of Poker.
A decade later, in 1987, several types of community card poker emerged in the casinos of California, considered the largest poker casinos globally. All the variants of poker became popular in Atlantic City,New Jersey and around the United States by 1990. This was perhaps even more enhanced by the film Rounders, centering on poker with Matt Damon and Edward Norton as stars.
In the United Kingdom, the television program Late Night Poker debuted in 1999, leading to the introduction of the game to a wide European audience.
By the year 2000, the emergence of online poker further boosted the popularity of the game globally. This tied up with the World Series of Poker by providing online satellite games as qualifier tournaments. In fact the 2003 Series Champion, Chris Moneymaker, and the 2004 Series Champion,Greg Raymer,both got into the World Series of Poker by winning an online satellite qualifying tournament.
Poker is definitely a game that evolves with the times.