The hold’em explosion occurred for two reasons. The first was the creation of online poker. Suddenly people who enjoyed the game could play whenever they wanted to from the comfort of their own home. All one needed was a computer, internet access and a credit card. Before this, poker was an activity that either consisted of going to the casino and being limited by the action, or required a lot of effort to get enough players together for a home game.

The catalyst that set off the poker boom was 2003 WSOP Champion Chris Moneymaker. He got there by winning a $40 online satellite which paid his way into the main event. ESPN took the Cinderella story and ran with it, showing poker players everywhere that the tournament can be won by anyone, not just seasoned pros. The game has grown ever since and it shows no signs of slowing down.

Hold’em was created in the town of Robson, Texas, sometime in the mid-20th century. It was introduced to Vegas in 1967 by a group of Texas poker players which included Doyle Brunson and Amarillo Slim.

The only place that you could find hold’em action in the late ’60s and early ’70s was at the Golden Nugget. When Tom Moore held the first poker tournament at the Second Annual Gambling Fraternity Convention in 1969, Jack Binion bought the rights for the tournament the next year, and the World Series of Poker was born.

The game slowly grew in popularity over the years until Chris Moneymaker won the main event at the WSOP in 2003. The story of the amateur winning $2.5 million, and the ability for players to play online, launched the game to levels of popularity the old Texas pros could never have imagined.