Texas Holdem first showed up in Vegas when Texas poker legends Amarillo Slim, Doyle Brunson and Crandell Addington introduced it to the casinos in the late 1950’s. It was only called holdem in those days. At first, the only casino where you could find the game was at the Golden Nugget downtown. When a poker room opened up at the Dunes in 1969, the game’s popularity began to grow.

An annual “Gambling Fraternity Convention” was a collection of professionals playing different variations of poker to decide the best player in the world. In 1970 Benny and Jack Binion bought the rights to the convention and turned the event into the World Series of Poker. Journalist Tom Thackrey decided that the main event should be Texas Holdem, and the Binions agreed.

In 2004 Harrah’s Entertainment bought Binion’s Horseshoe and the rights to the WSOP, and the tournament was moved to the Rio.