February 08, 2010:
Our first Texas Hold'em tournament was played
while the rain continued to soak our golf course.
Nine adventurous men showed up. They played. They had a blast. It was like
being back in high school -- albeit without the cheer leaders.
The tournament was a lot more fun and exciting than one might have
expected. A few players had played before but the majority were like you and
me ... novices. It didn't take long to settle down, but the adrenaline
stayed in play.
Bob Bradford organized the tournament and explained to everyone how it would work.
Basically, we all put up $5.00 just as we do for the golf tournament. All
players received the same number of chips: Play commenced according to rules
of Texas Hold'em. It took a
few hands to get used to the moving of the big blinds, little blinds, and
the betting rules, but you get used to it quickly.
Chips: Whites
(14 ea.)
represented $1.00, Reds (10 ea) $2.00, Blues (4 ea) $5.00. (approximate
numbers)
Blinds started at $1.00 & $2.00. (In actual $ terms, that's $0.10 and $0.20)
A timer was set and every 30 minutes it dinged. Blinds doubled on the next
deal.
As players got knocked out, the tables consolidated and
everyone "colored up" -- i.e., counted chips and reset their value to keep
the chips on the table down to a reasonable number.
The next time a tournament is rained out you might want to give it a try.
The weather inside was perfect.
Our time was already scheduled.
The energy and enthusiasm were at high levels.
Places were determined just like our golf tournaments. In this case we had
one flight, three places were paid.
The winners were: (Congratulate these guys when you see them)
1. Gary Going ................ watch this guy, he's good and he's cool
2. Frank Caldwell ........... he's cool too and knows what
he's doing
3. Bob Jasien .................. played like a professional
Hopefully, interest will
grow. Those who attended are anxious to try it again.
A lot of adrenaline was being pumped
Monday morning for a mere $5.00 entry fee. As the big
blinds went from $2 to $8 to $20, the excitement level grew.
It will take time and practice to get good, but it's a high adrenaline sport and
fun to watch even if you get knocked out. It's the best $5.00 entertainment
you can get today.
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Introduction
Poker is the hottest game around and the most played poker
game is Texas Hold'em (See
Texas Hold'em Poker Rules). In every country in the world
gamble fans are playing Texas Hold'em games and it's seems that
it's popularity is never ending. Playing Texas Hold'em for free
on the internet at
poker
sites has become very popular over the last couple of years.
Many are curious about the origin of Texas Hold'em, who invented
the game? And who put the game on the internet? To answer these
questions it is important to go back and discover the history of
poker.
History of Poker
There are many different stories about how poker came into
this world and their seems to be no solid proof of a predecessor
of poker. Most stories agree that the
game of poker
is probably a version of several different games.
Many people believe that Poker came from China around 900
A.D, like many other gamble games. The Chinese played this
variant of poker not with cards since they weren't invented yet,
but with nicely painted dominoes. The Chinese Emperor Mu Tsung
introduced the game 'domino cards' in 969 A.D. and this is
believed to be the oldest form of poker. A game from Germany
called 'Pochspiel' is also considered to be a forerunner of
poker as we know it today. The rules and the name of the game
have some similarities. Another theory claims that poker came
from India, were the game supposedly comes from the Indian card
game 'Ganjifa'. Ganjifa existed of 96 painted playing cards and
they were used for several different betting games.
The most common believe is that Poker was born in France,
from the French name 'Pogue'. This was a game that was played in
the 15th century, with the card deck as we know it today, 52
cards and 4 suits. It was a card game that included bluffing and
betting. The French colonials brought Pogue to Canada and after
that to the United States in the beginning of the 17th century,
but the game became a really popular in the beginning of the
18th century in New Orleans. During the American Civil War, many
soldiers played the game to pass the time. From this first Pogue
game, different versions evolved, like 'Stud' and 'Draw'. Pogue
turned into 'Poker' in 1834 by a gambling fan called Jonathan H.
Green. He learned how to play card games in prison. After his
release he went to the Mississippi River to show off his new
acquired skills and he became a professional card player. He
discovered the different versions of the 'Pogue' game here.
Green fell in love with this new game and since then he decided
the game should be called Poker.
History of Texas Hold'em
The true history of Texas Hold'em is yet unknown. The story
goes that the very first location were the game Texas Hold'em
was ever played was in Robstown in Texas around 1900. What made
Texas Hold'em really famous was the World Series of Poker
Tournament. The WSOP exists since 1970, where it took place for
the first time at the Horseshoe in Las Vegas and ever since then
the game Texas Hold'em, has been played by poker players all
over the world.
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