February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
The card game has taken off, fueling demand for the marketing of everything poker, from “how-to” books to professional-grade chip sets for home games.
Hold ‘Em, as it is popularly called, is a game where each player is dealt two cards and a dealer shows up to five more “communal” cards for the entire table. There are few rules, which leaves plenty of room for cunning, often in the form of chiding other players with bluffs and tells.
Often called deceptively simple, Hold ‘Em has become a bona fide industry, judging by the multitude televised tournaments and home games popping up in cities across the world.
This all while the game remains, for the most part, illegal when played for money. No longer reserved for the occasional trip to Las Vegas, it has become a rec room game, spanning all age groups.
Poker is easily America’s most popular card game. It’s origins are unknown, though it is likely that poker is a from of the ancient Persian game of