Short history of poker

The WSOP was first held in 1970, and, in the following years, the WSOP tournament helped the game gain popularity in the US, bringing players out from behind basement card tables and into the spotlight. Although early WSOP tournaments weren't nearly as publicized nor as accessible as the many online poker casino titles and satellite qualifying tournaments rounds available to players today -- the first year's tournament was sparsely attended -- the WSOP tournaments of the 1970s gave names and faces to a game with an already strong fan base. WSOP Champions from this legendary time include Johnny Moss, Bobby Baldwin, Amarillo Slim, and Doyle Brunson, players who became legendary figureheads in the emerging gaming industry. Doyle Brunson was also a literary pioneer in the card playing field, publishing the classic strategy manual Super/System, which one of the first books of its kind, an amazing feat considering that card playing manuals are now just one of the many lucrative offshoots of the modern gaming empire.

In the 1980s, sitcoms often brought fictional characters to life by including card games and poker nights within their regular plots, and the casinos of Atlantic City, New Jersey and Las Vegas opened specialized card rooms in the 1990s, designed to cater to the poker-hungry masses, changed the game completely.

In 2011, playing poker online is the definitive signature of a new generation, but, as Poker.ca shows, the virtual format has also revolutionized the game for many Poker Stars veteran players who are up for the challenge.