Not until two years later did it make it there, at The Dune, where it was a huge hit and caught the attention of a big name in Vegas - Benny Binion. Crandell Adderley eventually persuaded one casino - The Golden Nugget - to run tables in 1967, but at the time it had a poor reputation and wasn't on the main strip.

In the late 1960's not one casino on the main strip would allow poker on their premises. That journey wasn't trouble-free, however. Only after this time, when it hit Vegas just as it exploded as the gambling capital of the world, did it become the world famous pastime we know today. From that date, it's popularity spread throughout Texas - but no further - for 40 years. One thing that is certain is the variant known as Texas Hold 'em officially started in 1925 in Texas. Other suggestions are Bragg from England, Poque from France and Poca from Ireland. The popular notion is that it came from a game in Persia called as-nas, which varied from only having 20 cards to having 5 suits, or extra's to the familiar King, Queen etc such as a Soldier or a Dancer.

The actual origin of poker isn't so clear. Fresh in the minds of the early pioneers would have been the excitement, both good and bad, of the way the west was won, and since poker was more popular at the time these movies were being made, it's a natural step for the creators to assume it would have been played in the saloons they were depicting on film. Of course, there weren't as many cowboys around then, but the movie industry was just starting up. But were these cowboys playing poker? It turns out probably not, because whilst poker did exist as a card game at the time, the most common one by far was called ' Faro' Faro then pokerįaro was the most popular card game in the 1800's, but was overtaken by poker from the 1900's. Sure, there were saloons, piano players and colorful dancing girls, as well as the card tables surrounded by gamblers. However, it turns out not to be accurate. This picture is so common it's been depicted since the silent black and white dawn of the Western movies. The image most people conjure up of the Old West when thinking of how the cowboys spent their leisure time is a smokey saloon with a table of grim faces, all intent on betting the farm on that one last hand. Alternate: Cowboys in the Old West mainly played pokerĬurrent: Cowboys in the Old West seldom played poker Smokey Saloon

What is the card game called faro