Tuesday 10 July 2007

Hold On

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Texas Hold'Em Poker, a natty name for a version of the gamblers' favourite card game has nothing to do with holding cards, whether they are 'em or not. The name derives from entrepreneur Jack Oldham who promoted this version of the game in his Dallas gaming club in the 1900s and 1910s.

Misheard card game names are nothing new: pontoon is a clumsy reworking of the French vingt-et-un, while the business of saying 'snap' when a double comes up in the simple card game derives from the Prussian 'schnaf' meaning a forfeit, which was collected when a player claimed a double.
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