The Birth of Texas Hold'em

The NYT's new poker columnist types:

Hold'em was apparently born in Texas about 80 years ago, when a dozen or so cowboys wanted to play a little poker but found that they had only one deck. The most creative cowboy must have got to thinking: If five cards were shared by all players, each could be dealt a two-card hand. Though poker and its 52-card deck had long roots in France, he probably did not drawl, "Voilà."

[nyt]