We were all around for the poker boom but the groundwork was laid well before many of us were even born.

It's important to understand where this thing called poker came from and to pay some restekp to the geezers that originated this shizz.

This hand comes to you from 1990, the year Iranian-born poker pro Mansour Matloubi defeated Hans "Tuna" Lund to become world champion.

Even without the hole cam it's clear in this video that poker had the drama needed to entertain TV audiences.



Matloubi looked the part of the foreign hustler and I gotta five him props for the sunglasses. I would rock those sunglasses for sure. Puffing on a cigarette, Matloubi gets his money in good, gets sucked out on and redraws on the river to take a monster lead.

This is exactly the kind of footage that not only started building an audience for the game but gave decision-makers in the entertainment industry the confidence to pursue poker.

We're headed to Vegas this week for the 2009 World Series of Poker so keep an eye on PokerListings for the best WSOP coverage around.

Showell out.