In 2003, something happened that changed the game of poker forever.  Chris “Moneymaker” Bryan, a mostly unknown player working at the time as an accountant, became the first person ever to win the World Series of Poker after having qualified for the series at an online poker site.  When this happened, interest in the game skyrocketed.

People fell in love with the idea that an unknown like Moneymaker could come in out of nowhere, take down the big guns in poker, and become a champion.  Since then, the World Series of Poker has steadily grown in stature – and online poker has exploded into a multi-billion dollar global industry.

Now, nearly a decade later, poker has never been more popular.

In an attempt to provide the world with an official, unifying, “go-to” rulebook for Texas Hold’em and other variations of the game, the International Federation of Poker released this week “The Rules of Poker” – a hardcover book edited by David Flusfeder and published by IFP Books.

When discussing the book, the president of the International Federation of Poker, Anthony Holden, explained that one of the main responsibilities he feels the IFP has is to clearly define the rules of the game so that play can be consistent throughout the entire world.

Holden said, “It is a sign of the growing maturity and popularity of poker that we have taken this step. But this book is designed to cover far more than merely tournament poker. It is a perfect volume to keep on hand in poker clubs and kitchen table home games the world over.”

We have all, at one time or another probably witnessed a dispute break out over a particular rule at a so-called, friendly game of poker.  And when this happens, it is often customary for players to look to the Internet in hopes of finding a definitive explanation of the rule in question.  The problem is that, like many things online, there are numerous inconsistencies from site to site when it comes to the rules of a specific variation of the game of poker.

Due to these inconsistencies, it becomes hard to truly resolve such disputes and so players often resort to declaring their own “house rules” as a means of moving on with the game.  But it seems the IFP is hoping that “The Rules of Poker” will make resolving these disputes far easier.

Because of the growing popularity of the game over the last decade, it seems more and more tournaments are popping up all around the world each year.  One can imagine how important it is that the players at these tournaments come in with the same understanding of what the rules are.  To that end, “The Rules of Poker” thoroughly covers tournament play so that there will be no room for questioning the validity of specific rules moving forward.

The release of this book comes at an exciting time for poker enthusiasts that are anxiously awaiting the legalization of online poker in the United States.  Earlier this week, a federal judge in Brooklyn reversed the conviction of a poker-club owner based on the idea that poker is a game of skill and not chance.  The judge ruled that the defendant could not be convicted of running an illegal gambling enterprise since poker did not constitute gambling according to federal law.

This was significant in terms of legalizing online poker because it provides advocates with a powerful argument – made by a federal judge – that poker is not gambling.

If online poker is legalized in the United States in the coming months as a result of this ruling, one can only expect the popularity of the game to continue to increase.  And when it does, more and more players will certainly turn to “The Rules of Poker” as their definitive, “go-to” book when either learning, or confirming, the rules of the game.