[Mason Malmuth]

Hi Jack:

Poker Essays was first published in 1991 and the term was in that edition. Here's the quote from the current edition from the essay "The Future of Poker."

[ QUOTE ]
Game No. 3: Limit hold ’em. At the middle limits, more limit hold ’em is played than any other game in the cardrooms of Nevada and California. I think the short-term luck factor in this game needs to be a little larger to make it ideal, but this game does contain an “illusion of action” like no other form of poker. Consequently, limit hold ’em may have the best future of all forms of poker.

[/ QUOTE ]

So, as usual, these terms have been around a long time. Also, the essays in Poker Essays were all from original columns in the early editions of Card Player. So this essay may have appeared in print as early as 1989.

Best wishes,
Mason