What is the origin of the phrase...

According to Hoyle means according to the prescribed rules and regulations for a particular situation. It comes from Edmond Hoyle (1671/72-1769), a British writer who codified the rules for various games. Hoyle wrote A Short Treatise on the Game of Whist in 1742, which established a code of rules for that card game that stayed in effect for more than a hundred years. He also codified laws for backgammon and was an authority on chess.