Texas Hold’Em Poker – Game Variants

In 2000 Texas Hold’Em poker got revitalized with the help of newer and smaller TV camera’s (called pocket cams), a wave of new literature and ofcourse the internet poker boom. Currently Texas hold’em is the most popular game out of the many poker variants. For a long time, 7 card stud was the most popular poker game in casino’s, but it has since then definitely been taken over by Texas Hold’em.

In the game of Texas Hold’em the goal of each player is to win the money or chips contributed by the other poker players in to the so called pot. Because every poker player in the game is dealt two cards randomly, they can only try to influence the amount of money put into the pot according to the strength of their hand. Being able to compare the strength of your own hand with that of your opponents is key to becoming a winning poker player. If you know you have a better hand than your opponents, it makes sense raising the amount of money players have to put in the pot to complete the hand of Texas Hold Em.

At the beginning of each hand dealt in a game of Texas Hold’em, poker players receive two cards face down. Then, the dealer puts out 5 community cards that all the players share. The 5 cards aren’t put out in the middle of the table at the same time, but first in a series of 3 cards called the flop, then the fourth card named the turn and eventually the fifth and final community card, which is called the river.

After the final community card, the river, is dealt, the remaining players have a showdown and expose the 2 cards they received face down. The poker player who is able to make the best 5 card combination wins the hand and all the money put into the pot. A hand of Texas Hold’em doesn’t always come to a showdown. If somewhere along the way to the fifth card or river all your opponents don’t complete your bets (extra money you put in the pot during the hand) and fold their cards, you are rewarded the pot without a showdown or the need to expose your cards. You can find a detailed explanation of the rules of poker here.

Even though there is little information about the origins of the Texas Hold’em poker variation, the Texas State Legislature officially recognizes Robtown, Texas, USA to be the birthplace of the game, somewhere in the early 1900’s. Quickly after the Texas Hold ‘Em game was invented it spread throughout Texas and was eventually introduced to the Las Vegas casino’s by a group of professional poker players including Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim, Roscoe Weiser and Crandell Addington, who has been quoted saying the following: ‘They didn’t call it Texas hold ’em at the time, they just called it hold ’em.… I thought then that if it were to catch on, it would become the game. Draw poker, you bet only twice; hold ’em, you bet four times. That meant you could play strategically. This was more of a thinking man’s game.

We have written several articles covering specific Texas Holdem rules, in case you aren’t familiar with them and would like to give the game a try.

Here is a clip from the best poker movie ever made, Rounders, with some cool Texas Hold’em action in it:

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