Texas Hold ’em is undoubtedly one of the most popular forms of poker played today. The game is relatively simple to understand and the game’s image has been boosted by televised tournaments, especially the World Series of Poker event that attracts thousands of players and spectators each year. Players can take advantage of the wide variety of free Texas Hold ’em software available on the internet to practice their game before attempting live or online poker tournaments.

Texas Hold ‘em is a community card game and uses the face values of the cards to create winning combinations, as in all forms of poker. Players are dealt two cards each, with another five community cards being dealt in the middle of the table during the course of the game. These cards can be used by any of the players around the table. The game traditionally has four rounds of betting. The objective of Texas Hold ‘em is to make the best five-card hand by using a combination of any of the five community cards plus the first two cards initially dealt to the player.

Texas Hold ‘em poker originated, most likely, in Texas itself in the 1900’s, with the earliest version reportedly played in Robstown. In 1925, the game was brought to Dallas and became a popular pastime among poker players in the state. The game was introduced to the gambling establishments of Las Vegas by top poker players of the time, including poker legend Doyle Brunson. In 1970, with the opening of the world famous Horse Shoe Hotel and Casino, Texas Hold ‘em was firmly on the map and on its way to becoming the leading variant of poker among the hundreds of versions out there.

The advent of internet gambling since the mid-1990s has single-handedly been responsible for creating a mass following of Texas Hold ‘em fans and players from every corner of the globe. Thousands of virtual poker rooms allow players the opportunity to try their luck with Texas Hold ‘em in its limit or no-limit form, as well as other variants of the game of poker. Tournaments are a huge part of the world of online poker playing, with millions of dollars in prizes been won each month.

Small Texas Hold ‘em tournaments were held at hotels across Las Vegas until the first official World Series of Poker event in 1972, which boasted a grand total of eight players! By 2002, there were over 800 participants, many of them having been fed into the event by online satellite tournaments held at online poker rooms before the grand tournament. Today, thanks to increased exposure to the game on popular sports channels, it can safely be said that Texas Hold ‘em has become part of mainstream culture and society.

Today, Texas Hold ‘em is the variant that is played most often at online and offline casinos in the United States, even overtaking firm favorites such as 7 Card Stud in popularity. Simple rules, mainstream support and the opportunity to make use of skillful strategic analysis, ensures that Texas Hold ‘em will remain at the top of the list for years to come.