Texas Hold’em has become the best known versions of poker in the world. This is partly due to it being the most widely available game at poker sites when online poker started becoming more popular, but it was already a well established game long before that. It has been referred to as the Cadillac of poker for many years.
Although other forms of poker have also proved to be popular online, Texas Hold’em has remained the most commonly played. It’s also the game of choice at pretty much every land based casino and poker room, and it’s used for the majority of live tournaments as well.
One of the key reasons why Texas Hold’em is so popular is that it’s really quite simple to learn. The rules aren’t at all complicated and basic strategy is easy enough to understand if you’re prepared to put some time and effort in.
In this short guide to the game we have looked at some of the main reasons why you should consider learning and playing Texas Hold’em. We’ve also recommended the best places to play it online and provided some additional information on its history.
| For the rules of the game, please see the following page Texas Hold’em Rules. |
Advantages of Learning Texas Hold’em
The biggest advantage of learning Texas Hold’em is simply that it’s the most commonly played variation of poker. Regardless of whether you play live or online, you’ll find more games of this type taking place than any other version. You’re unlikely to ever struggle to find some action when you’re looking for it, and this isn’t necessarily the case with some of the other varieties.
Because most beginners tend to play this form of poker, it’s also probably the easiest one to win money at. This is particularly the case at the lower stakes, where you’ll find a lot of recreational players that play purely for fun and aren’t worried about learning any strategy or trying to improve. If you can learn just the basics of strategy, then you’ll have a very good chance of beating players of this kind.
We have a very comprehensive poker strategy section which is largely focused on Texas Hold’em. We can’t guarantee that we will turn you into a world class player, but we can certainly give you much of the information that you need to get there yourself. If you’re serious about wanting to win money from poker, then we would definitely advise you to take a look at this section and see what it has to offer.
Best Poker Sites for Texas Hold’em
The fact that you’ll find Texas Hold’em at every single poker site on the internet means you have a surplus of options to choose from when deciding where to play. However, you don’t want to sign up anywhere without first making sure you have chosen a safe, reputable site that has plenty to offer. The standard of online poker rooms vary substantially and in order to have the best experience possible, you need to be selective in where you play.
The following is a list of our top recommendations for playing Texas Hold’em online. These are all trustworthy sites that we’ve tested thoroughly and found to perform very well.
In addition to the above sites, we have also made recommendations in a range of specific categories. If you have specific requirements from a poker site or have a very clear idea of what you’re looking for, then this may help you find the ideal site.
The History of Texas Hold’em
Although the internet poker era, so far at least, has been very much defined by Texas Hold’em, it’s by no means a new game. It’s not known exactly when it was first introduced, but despite a lack of evidence, it’s widely accepted that it originated in Texas in the city of Robstown.
All we know for sure is that the game was brought to Las Vegas during the 1960s by a group of players that included the legendary Doyle Brunson and Amarillo Slim. At the time it was Five Card Draw that was the poker game of choice in Vegas, but the higher level of skill involved in Hold’em lead to its growing popularity.
In 1972 the first World Series of Poker (WSOP) was held, and it was Texas Hold’em that was selected as the game for the main event. Despite there being less than 8 entrants to the championships, the WSOP has gone from strength to strength in the years since and Hold’em is still the main event game.
The popularity of the game was helped enormously a few years after the first WSOP, in 1978. This is when Doyle Brunson published his strategy book, Super System, which had a huge impact on the way people thought about poker, Texas Hold’em in particular, and the way it should be played.
Over the years the game spread beyond the United States and gained popularity throughout many different parts of the world. It was therefore not surprising when it was the first poker game to be offered when poker sites started to launch on the internet. The subsequent boom in online poker helped to even more firmly establishTexas Hold’em as the leading variation of the game.
