So you've already heard tons of things about the game of Texas Holdem (also spelled ‘Texas Hold 'em, Hold'em) and now you want a piece of the gambling action, huh? Brilliant choice. After all, of all the different types of poker games played both in traditional poker rooms - as well as online poker rooms - no game is quite as popular as Texas Holdem poker. In fact the game has virtually exploded on the scene due in large part to major television networks like ESPN broadcasting live poker games what seems like 24/7.

The number and variety of online poker rooms are vast, to say the least, and growing all the time. The number one game in demand is? You guessed it, Texas Holdem poker.

Texas Holdem vs. Traditional Poker Games
Texas Hold'em is what's known as a community card game because each contestant in the game may combine any of the 5 community cards with their own 2 hole cards. The object in the game is to build as strong a poker hand as possible. How this differs from other variations of poker like draw or stud poker is that each player shares access to the community cards, as opposed to a situation in which every player is required to build a hand using only the cards dealt to them.

How to Play Texas Holdem
Similar to most other forms of poker, in Texas Holdem, each player competes for the pot, which is paid into by all the players at the table. With the cards dealt out, each player then wagers based on how strong or weak they believe their hand to be. This, of course, is where bluffing comes into play.

A game of Texas Holdem is broken down into a number of hands. At the end of each hand, the winning player, or players, is awarded the pot. A hand can conclude either at what's known as the ‘showdown' - that is - when those players still in the hand compare their Texas Hold ‘em poker hands, or when all the players but one has folded their cards. When more than one player competes in the showdown, the player with the stronger Holdem poker hand is declared the winner and awarded the entire pot. Should all the players fold except one, the pot goes to that last remaining player in the hand.

Texas Holdem History
How Texas Holdem was ever invented still remains quite a mystery. However, according to the Texas State Legislature, Robstown, Texas is the official birthplace of the game, which dates all the way back to the early 1900's. A number of Texas poker players are said to have introduced the game to Las Vegas casinos around 1967. It didn't take long before the game found its way to European casinos and poker rooms.

Today, following years of consistent growth, Texas Holdem is experiencing a massive rise in popularity, due primarily to the game's widespread exposure via the Internet and television broadcasts. Online Texas Hold ‘em poker has never enjoyed the sort of popular demand as it does today. And given that online gambling is so relatively new to our world, the sky is indeed the limit.

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