Texas Hold'em Poker Rooms

Introduced into the Las Vegas poker scene during the late 1960’s, “Hold’em Poker” as it was originally known, was made popular by a group of Texan gamblers and card players, including Crandell Addington, Doyle Brunson, and Amarillo Slim. Originally intended to be a more tactical version of the game, it soon found popularity amongst professional players.

Created in 1970, The World Series Of Poker chose the “No-Limit” variant of Texas Hold’em to be the game type for its main event, and as the WSOP’s popularity has steadily increased, so has the popularity of the game. The release in 1978 of Doyle Brunson’s “Super/System” and other books dealing with professional poker players had a great impact on the game popularity, but it was not until 2000 and the first televised broadcasts of WSOP games, that it began to gain true mass public recognition.

Today, Texas Hold’em poker is by far the most popular form of poker, and is the predominant version of poker played online. Most Live Poker tournaments run Texas Hold’em as their main event, and access to these events via online satellite Texas Hold’em tournaments is a common feature of online poker rooms.

Play in Texas Hold’em normally begins with two blind bets before any cards are dealt. The player to left of the dealer position must bet the “small blind” usually half the minimum bet, while the next player to his left must bet the “big blind”, usually equal to the minimum bet.  After each game the dealer position, usually indicated by a “dealer button” is moved one place clockwise round the table.

Two cards are then dealt; face down, to each player. These are the “hole, or pocket cards”, and after reviewing their cards, each player must either fold, match the min bet, or go all-in if they cannot meet the min bet, starting with the player to the left of the big blind.

After this intial betting, the dealer deals a “flop” of three face-up community cards. This is followed by another round of betting, beginning with the player to the dealers left. After the flop betting round ends, a fourth card “the turn, or fourth street” is dealt, followed by a third betting round. Finally a fifth card, “the river, or fifth street” is dealt and one final round of betting occures.

If all but one player folds, then by default that player wins, otherwise there is a “showdown”, where each player makes the best scoring 5-card poker hand he can using his two hole cards, and the five community cards. The remaining players then show their cards, and the pot is awarded to the player with the winning hand, or split amongst any equal top scoring players.

There are many variations of the classic Texas Hold’em rules, but the three most commonly found online are Limit, No-Limit and Pot-Limit.

In Limit Texas Hold’em, bets and raises during the first two rounds of betting must be equal to the big blind, the amount being known as the “small bet”. In the second two rounds, bets and raises must equal twice the big blind, this amount being called the “big bet”.

No-Limit Texas Hold’em is by far the most popular variation, where the only limit on raises is that they must at least equal the previously highest bet, and cannot be more than the chips the player currently has at the table.

In Pot-Limit Texas Hold’em, the maximum raise is the current size of the pot.