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Texas Hold'em: Why Is It So Popular?
By how-to-play-poker.mysportsbookonline.info

If you play poker, you probably play Texas Hold`em. It’s by far the biggest game in the United States, and the only type of poker that’s televised regularly. What makes Texas Hold`em the King of poker games?

In his world famous poker tome “Super/System”, legendary poker player Doyle Brunson refers to No Limit Texas Hold`em as “The Cadillac of poker games.” Decades before the poker explosion, Brunson predicted that Hold`em would outstrip all the other poker games to become the most popular in the world. At a time when most people on the East Coast were playing Seven Card Stud, and a great many on the West Coast were playing Lowball, such a prediction seemed uncommonly bold. But like with so many other facets of poker, Doyle was right.

One reason Texas Hold`em, particularly the No Limit variety, has become so popular is that it is the game played in the Main Event of the World Series of Poker, the tournament that determines poker’s World Champion. What poker player doesn’t dream about being known as the poker champion of the world, poker’s best? Well to get that title, you have to play Texas Hold`em. Why did No Limit Hold`em become the championship game? At the time of the World Series of Poker’s inception, all the best players agreed that it was the game that required the most aggression and skill. With only two cards in your hand, both concealed, you can give the impression that you have many different hands with creative betting. In a game like Seven Card Stud, in contrast, a player’s upcards limit the types of hands he is likely to have. Hold`em is also conducive to the No Limit betting structure, where a player can bet as much as he likes at any time, including the very intimidating “All-in” bet where a player puts all his chips in the middle. Seven Card Stud is typically played with a Limit structure, and Omaha is usually played Pot Limit, meaning you can

bet up to the amount in the pot at any time, but no more. This No Limit structure creates for some big pots and thrilling confrontations, which further adds to Hold`em’s popularity.

The other big reason that Texas Hold`em is so popular now is that it’s virtually the only kind of poker you see on television, and with good reason. Seven Card Stud, where each player can have as many as four cards face up on the table, can be very difficult for a viewer to follow. In Hold`em, with five cards in the middle for all the players to share, viewers can see what the possible holdings are in a snap. Before the advent of hole card cameras which enabled viewers to know what the players’ down cards are, a game where most of the cards in a player’s hand are face up in the middle of the table was the only watchable kind of poker. Even now, it is eminently more watchable than a Seven Card Stud tournament, which requires some graphic gymnastics to display to viewers in an entertaining way (tune in to some of the Stud events at the World Series of Poker on ESPN to see what I mean).

With more televised poker and more big money tournament events cropping up all the time, there is no reason to believe Hold`em’s popularity won’t continue to soar. In addition to all that I’ve mentioned above, another reason Hold`em is so popular is that it’s a lot of fun. So get involved and find out for yourself what this Hold`em craze is all about.

Tom Shannahan has been playing poker since he was 16. He grew up watching his father play with friends once a week. He currently writes part time for Pokerlistings.com where you can find valuable information about Poker Rooms and Poker Room Reviews.

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