Texas Holdem is considered to be the most popular type of poker, which first appeared in 1967 in Robstown, a small US town in Texas.
It was Hold’em that won the hearts of millions of players around the world. Today, the card game is popular not only in America but also in other countries – Australia, England, Russia, Germany, etc.
Briefly about the rules of the game of Texas Hold’em
Texas Hold’em has become widespread due to the simple rules of the game. This type of poker is liked by 80% of poker players who play not only on the Web, but also in offline casinos.
The essence of the game is to win the bets of opponents. To do this, during 4 rounds – Preflop, Flop, Turn and River – players collect winning combinations.
Hold’em rules:
- In round 1, all participants at the table receive 2 hole cards, which are also called starting or pocket cards. Assessing the prospects of the pockets, the players make bets.
- In the 2nd round, 3 community cards are laid out on the table. With these cards, poker players make combinations, after which bidding again follows.
- In each of the subsequent rounds, 1 more card is laid out on the table.
A winning hand in Hold’em can consist of any number of starting and community cards.
Why is Texas Hold’em so popular?
Hold’em is a classic form of community card poker that is ideal for playing strategies. There are 4 reasons why the game has become so popular all over the world.
Simple Rules
Unlike Chinese poker and other types of card games, players do not need to keep complex score calculations. You can learn the rules literally in 1 day, so most beginners begin their acquaintance with poker with Texas Hold’em.
But in Hold’em there are several “pitfalls” that do not allow inexperienced poker players to immediately play a profitable game:
- The probability of winning does not always depend on the strength of the collected combination;
- The chances of winning increase only with the skillful use of poker strategies;
- To assess the chances of winning, you need to have an analytical mindset.
In contrast to other games of chance, poker is based on probability rather than luck. The likelihood of winning in poker does not rely on chance; it depends on one’s ability to make tactical moves instead.
No side bets
In Hold’em, you do not need to bet Ante – a forced bet, which in other types of poker is made by each player even before receiving starting cards. Under the terms of the classic game, only 2 players to the left of the Dealer make blind bets:
- Small blind (SB);
- Big blind (BB).
There are no limits on the size of the bet in no-limit Texas Hold’em, which cannot be said about the limit and pot-limit Omaha.
A large number of opponents
Each participant receives only 2 hole cards, so up to 10 people can play at the table at the same time. There are 2 advantages to this:
- The rapid increase in the bank (sweat);
- Great game channel.
For example, in Stud, a maximum of 8 people fight for the main pot, and in Chinese poker – no more than 4.
Availability of educational literature
Over the past 20 years, the popularity of Hold’em has grown significantly, so a lot of poker literature has appeared on the Web, which describes in detail:
- Rules of the game;
- Tactical moves;
- Poker strategies;
- The subtleties of the game.
And if you want to achieve a high level of skill in the game, you can easily get all the necessary materials.
Other varieties of poker
The game of poker is not limited to classic Hold’em. Other gaming disciplines are also in great demand in online rooms:
- Omaha is a game whose rules are very similar to those in Hold’em. But each player receives not 2, but 4 starting cards. In this case, the winning combination must be made up of two hole cards and 3 community cards.
- Draw poker is a 5-card draw game with no community cards. Players receive 5 hole cards each, and after the end of the betting round, they can exchange any number of starting cards for new ones from the deck.
- Chinese poker is a game for 2 or 4 people, in which there are no usual rounds of betting. Players collect 3 combinations each and compare them in pairs with those that the opponents got.
At the moment, there are about 40 modifications of the card game, but Texas Hold’em is still the most popular type of poker.