Texas Hold’em is the name given to a variation of the traditional game of poker. In this version, each player receives just two cards in their hand, as opposed to the traditional five, while the dealer then places five cards that are known as “community cards” on the table in front of them. Community cards lay face up on the table and can actually be utilised by each player to supplement their own two card hands. As with all poker games, the object of the game is to win the pot, be it comprised of actual money or just chips (as used in games played simply for fun rather than earnings).
The particular poker variant known as Texas Hold’em is believed to have been invented, appropriately enough, in Texas, and more specifically in the Texas town of Robstown, in the early 1900s. It spread through Texas and became famous when introduced to Las Vegas casinos in 1967. Since then it has grown and grown to become one of the most popular variations on the traditional game of poker around today, even replacing seven card stud as the most popular poker game played in casinos in the United States. The popularity of Texas Hold’em has exploded even more exponentially in the last ten years, as a result of both the arrival of internet poker and the increasing exposure of televised poker tournaments around the world. Indeed, such tournaments are now a standard fixture of television sports networks in the US, and in Europe.