Texas Holdem

History of Texas Holdem

The exact history of Texas Holdem is unclear, there are many different opinions about how old the game is and where it originated although most agree it was conceived in Texas around the early 1900's. Popular is the belief that Texas Hold'em was born in Robstown, Texas at the turn of the century, it grew in stature over the next 25 years as it spread like wildfire across the state of Texas.

It was'nt until the 1970's, though, that Texas Holdem took it's rightful place on the world stage when Benny Binion started hosting a series of tournaments called the World Series of Poker at his cardroom in Las Vegas, namely Binions Horseshoe Casino; it was decided that Texas Hold'em would be the game used to decide the WSOP main event and has stayed that way ever since.

Play Texas Holdem for free.

Nowadays, millions of online poker players consider Texas Hold'em their game of choice; it is without a doubt the most popular form of poker of all time and continues to grow.

Understanding Texas Holdem

Texas Holdem Poker Rules are fully explained elsewhere but typically, because you need less of a hand to win in Holdem than Omaha, the opportunity for creative play is greater. When combined with the fact that you have seen 71% of your hand after only one round of betting, it's understandable why the most important decisions occur after the flop; there are more opportunities to use a wider range of moves on your opponents after the flop too.

The mechanics of Texas Holdem Poker Rules are actually quite easy to learn and while it's useful to be competent at skills such as starting hand selection and the mathematics of poker, it is much more important to excel in the psychological department of the game. Reduce your mistakes with information, crush your opponents with psychology.

Arguably the two most important psychological advantages to possess are your ability to read your opponents hand and to create the right type of table image for yourself.
For more detailed information on how to play the game see our Texas Holdem Poker Rules

Texas Holdem Tips

There are many factors worthy of your attention in the battle to become a better Hold'em player, below are a few of the most important elements of the game to concentrate on.

Play the player - Study your opposition, make notes on them, look for patterns in their play. Once you have reliable information about the way they play, use it to your advantage.

Play the position - Being last to act is considered the best position of all. The earlier you have to act in a hand, the less you should like your positioning. Throw away your marginal hands when you are poorly positioned and make sure to capitalise when you have a positional advantage.

Play the situation - Try and use as many factors as possible to decide how good the situation really is, the more thought you put into this, the more you will be rewarded. If it looks likely your hand is beat, don't get too attached to pretty cards.

Play Aggressively - Hold'em favours the aggressive player; be a shark, not a goldfish. Aggressive play gives you two ways to win the pot, you either get your opponent to fold or win in a showdown. Passive play reduces your ability to win pots by making your opponent fold before a showdown, aggressive play is invariably the preferred option.

Plan ahead - Make a plan of action, know how you want to play the hand before you play the hand. Make sure to give yourself options if necessary incase things don't go as planned.

Texas Holdem Poker Rules will give you more detailed info about how to play Texas Holdem.