The attraction of Texas Hold 'em

Texas Hold'em is as common today as baseball and apple pie. It's popularity is at an all time high. People of all different age, race, and sex are bellying up to the felt and peering down at their hole cards in search of "pocket rockets" or "cowboys."

So why is Texas Hold'em so popular? The simple answer is because it is flat out fun and simple to play. In Texas Hold'em each player is dealt two face down hole cards that only they can play, then five community cards are placed face up on the table for anyone to use. Whoever makes the best five card poker hand wins. The popular poker game's motto is, "It takes a minute to learn, but a lifetime to master." Perhaps that in itself is why the game is so addicting. Many people play for the competition, a lot of people play for the camaraderie, and few people are good enough to play it for a living.

There are numerous aspects of the game that make it enjoyable. The anticipation and the excitement of looking at your starting hand combined with the suspense of the flop, the turn, and then the river is what keeps people sitting at the poker table for hours upon hours. Then you add in the atmosphere, the camaraderie, and the chance to win some money and it is easy to see why Texas Hold'em has became so popular. The best part of course is raking in that huge monstrous pot and running your fingers through piles and piles of perfectly rounded wonderful poker chips. They say that in golf all it takes is one good strike of the ball and you are hooked on the game for life. Texas Hold'em poker is much the same way, when you rake in your first gigantic pot, you are hooked.

Perhaps the game is so popular because it is a game that anybody can play and if you hit it big you can become a celebrity. It does not matter if you are short, fat, or old and decrepit. Over the years of playing cards I have seen my share of oxygen tanks and wheelchairs at the tables. At the World Series of Poker's Main Event there was a man playing without any arms and there was another man playing who was blind. The point is that anybody who has the will to play can play. Texas Hold'em gives regular people a chance for stardom. A person does not have to be 6'5", bench press 400 pounds, run the 40 yard dash in 4.2 seconds, hit a 90 mile an hour fast ball, or slam dunk a basketball. All you need is money, guts, and a little bit of luck and you could be playing for millions of dollars at the final table of the World Series of Poker's Main Event next year.