Texas Hold-em’:
The Next Best Thing
since the Rubix Cube?

January 2005

With the Holiday shopping days well behind us and the Christmas tree sitting outside on the front lawn, it’s now time to huddle around the computer screen and check out one of the most exciting games that’s hit the card game floor.

Texas Hold-em’, also known as Hold-em’, is one of the most popular card games in play today. Everyone seems to want a piece of the action, from the internet and casinos to friends hanging out with their buddies on Friday nights. Texas Hold-em’ has replaced Euchre as my, and many others’, favorite card game. And deservedly so; the rules are simple and relatively similar to the poker you may know.

Players are dealt two pocket cards for their hand while five community cards are flipped up for all to use. By combining your pocket cards and the community cards on the table, everyone must make their best possible poker hand. After your hands are made, everyone lays down their cards, and whoever has the best hand wins. Most groups bet with chips, adding a little extra excitement to the game as well. Some could say that poker chips were a hot item in Santa’s bag this year.

How did Texas Hold-em’ gain this popularity you may ask? A few years back, ESPN started broadcasting a little known tournament called the Poker World Series. At first people laughed at the idea of watching sweaty old men play poker for an hour, but it quickly became popular with many of the viewers. Soon people everywhere were getting together during their free time to get in a few hands.

This renewed desire to play cards is comparable to the days of the old west, when bars were filled with beer drinking, gambling, card-playing men. Now, though, it’s so much more. Friends who have been caught up in their busy lives are able to sit down, away from the TV and distractions of their daily routine, and deal the cards. It’s more than just the game; they play for the excitement, the pizza runs, bad jokes, and broken chips that accompany every game.

The game is even more popular among high school kids, who take the opportunity to play whenever they can. It’s not uncommon to see a few of the regulars getting a few hands in while cramming down a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at lunch.

Now, I may be showing my age, but back in the good old’ days, teachers attempted to ban Euchre play during lunch. The sign read, “The Card Game Known as Yucker will no longer be allowed to be played during lunch.” The rule was kind of hard to follow, considering they had spelled Euchre wrong.

Anyways, Texas Hold-em’ is now all over the world. Celebrities play it. High Schoolers play it. So sometime this winter, why not invite a few friends over, dust off those poker chips, open that pack of cards, and play some Texas Hold-em’.