Texas hold em (also holdem, holdem) is the most popular of the community card poker games. It is also the most popular poker variant played in most casinos in the United States.[1] Its no-limit betting form is used in the main event of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the World Poker Tour. Although it can theoretically be played by up to 22 players (or 23 if burn cards are not used), it is generally played with between 2 and 10 people. It is one of the most positional of all poker variants, since the order of betting is fixed throughout all betting rounds. Hold em is commonly played outside of the United States, but seven-card stud, Omaha hold em and other games may be more popular in some places. Like most variants of poker, the objective of Texas hold em is to win pots, where a pot is the sum of the money bet by oneself and other players in a hand. A pot is won either at the showdown by forming the best five card poker hand out of the seven cards available, or by betting to cause other players to fold and abandon their claim to the pot. The objective of winning players is not winning individual pots, but rather making mathematically correct decisions. As a result of making such decisions, winning poker players are able to maximize their expected utility and win more money than they lose in the long run. |
