Texas hold 'em

Texas hold 'em, often shortened to hold 'em, is a well-known version of poker. In this game, each player gets two private cards, called hole cards, dealt face down. Then, five community cards are placed face up on the table in three rounds: first three cards together (the flop), then one more (the turn), and finally a fifth card (the river). Players aim to make the best five-card poker hand using any mix of their two hole cards and the five community cards. During the game, players can check, call, raise, or fold. Betting happens before the flop and after each new community card is dealt. The player with the strongest hand who hasn't folded by the end of all betting wins the pot—the total money bet on that hand. If two or more players have hands of equal value, the pot is split, which is also called chopping the pot. Texas hold 'em is the "H" game in poker variants like HORSE and HOSE.

The goal in Texas hold 'em, like all poker, is to compete for chips or money that players themselves put into the pot. Since cards are dealt randomly, each player tries to control the pot size based on their own hand and their guesses about opponents' hands and actions. The game is made up of many hands; after each hand, the pot usually goes to one player, though ties split it. A hand can end at showdown, where remaining players compare hands and the highest wins, or when all but one player folds, leaving that player to take the pot. Winning players don't aim to win every hand; instead, they focus on making better mathematical and psychological choices about when and how much to bet, raise, call, or fold. Skilled players try to influence opponents' betting and maximize their own expected profit over the long term.

Not much is known about Texas hold 'em's invention, but the Texas Legislature officially credits Robstown, Texas, as its birthplace, dating to the early 1900s. After spreading across Texas, the game reached Las Vegas in 1963 at the California Club, brought by Corky McCorquodale. It quickly caught on at the Golden Nugget, Stardust, and Dunes. In 1967, Texan gamblers like Crandell Addington, Doyle Brunson, and Amarillo Slim played in Vegas, and around then, the rule changed from aces being low to aces high. Addington recalled first seeing the game in 1959, when it was just called "hold 'em." He noted that draw poker had only two betting rounds, while hold 'em had four, making it more strategic. For years, the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas was the only casino offering the game, with a poker room that had oiled sawdust on the floors, attracting few wealthy clients. In 1969, professionals were invited to play at the Dunes Casino on the Strip, where the prime location and inexperienced players made for profitable games. Tom Moore added the first poker tournament to the Second Annual Gambling Fraternity Convention in 1969, featuring several games including hold 'em. In 1970, Benny and Jack Binion took over the convention, renamed it the World Series of Poker, and moved it to Binion's Horseshoe. After the first year, journalist Tom Thackrey suggested the main event be no-limit Texas hold 'em, and the Binions agreed. Interest grew slowly: eight entrants in 1972, over a hundred by 1982, and more than two hundred by 1991. Doyle Brunson's strategy guide *Super/System*, self-published in 1978 for $100, was one of the first books on hold 'em and is still considered a key text. In 1983, Al Alvarez published *The Biggest Game in Town*, about the 1981 World Series of Poker, which helped introduce Texas hold 'em and poker to a broader audience. Herbert Yardley's *The Education of a Poker Player* had come out earlier.