Some say television is to “blame” for the recent global explosion in popularity the game of poker has experienced. Others hold the internet accontable for it. Whichever the case, one thing is certain: poker has taken cyberspace by storm and it’s here to stay no matter what people might think of to try to stop it.

To be more accurate and specific, we’ll have to point our fingers to Texas Holdem as the main “culprit”. Certainly, it is the no 1 reason why poker and online poker are so popular today. Not only is Texas Holdem’s gameplay relatively simple and straightforward to learn, it also offers rookies reasonable odds because of the high luck-variance specific to it. That’s right, in Texas Holdem, a beginner poker player will get a fair shot at busting out some seasoned veteran, while in games like Omaha Hi-Lo and 7-Card Stud, rookies never stand a chance. Despite its apparent simplicity though, Texas Holdem is one incredibly intricate game. That’s another reason why most everyone finds it irresistible.

With thousands upon thousands of new poker players hitting online poker rooms like Poker Stars each day, it is inevitable to have a huge crowd of rookies or “fish” flooding poker rooms all over. These fish usually learn the game the hard way, through personal anguish and disappointment. It doesn’t have to be that way though…Besides actual poker rooms, there are plenty of websites whose purpose for existence is to educate players and to make their transition form “fish”-hood to being a reasonable poker player smoother. These websites amass an incredible amount of information about online poker. Some of it useful, some less so, but a valuable source of poker-knowledge nonetheless.

Another useful learning tool for rookies is free online poker, every single poker room has a play-money section nowadays, which rookies can use to get accustomed to using the interface, and to learn the game, of course. Playing against other human opponents in a risk-free environment is the next best thing to actual real money play. Some say the educational value of free online poker is mostly overestimated, but these same people usually fail to come up with a better alternative.

Play the play-money tables at poker, get used to them, put theories to the test, but be aware that the help it can give you in becoming a good poker player is limited, despite its undoubted usefulness.

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