Texas Hold'em Is Taking Over

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I love playing poker, and I love all kinds of poker. I’ll play it all: Stud, Pai Gow, and heck, I even like Crazy Pineapple.

I’ll also repeat that I love playing with friends, and while that’s probably my favorite, I really do enjoy playing at tournaments. The problem is, all you can ever find are Texas Hold’em tournaments – and it drives me insane!

Obviously when you go to a casino you’ll be able to find tables of other poker variations, but it’s very difficult to find actual tournaments of games besides Hold’em. If you look hard enough, you can occasionally find a tournament of another variation, but the cost to buy in is usually too great, or the pay out too small, or the number of people too few; It hardly makes the search worth it!

I genuinely believe that a bulk of the appeal to Texas Hold’em is the high amount of strategic play involved. While there is a bit of “luck”, there is a LOT of “skill”, too. Compared to other poker versions, this game is one that if you study, your odds of winning will increase. This combination of luck and skill seems to make Texas Hold’em have more appeal, thus taking over the poker world.

Still, I find it hard to believe that I’m the only person out there interested in a tournament that’s not Hold’em. The only way to really increase the odds of finding these tournaments is to get involved with grassroots poker leagues, or even your local Amateur Poker League, and set something up yourself. While it seems daunting, it is plausible, and the ultimate result could be exactly what you’re looking for.

So, in the mean time, I’ll continue to play Hold’em in tourneys and Stud in the basements.