Texas hold ’em (also known as hold ’em or holdem) surged in popularity the 2000s, replacing seven-card stud as the most common game in U.S. casinos. Proof of the game’s popularity came in 2006, when a high-stakes Texas Hold’em poker replaced baccarat as the game central to the plot of Casino Royale.
A glamorous Bond film is a long way from the game’s casino origins. When hold ’em first hit Vegas in 1967, it landed at the tables on the saw dust covered floors of the Golden Nugget Casino. The Nugget was the only casino in Las Vegas to offer the game for a number of years. Now, however, Texas hold ’em is in the spotlight. Thanks in no small part to the 2003 World Series of Poker championship victory by online-qualifier Chris Moneymaker.
If you’ve wanted to play this variation of the standard card game of poker, here’s a neat little “how to” infographic developed by Bet Clic.