There is one indisputable consequence of the introduction of the online casinos to the gambling public, and that is the resurgence of the casino game of poker. The rise in popularity of poker has been startling, and not just online. Poker tournaments, including the Irish Open are now major events worldwide attracting more and more applicants every year and as a consequence more publicity. Playing poker online offers online casino customers the chance to refine their skills by playing a number of different poker formats, starting with the simplest version ie. draw poker, which is usually played against the house for fixed stakes, through to a variety of community card poker formats including of course Texas Hold’em. Texas Hold’em has undoubtedly become the poker format of choice for most ardent poker players, and is the poker format used for almost all the major tournaments around the world. The reasons for this popularity are easy to see. First there is the chance of higher value hands being achieved by being able to select the showdown hand from seven cards instead of five, then there are the multiple betting rounds associated with community card poker formats which inevitably lead to bigger pots. We do not propose to detail the rules of Texas Hold’em poker in this article, but a full description of how to play the game can be found on our individual casino games pages including some advice regarding strategies. For online casino gamblers who are not familiar with the Texas Hold’em poker format, we should however point out some of the risks associated with this particular online casino game. Firstly, playing poker online at one of the many online poker forums can pitch inexperienced players against much more experienced opponents without their knowledge, with inevitable consequences. Secondly, the multiple betting rounds can entice new poker players to stake far more than they intended on a particular hand, simply to stay in the game. Provided you are aware of these dangers, playing Texas Hold’em poker online is certainly one of the most exciting casino games experiences to be found at the online casinos and is great fun.