Once a game confined to the corner of a back room in a pub, or a game organised in a mate's house, the growth of poker over the last number of years has brought the game into mainstream entertainment and culture. Having learnt the basics of poker from an uncle many many years ago, I have always been intrigued by it and lately have indulged in it a lot more.

This recent surge in popularity is mainly due to Texas Hold 'Em, now the most popular of card poker games played in most casinos and online across the world. The objective of Texas Hold 'Em is to win pots of money bet by oneself and other players in a hand.

A dealer button is used to show which players acts as the dealer for each hand, while the button rotates clockwise after each hand, changing the position of the dealer and blinds. Hold'em is played using blinds as the minimum bet to play, the player to the left of the dealer pays the small blind (normally half the big blind) whilst the player to the left of the small blind pays the big blind. In tournament poker these blinds increase gradually to speed up the game and eliminate players with small stacks of chips. In no-limit hold 'em, players can bet or raise any amount over the minimum raise, (normally twice the big blind) up to all of the chips the player has at the table. This is called all-in. Players will normally do this when they're short stacked or have a very good pocket pair, or have the nuts after all 5 community cards are shown.

The start of the 21st century has seen the popularity of hold’em grow worldwide at an extraordinary pace. Online poker has been the main root cause of this, along with television.

Hold 'em first hit our television screens in the UK and Ireland with the Late Night Poker TV show on Channel 4 in 1999. The use of under the table or lipstick cameras are now allowed for the audience to see each players hand on screen. Throw in the eccentric commentary of the brilliant Jessie Maye and you had a hit TV show.

Online poker has allowed players hide behind pseudonyms and onscreen graphics and sidetrack the intensity of a live poker table environment where players look for physical signs of weakness whilst they try and read you. This coupled with the opportunity to play for very small amounts has allowed beginners learn and develop their game at a very low cost in the comfort of their own home.

One way online sites and casinos try to entice players is to advertise and offer tournaments called satellites by which the winners gain entry to real-life poker tournaments such as The Irish Open, which is to be held in the Burlington Hotel from April 5th – 9th. Up to 700 players will battle it out for a prize fund of €2million and a first prize of €550,000. The tournament will see many pro players battle it out with celebrity players and amateur qualifiers. The final table will be broadcast live on television and the winner will add his/her name to a long list of great winners of the past. It promises to be a great tournament.

So if you haven’t indulged already, I advise you to re-mortgage the house or sell the wife, car or villa in Spain and go play like a pro but lose like an amateur, and start amassing some gambling debt!

tags: poker