Texas Holdem Poker
Texas Holdem is a success story without comparison. From being a fairly small game only played by old-school Texas gamblers, it’s now played by millions of people online and offline all around the world.
Here, we rate online poker sites based on the Texas Hold’em games they offer. Poker Junkie’s editors and visitors have rated the big Texas Holdem poker sites and guide you to the best ones in this category.
Top 10 Texas Holdem Sites on the Web
Poker Room  |
U.S. |
Room Reviews |
Get Bonus |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Full Tilt Poker
|
local | $600 | Read Review |
|
 UB Poker
|
local | $1100 | Read Review |
|
 Sportsbook Poker
|
local | $1000 | Read Review |
|
 PokerStars
|
local | $600 | Read Review |
|
 Bodog Poker
|
local | $1100 | Read Review |
|
 PlayersOnly Poker
|
local | $1000 | Read Review |
|
 Absolute Poker
|
local | $500 | Read Review |
|
Five Easy Ways to Improve Your Texas Holdem Game
Most people who play Texas hold'em want to get better at it. Even those who play Texas holdem online purely for recreation usually have more fun if they are winning. While becoming a Texas hold’em master will take some hard work and innate talent, there are a few things you can do right away to start getting better.
1. Stop Playing So Many Hands
When newborn poker aficionados start playing Texas holdem on the web, their most common mistake is to play too many starting hands. That is, they call a bet before the flop with hands that are too weak.
This is a common symptom in live poker too, but the impatience that characterizes web visitors in general probably affects web based poker players as well, making the behavior more acute in web poker than live poker.
As a consequence, when you play poker over the web, it’s even more important than usual to make a list of starting hands that you are “allowed” to play. For example, make a copy of Howard Lederer’s starting hand strategy and keep it beside the computer when you play your first 5,000 hands or so.
If you start out with the best hand, you are more likely to end up with the best hand. If you play any two cards with the hopes of flopping something good, you will often make the second best hand. This will result in you paying off opponents too much. Even if you don't make any hands, your chips will bleed away, since you will pay for a lot of missed flops and not win enough when you finally hit. At the best online Texas holdem sites there are always people waiting for fish to swim in and play any two cards. You want to be one of the sharks waiting and not the fish.
2. Try Second Level Thinking
Don’t consider your hand in a vacuum. Sure you have a flush, but there’s a high pair on the board and an opponent is betting strongly. You have to consider that he may have a full house. Alternatively, if a player raised before the flop and the flop comes three low cards, you have to consider the possibility that he was betting high cards and missed, even if your hand is not that strong.
3. Try Third Level Thinking
In online texas holdem, once you’re thinking about what your opponent has, try thinking about what your opponent may think you have. This seems a little tricky, but just try to put yourself in your opponent’s shoes and try to imagine what you might conclude about the hand if you were in his seat.
4. Find Your Comfort Level
To play your best Texas holdem online, you should be playing at stakes that are not so high that you are afraid to make the moves you need to make, but not so low that you play carelessly. If you’re not sure, err on the side of playing lower stakes. You can always move up if you’re convinced that you are not being challenged at your current level. Before you decide where to play, compare different texas hold em sites to make sure that you find a poker room offering action at your preferred limit.
5. Analyze Your Play
This is easier to do online with downloaded hand histories, but you can do it in live play too. Go over key hands and think about what you did right and what you did wrong, and how that affected your results. If you pinpoint a real error, try to correct it mentally before your next session. All top texas holdem sites allow you to view all your played hands, and most of them give you statistics on your play – how often you fold, call and bet etc. Use this information to your advantage. It can drastically improve your game.