Goodbye Texas Hold'em

Poker room managers had better wake up and smell the roses -- fast!

Poker players are getting bored with Texas Hold'em. I am one of them and I know the ranks are growing.

There is no question that Hold'em has seized the interest of the poker-playing public. The run has been incredible. For the past 30 years or so, Texas Hold'em has been the main game in any poker room.

The game turned the poker world upside down. Players who has played very little limit poker suddenly found themselves playing no-limit -- and liking it.

Where in the old days, poker rooms were made up of half a dozen different poker games like seven-card stud and variations of high-low, many poker room managers restricted their rooms to a few variations of Texas Hold'em.

Now I have news for you. In a game where a player's fortune rises or falls on just what he can do with two cards, there really isn't very much room for a future. You can do only so many things with two cards. There isn't much room for intellectual expansion.

There have been many books written on systems for winning at Hold'em. Most of them are frankly worthless. What works on one play will not work on another. In the long run, Hold'em is one of the riskiest gambling games on the planet.

Poker players are intellectual creatures. They need a challenge to continue playing their best. That challenge simply does not exist in Texas Hold'em.

For this reason, I hereby announce to my friends and the world that I am giving up Texas Hold'em.

My new poker games are Omaha High-Low and seven-card stud high-low.

If the poker rooms bring back five-card draw or five-card lowball with a joker, I may play those games as well. And of course I am always game to a game like H.O.R.S.E. It's a good lively social game and it keeps the game moving.

For those of you who don't know what H.O.R.S.E. is, the game features a round of Hold'Em followed by a round of Omaha High-low, then Razz and seven-card stud.

Fortunately, some poker rooms in Arizona like Wild Horse Pass and Talking Stick Casino are adding Omaha High-Low and other mixed games to their tournament schedules. This can only be good for the game. While the turnouts are not as big for mixed games as they are for the much better known Texas Hold'em events, the interest and popularity are growing.

Hold'em has enjoyed a long run of popularity, but all roads come to an end. With that in mind, I bid Texas Hold'em goodbye. You were great while you lasted, but now it's time to turn to other interests. I would like to hear what some other members on this site think about mixed games. Your comments are always welcome.

Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.

(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).