The Irish Open has for many years been one of the highlights of the world poker gambling scene, but in common with most of the other leading poker gambling tournaments it used to be the preserve of relatively few seasoned poker gambling enthusiasts. The rise of online casino gambling has changed that out of all recognition, and the number of people regularly gambling on poker has increased dramatically in Ireland and indeed throughout the world. There are of course a number of different poker gambling formats available at the online casino gambling sites, but the choice of most real fans of gambling on poker remains the Texas Hold’em format. Almost all the poker tournaments in the world involve gambling on the Texas Hold’em poker format, so what is it that makes Texas Hold’em poker so popular amongst poker gambling fans. For those of you who have never played Texas Hold’em poker we have detailed the rules in our casino games pages, but here is a brief summary. Each player is dealt two cards face down, after which a further five cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table one at a time. These are the community cards which are available to every player to formulate their showdown hand. There is a betting round before the first community card is dealt and again after each of these open cards is dealt, leading to the possibility of a substantial increase in the winnings and of course the stake at each stage. It is this multiple betting element of Texas Hold’em poker which makes this poker gambling format the game of choice for the real enthusiasts of gambling on poker, both online and in face to face tournaments. A word of warning though for those new to gambling on poker the potential for large winning pots also means that the stakes required to stay in the game can also be much bigger than the initial stake money. Texas Hold’em is also a poker gambling format which eventually favours the experienced player.