Who would have imagined that a game once called Hold Me Darling would become the world’s most popular poker game. With a modified new name, Texas Hold’em has risen through the ranks to be the undisputed champion for casinos, poker rooms and home games everywhere. The game has taken off like a Titan rocket, thanks mainly to its television exposure the past five years on ESPN and the Travel Channel. Always the favorite game of serious poker players, it seems the phenomenon has spread into every household, across the Internet, and on every cable station.

It’s easy to understand why this game has a Texas-sized Hold’em on card players. The bottom line is that it’s fun, complex and has a variety of ways to win each hand. It’s relatively fast as card games go, seats a maximum of 10 players that results in bigger pots, and it’s easier to cut and run from a hand when you have nothing. But it’s the psychology and necessity to develop player-reading skills that adds the competitive element to Hold’em.

The basics of Hold’em break down like this:

The Blinds: Two players to the left of the dealer button put in a small and big blind, which are predetermined amounts of money to ensure that the hand is always played by at least two players.

The Deal: Using a standard deck, two cards face down are dealt to each player. A round of betting begins, starting with the player to the left of the big blind. A player can check, call, raise or fold.

The Flop: The dealer turns over three community cards. Another round of betting.

The Turn: The dealer turns over the fourth community card. Another round of betting.

The River: The dealer turns over the final community card. Another round of betting. A player uses any combination of the two hole cards and five community cards to create the best five-card poker hand.

Your mental approach to Hold’em is the first issue to address. Poker should be treated like a long-term investment plan, especially a game like Hold’em. A common poker phrase that is filled with some sage advice is that Hold’em “is simple to learn, but takes a lifetime to master.” You can pick up the basics of the game fairly quick, but conquering the subtleties will take time and patience. After a few years of playing, you’ll look back at some of the hands and mistakes you’ve made and wonder what you were thinking at the time. Every player must travel through this process, without exception. It’s the only way to learn. Once you’re comfortable with the long-term mental approach, the more concrete aspects of Hold’em strategies will start to take shape.

Another basic lesson to understand about Hold’em is that because it’s a community-card game, you will need to play hands that consistently start with higher cards than your opponents. Chasing straights and flushes too many times is dangerous water to tread in unless you’re getting a good price.