Poker vs Texas Hold’em: Is There A Difference?

Texas Hold’em is the most popular poker variant in the world. As a result, “Texas Hold’em” and “poker” are often used interchangeably. It’s important to note, however, that the term “poker” can include many other different styles of the game. 

If you’ve ever wondered is poker the same thing as Texas Hold’em?, read on.

Poker vs Texas Hold’em: What is the Difference?

There are many different types of poker games, and the rules of each game can differ drastically. Texas Hold’em is one of many games that fall under the broader category of poker.

Texas Hold’em is a community card poker game. All players in a Texas Hold’em game get two hole cards, which can only be used by the player to which they’re dealt. Each hand sees up to five community cards dealt to the board, which can be used by all players.

In Texas Hold’em, players are tasked with making the best possible five-card hand out of any combination of their two hole cards and the five community cards. Texas Hold’em uses the standard poker hand rankings to determine the winning hand.

How Can I Tell if a Poker Game is Texas Hold’em?

When you play poker at a casino or an online poker room, most of the games in play will likely be No-Limit Texas Hold’em games. No-Limit Hold’em is Texas Hold’em played with a no-limit betting structure, which allows players to bet all of the money in front of them at any time.

When you look at a poker room’s game listings, you’ll see many games with denotations like “NL” or “NLHE.” While other poker games use a no-limit betting structure, “NL” on a poker room’s game menu almost always refers to No-Limit Texas Hold’em.

The denotation “$2/$5 NL,” for example, refers to a No-Limit Hold’em cash game that uses $2/$5 as the small blind/big blind.