Online poker rooms have been around since 1998, but in recent years there has been a noticeable boom in the number of people who choose to play Texas Holdem poker on the Internet.

There are a converging number of factors that explain this growth of online poker playing. First off, the explosion of online poker would have been impossible without advances in the telecommunications industry. High speed broadband connections to the Internet have made playing online poker a smooth and accessible process. There are now more poker sites to choose from than ever before. Poker sites have become more secure, and many poker rooms utilize encryption software to protect sensitive information.

The proliferation of Texas Holdem poker on television has to be the biggest contributor to the rise of online poker playing. Tournaments are on TV everyday, and if you ever miss any of the action, you can catch the endless amount of repeats. ESPN shows the main event of the 2005 World Series of Poker at least once a week. You can tune into the Travel Channel to catch your favorite poker pros playing on the World Poker Tour. The Bravo network even devoted an entire show to celebrities who want to live out their poker playing dreams.

These televised tournaments feature huge cash prizes. The last three WSOP main event winners took home some serious dough. In 2003, Chris Moneymaker made $2.5 million. In 2004 Greg Fossilman Raymer won $5 million Joe Hachem, the 2005 main event winner, pocketed $7.5 million. The winner of the 2006 main event will take home $10 million.

When amateur poker players start winning that much cash, and their glory is nationally televised, people start to take notice. Moneymaker and Raymer were able to gain a spot at the main event by winning qualifying satellite tournaments offered by Poker Stars. Once they became multi-millionaires, the online poker rooms became inundated with new players. Everybody started playing Texas Holdem poker, and the madness has yet to subside.

Poker is game that can be picked up easily. There are tons of websites where you can learn how to play, and practice your game for free. Online gambling is a huge industry, and poker rooms are the fastest growing segment of this burgeoning business sector. Players can go on the web, explore different poker variations, and play for whatever stakes they want to. Online poker playing can be a hobby, a rarity, or a part-time job. Whether youre looking for entertainment, friendly competition, educational experience, or the chance to earn a lot of money, theres still time to get in on the poker craze. With big money tournaments on TV everyday, online amateurs becoming millionaires overnight, and countless poker rooms to choose from, online poker will continue to expand in popularity.