As the World Series of Poker on cable television becomes ever-more addictive, interest in actually playing poker is on the rise. Texas Hold'em poker is the game of choice in the World Series of Poker, and it is thus the most popular version of the game today. Luckily, learning to play Texas Hold'em is really not that difficult.

An integral part of learning to master Texas Hold'em has to do with "reading the board." Reading the board is learning to look at the community cards on the board and being able to determine the "nuts," or the highest possible hand. If you know what the best possible hand is, you can then try to gauge what your opponents might be holding.

Additionally, if you can correctly (and quickly) read the board, you can learn to determine what your odds are of "making" a powerful hand. For example, if you hold a pocket pair and you get a three of a kind on the flop, reading the board can then help you determine the likelihood of the board "pairing" up, thus giving you a full house. For those who are not quite sure what a full house is, it is simple a five-card hand composed of a three of a kind and a pair.

Reading the board is also vital to correctly determining if you have a "dead" hand or you are "drawing dead." Drawing dead means that there is no possible card that can pop up that will give you a winning hand. For example, if you have a pair of threes and two other higher pairs show up on the board, your pocket threes are no longer viable. To learn more about "when to hold 'em," sign up at VIPpoker.com.