This is completely unrelated to anything.
But, why is the Texas hold'em version of poker the one that is currently so popular?
I don't gamble. Don't have any emotional need to, and know far too much mathematics to even contemplate it.
Only temptation I've ever had to do so was in considering whether to join a "card-counting" blackjack student group which rotated through some casinos playing the odds in situations when a player with deep pockets (ie a sponsored group) had consistent odds in favour of them.
Other than those cases, the House always wins.
Gambler's Ruin is one of those scientific general education issues which should be beaten into the general populace.
But, I'll concede that poker is in a somewhat different category, since the odds are dynamic and can be calculated on the fly for winning strategies, and the option of bluffing introduces a non-statistical element which can be critical.
So poker is a potentially interesting game. I prefer bridge, whatever.
But why Texas hold'em as opposed to draw or stud?
Draw poker would seem to be the most interesting to actually play, is hold'em popular just for the audience effect? The community cards are more telegenic and play-off on the tension of the hidden cards?
I am mystified. Someone explain, please.
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My original thought about why people play games with community cards is that you can get more players that way. If you want to play something like five-card draw, where players can take up to two new cards, you can get at most seven people at a table, and then essentially every card is in play (seven cards for seven players gives 49/52).
With communal card games, you only need two cards per player, plus five community cards. If you put ten people at a table, you're still dealing out less than half the deck, which means there's more uncertainty about what's still left to be drawn when the players are betting.
I think it also probably helps limit the possible results to the point where people who aren't regular players stand a chance of keeping track of the game.
I haven't heard of gambler's ruin (and I even TA'd a probability theory class). Thanks for the link.
The community cards allow more shared information so bluffing ( and betting ) must be far more constrained and considered, and in my view, artful.