Texas Hold'em Versus Five-Card Draw Poker

Dear Mark, I like five-card draw poker. Is Texas Hold'em the same game? Catherine B.
Though five-card poker, and several variations of it, is well established on any video poker machine, you will not find your favorite kitchen table game of 5-card draw spread in most casinos or poker rooms. A kissin¹ southern cousin, is Texas Hold'em, probably the most popular poker game played in casino poker rooms. It¹s the game that is used to determine the world champion at the World Series of Poker.
The contrast is that Texas Hold'em is a "community card" game, meaning that some cards are dealt face-up in the middle of the table and shared by all the players. Each player has two down cards that are the player¹s alone; and those are combined with the five community cards to make the best possible five-card hand. The best five-card poker hand - a canny combination of the player's two private cards and the five communal cards - is the winner.
If you want to give Hold'em a try, Catherine, I had better mention the "skill" factor. Though Texas Hold'em is deceptively simple to learn, playing the game at a proficient level does take some expertise. If you are innocent of such wayward skills, you can start your training head-to-head against a cyber video opponent who does not blow smoke in your face or tell off-color jokes. Then when you are good enough, go beat up on the smoke-an-joke set.