Playing Texas Hold em' online has captured a lot of interest all around the world.  Fortunately, in the United States we have a terrific government that has decided that your average Joe is not smart enough to gamble online without going broke, when there are so many respectable gambling establishment all around the United States paying very large lobbying bills to that same government to help them understand the Average Joe's problems.

Its a protectionistic cycle, but the reality remains playing Hold em' is a lot of fun, very challenging and a great way to exercise your brain.

One thing that is true is that playing online is very different than playing in person. 

PokerDIY - Connecting Poker Player for Live Games is a service like MySpace that allows people looking for live poker games after the recent legislation to connect with other poker players in their area to establish local home grown games.  You can play with a group of other players in person, and still get the diversity of playing with many different people.