Texas Hold 'Em (or Texas Holdem) is the primary and the most popular version of Poker played in many casinos and seen on television shows. It is also the most popular poker game on the Internet. But, how do you play the game?
To determine who begins the game a single card is dealt to each player; high card will be the first dealer. The dealer position is indicated by a white plastic chip referred to as the button, which is also what the dealer position is called, sometimes referred to as being on the button. After each round of play, sometimes called a hand, the dealer button rotates to the left, ensuring that everyone gets to play in this and all other positions. Most Texas Hold 'Em Poker games start with the two players to the left of the dealer (the button) putting a predetermined amount of money into the pot before any cards are dealt, ensuring that there's something to play for on every hand. This is called "posting the blinds". Most often, the "first blind" - the player to the left of the dealer - puts up half the minimum bet, and the "second blind" puts up the full minimum bet. Each player is dealt two cards, face down. These are known as the "hole cards". Now the players must look at their cards and decide what action they would like to take. In Hold'em, only one player can act at a time. The preflop betting round starts with the player to the left of the big blind. This player has three options:
- Fold: They pay nothing to the pot and throw away their hand, waiting for the next deal to play again.
- Call: They match the amount of the big blind.
- Raise: They raise the bet by doubling the amount of the big blind.
A player may raise more depending on the betting style being played. Once a player has made their action, the player to the left of them gets their turn to act. Each player is given the same options: fold, call the bet of the player to their right (if the previous player raised, that is the amount you must call) or raise. A raise is always the amount of one bet in addition to the amount of the previous bet, for example: if the big blind is 10$, and the first player to act would like to raise, they put in a total of 20$ (the big blind + one additional bet). If the next player would like to reraise, they would put in a total of 30$ (the previous bet + one additional bet).
A betting round ends when two conditions are met:
- All players have had a chance to act.
- All players who haven't folded have bet the same amount of money for the round.
After the first betting round, the dealer discards the top card of the deck. This is called burning the card and is done to ensure that no one accidentally saw the top card, and to help prevent cheating. The dealer then flips the next three cards face up on the table. These cards are called the "flop". After the flop, another round of betting takes place, beginning with the player to the left of the dealer (the button). During this and all future rounds of betting, players can check, call, raise, or fold when it's their turn to bet.
Once the betting round on the flop completes, the dealer deals one card facedown followed by a single card faceup, also known as the "burn and turn." Once the turn has been dealt, the third betting round starts.
The third betting round is identical to the flop betting round with one single exception: The size of a bet for this round, and the final betting round, is doubled, meaning that to make a bet in our game will now cost a player 20$. After a final burn card, the dealer turns over the fifth and last community card, called "the river". Players can now use any combination of seven cards - the five community cards and the two hole cards known only to them - to form the best possible five-card Poker hand. Usually the player with the best hand wins. At this point (or before) if all but one player folds, the last player who didn't fold wins the pot. This player may muck his hand, which means to toss it into the discard pile by the dealer without showing anyone what it was.
The third betting round is identical to the flop betting round with one single exception: The size of a bet for this round, and the final betting round, is doubled, meaning that to make a bet in our game will now cost a player 20$. After a final burn card, the dealer turns over the fifth and last community card, called "the river". Players can now use any combination of seven cards - the five community cards and the two hole cards known only to them - to form the best possible five-card Poker hand. Usually the player with the best hand wins. At this point (or before) if all but one player folds, the last player who didn't fold wins the pot. This player may muck his hand, which means to toss it into the discard pile by the dealer without showing anyone what it was.
