How To Learn Texas Holdem Poker
Texas Holdem (Hold'em) is one of the world's most popular poker game. This article will teach you how to quickly master the rules and enjoy the game. At the start of the game. When playing Texas Holdem poker, every player is dealt two cards face down – these are called your 'hole cards'. Step-by-step beginner's guide to Texas Holdem poker. Learn how to a game of play Texas Hold'em from the flop to the showdown (in less than 10 minutes!) Live Events 1. 2020 WSOP Main Event.
Texas Holdem is the most popular variant of poker and the one we recommend beginners start with. Once you have a good understanding of Texas Holdem, other poker variants are quite similar and will be easier to learn.
The object of Texas Hold em poker is to create the best five-card hand using seven available cards. Each player is dealt 2 cards which only they can see and use. There are then 5 cards dealt to the middle of the table which are community cards which everybody can see and use.
Dealer Button
Once the game starts an imaginary dealer is assigned. Obviously with online poker the computer does all the dealing automatically but this nominal dealer is important as it indicates who posts the compulsory bets (known as blinds) before each hand and it also indicates who is first to act in each betting round.
The current dealer is indicated by a disc marked with a “D” known as the dealer button. At the end of each hand the dealer button moves along to the next player to the left of the current dealer and continues to move clockwise after each hand is finished.
The Blinds
In Texas Holdem there are two compulsory bets that are made before the start of each hand. These are known as the “Small blind” and the “Big blind” and ensures that there are chips to be won in every hand.
The player to the immediate left of the dealer places the small blind and the player to the left of the small blind posts the big blind.
In No Limit games the size of the blinds is set by the stakes of the table you are at. So for example at a $1 / $2 table the small blind would be $1 and the big blind would be $2.
Before The Flop – First Betting Round
Once the blinds have been posted, two cards are dealt face down to each player at the table, these are known as “hole cards”. Only the individual player can see these cards.
At this point the first betting round begins and each player must make a decision on how to act based on the strength of their hole cards. They have the following options:
- Fold – Throw the cards away and not play in this hand
- Call – Call the size of the big blind or highest bet if another player has raised, and take part in the hand
- Raise – Make a larger bet than the current bet (or big blind). Any other player who wants to continue would then have to call your increased bet in order to carry on. A raise must be at least an increase the size of the Big Blind so the minimum raise would be 2 times the big blind amount. In No Limit there is no maximum to your raise, It can be your whole stack if you wish.
Action always goes clockwise on a table. On the first betting round, the first person to act is the player to the left of the big blind. Each player acts in turn until all the players have acted at the table, and the amount put into the pot by each player remaining in the hand is equal.
The Flop – Second Betting Round
After the first betting round has finished, the dealer places 3 cards face up in the middle of the table – this is known as the “Flop”. The cards in the middle of the table are called “Community Cards” as they are shared by all the players towards making their final hands.
Players can now see 5 cards (2 hole cards + 3 community cards) out of the 7 cards to come and should have good idea of how their hand is developing. At this point the second betting round begins.
In this and all subsequent betting rounds, the action starts with the first player remaining in the hand to the left of the dealer. This player can either:
- Check – not bet anything
- Bet – place a bet which the other players must at least call to continue in the hand. The minimum bet is the size of the big blind.
If everyone checks then this betting round ends with no-one betting. As soon as someone bets then the other players can either:
- Fold – drop out the hand
- Call – call the bet that has been made
- Raise – increase the bet that has been made which the other players must then call to continue in the hand.
As in the previous betting round, the plays continues clockwise around the table until all players have called, checked or folded and the amount placed in the pot by each player still in the hand is equal.
The Turn
After the second betting round, the dealer places a 4th community card, face up on the table – this is called the “Turn card”, it is sometimes also referred to as “Fourth Street”.
After the Turn there is a third betting round, which operates in exactly the same way as the previous betting round.
The River
After the third betting round, the dealer places the 5th and final community card face up on the table – this is called the “River card”.
After the River the fourth and final betting round takes place in the same way as the previous round.
The Showdown
After the final round of betting, each player still left in the hand can use any combination of the 2 hole cards in their hands and the 5 community cards on the table to produce the best 5 card hand.
The player with the highest ranking hand wins the pot. If two or more players have the same value hand then the pot is split between them equally.
If you have not already learnt which hand is better than another then please look at our Poker Hand Ranking Guide.
Next Hand
Once the hand has finished and the pot has been awarded to the winning player, the game moves onto the next hand.
The dealer button moves to the next player on the left of the current dealer, the cards are shuffled, the blinds are posted by the next two players and the cards are dealt again.
Where to Play Texas Holdem?
We recommend 888 Poker for a great place to play Texas Holdem. To find out more about them see our 888 Poker Review or to see alternate rooms to play Texas Holdem then see the Professor's reviews in our Poker Reviews section.
Learn Texas Holdem Poker Rules easily
If you are new to poker and want to learn the Texas Holdem poker rules, then you have come to the right place. It is very important to learn and understand the Texas Holdem poker rules first before playing the game.
What is Texas Hold’em Poker?
Texas Hold’em Poker is a card game that is played between 2-9 players using Ispit cards (No Jokers) and poker chips are used for bidding. There are different other poker games that can be played like Omaha Hold’em, Chinese Poker, 5 card poker, etc. Here I’ll be talking about the rules of a classic poker that is played all over the world and is very popular i.e, Texas Holdem Poker rules.
Texas Holdem poker rules are very easy to understand but very difficult to master and perfect it.
Texas Hold’em Poker can be played both onlineand offline and a lot of cash can be won by winning the game. In India, conducting poker tournaments is illegal and would be held accountable except in Goa and a few other places. But, playing poker online is completely legal and trusted as well as safe.
In Texas Hold’em poker, the player wins the round if the player has the best hand among the other players. Along with the players, there will be a dealer who deals the card to the players. The dealer’s job is to shuffle the cards and distribute the cards to the players where each player gets two cards. Also, the dealer is responsible for counting the chips present on the table and distribute it to the player that wins the hand. Let’s get into the basics of Texas Holdem poker rules.
Small And Big Blind
What is Small and Big Blind? In poker, there is something called the small blind and the big blind. The small blind and big blind are forced bets that the players pay before they even see the cards. The small blind is placed by the player sitting left to the dealer and the big blind is placed by the player sitting left of the small blind player.
The amount that has to be paid by the player is set accordingly to the money that the players get beforehand, i.e If the players receive more money, then the big and small blind are higher and vice versa.
After the amount is paid by the players with the small and big blind, the player left of the big blind starts the game by bidding the same amount as the big blind or the player can raise the amount if he wants. Then the next player has to bid the amount that has been raised by the previous player.
Fold
If the player doesn’t want to bid the small and big blind then that player can submit his cards to the dealer. Now this move is known as a fold. After folding the player cannot play for the entire hand and has to wait for the next hand to begin.
Flop, Turn and River
Along with these players cards, there will be five different cards were it will be displayed to all the players who are playing.
Flop
After everyone bids small and big blind the dealer then displays three more cards. This is known as the Flop. After the flop, the players can start to bid again. Now, if the player doesn’t want to bid, then that player can check, and the turn is passed to the next player. The player next to the player who checked can either bid or check again and the turn is passed to the next player and so on.
Turn
After each player bids, the dealer then proceeds to display one more card and this move is called Turn. Now the players can start to bid as before or check if he wishes to.
River
The river is the last card of the five that are displayed to the players and the players can again bid or check.
Show
After the river card and everyone bids, the players have to show their cards to the dealer. The player that bid the last amount has to show their cards first. The other players still playing need not show their hand if they get beaten by the last bit player.
The player that has the best hand wins that round and takes all the money kept on the table. Now sometimes, two players might end with the same hand and in those situations, the bidding amount is split in half and shared between the two players.
End of Tournament
The player who’s bidding amount gets over is out of the game. In some tournaments, the player can re-buy the amount and play again. The players keep getting eliminated as they lose all the amount they had. In the end, the player that has the money left wins the game.
Summary
Learn Texas Holdem Poker Online
I’ll list out the rules in bullet points to summarize the Texas Holdem poker rules.
Rules
- Texas Hold’em is played between 2-9 players and each player is dealt with 2 cards facing down.
- To deal with the cards a dealer will be present. If there is no dealer then a dealer button is placed in front of one player and the cards are dealt from him and in the clockwise direction. After each hand, the dealer button moves one step in the clockwise direction.
- The two players left of the dealer has to pay the small and the big blind respectively. These are the minimum bets that every player must pay in order to play the hand. The small and the big blind has to be placed without even seeing their cards.
- The person sitting to the left of Big blind starts the game and he can bet the minimum amount or fold his hand. After he has played the same is repeated for the remaining players in the clockwise direction.
- After each one of them bets then three cards are dealt on the table facing up and is known as the flop. After seeing the flop each player can bet, check or fold.
- Similarly, a fourth card is dealt on the table facing up after each one of the players bet and is known as the turn card. Again each player can check, bet or fold his hand.
- After the betting is finished, a fifth card is dealt on the table facing up and is known as the River. Again each player can check, bet or fold his hand.
- After the betting, the winner is decided and the player that betted last has to show his card if he has the better hand than the other players, he wins everything that is present on the table.
These were the summary of the Texas Holdem Poker Rules. It’s very easy to learn and super fun to play.
General FAQ’S
What is Texas Holdem Poker?
Texas Holdem Poker is a card game and is played between 2-9 players. The winner is decided by the Poker Hand Rankings, by choosing the 5 best cards.
What is Small and Big Blind?
The small blind and big blind are forced bets that the players pay before they even see the cards. The Small Blind is half the amount of Big Blind.
Is Poker and Texas Hold'em the same thing?
No. Texas Hold'em is one of the variations of poker. There are several other variations of poker like Chinese Poker, 7 card stud and so on.
What is the best Hand in Texas Hold'em Poker?
Royal Flush consisting of 5 cards of the same suit and in sequence starting from Ten to Ace. I.e, A-K-Q-J-T.
How To Play Texas Holdem For Beginners
I am the owner of the site rohithebbar.com. I love playing poker and other card games.