Playing Texas Hold'em

Texas hold'em is the most played poker variation. It is played in casinos and in poker tournaments.

Let's learn how to play and then you can join the fun.

We will begin by reviewing some of the terms that you will need to be familiar with during most poker games:

Hole cards – The two cards that are dealt to each individual player at the beginning of each Texas hold'em game. Other poker variants are played with more hole cards.
Blind - The blinds are forced bets used to take the place of the antes. The blind determines how expensive the game is. In a game with blinds of $50/$100 the small blind is $50 and the big blind is $100.
Small blind position / SB – The first seat to the left of the dealer
Big blind position / BB – The position to the left of the small blind
Under the gun position / UG – The position to the left of the big blind
Pot – The pot is the money or chips that are gathered in the middle of the table. The winner of each hand will collect the pot.
No limit Texas hold'em – Texas hold'em in which you can raise without any limits
Limit Texas hold'em – There is a limit to how much you can raise.

Now let's learn to play!

The blinds
The first two players to the the left of the dealer put the amount decided to be small and big blind on the table before the cards are dealt.

The dealing
The dealer will then give each player two cards, face down. The cards will be dealt to each player one at a time, starting with the player on the dealer's left. The two cards will be dealt by the dealer in two rounds, giving one card per round to each player. The players will look at the cards they were dealt and they will then leave the face down until the game ends.

About blinds and dealing:

The small and big blind must be placed on the table by the players in the respective positions before dealing.
The cards that have been folded by players will be collected by the dealer and will be kept face down until the hand has finished and the pot was won.

The cards have been dealt. It is time for the game to begin. The action of the game form this point on is basically divided in two sections: pre-flop and post-flop.

The pre-flop action
Once the players received their hole cards the player to the left of the big blind will be the first to act. The position to the left of the big blind is known as “under the gun”. The other players will then act in a clockwise direction – every payer will act after the player before him.

The players have three options:

Call the big blind – calling the big blind means putting as much money in the pot as the value of the big blind.
Raise the big blind – means putting a larger sum than the big blind in the pot. You want to raise if you have good hole hands or if you want to bluff. You must either call or raise if you want to have a chance to win the pot for that round.
Folding the cards – means giving up the hole cards and sit out on the respective hand. In the next hand the player who has folded will receive new hole cards like all the other players.

How about an example?

We're playing no limit Texas hold'em. The blinds at $1/$2. our dealer will be number 1. That means number 2 will be in the small blind position and number 3 will be in the big blind position. Player number 4 will be in the “under the gun” position. Number 1 and 2 post the small blind = $1 and the big blind = $2. Number 4 – the under the blind position – calls the big blind.Player number 5 also calls. Our player number 6 decides to raise so he raises to $8. Players that follow number 6 must call, raise or fold according to the new amount - $8. Players 7, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 will either call $8, raise to a bigger sum or fold and wait for the next hand.

Players will continue to call, fold or raise until each player has the same amount of money in front of them. Let's return to our example and say that none of the other players raise and they all call $8 we are heading into the post-flop action.

The post-flop action
By the end of the hand the player who wins the pot will be chosen by comparing the player's hands. Poker ranking rules decide which player has the highest hand. You will find it useful to go to Basic poker hand ranking. The ranking are based on combining 5 cards.

But let's get back to the post-flop action.

Once the first round of betting has ended the community cards will be placed on the table:

The flop – the first three community cards placed on the table, face up. After the flop is “in place” another round of betting follows. The same rules apply.
The turn – the community card placed face up on the table after the second betting round. Another round of betting follows.
The river – the last community card paced face up on the table. The last betting round follows.

Pre-flop vs. post-flop

In the pre-flop the action (the betting round) began from the player in the under the gun position. In the Post-flop the action begins from the player to the left of the dealer – the player who had placed the small blind.
The betting rules do not change between pre and post flop
The community cards are placed on the table after the previous betting round is completely over.

When the last betting round has finished the players that remained in the hand show their hands. The dealer will determine the winner.

In hand games the dealer changes every hand so nobody gets tired of dealing and everyone gets their turn at placing the small and big blind.

In casinos a dedicated dealer does the cards at all times. The casino dealer does not participate in the game. A button with the word “dealer” moves around the table after each hand to determine the dealer position.