How To Play Texas Holdem Poker

Texas Holdem currently reigns as the king of poker games. Out of all the games offered at UK casinos, Texas Holdem is by far the most popular. Right now, online poker players are raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year playing Texas Holdem. There are a lot of casual Texas Holdem fans so there is a lot of money to be made with Texas Holdem.

Poker is a great game to learn because it is the one game in the casino in which the players do not compete against the house. In poker, the players compete against one another and the house makes its money by taking a small rake out of each pot.

How to Play Texas Holdem

The object of Texas Holdem is to win the pot by having the best poker hand at the showdown. Texas Holdem is a community card game which means that the cards dealt in the middle of the table are shared by all the players to make their hands. Each player is given two hidden cards and then those cards can be used in any combination with the community cards to make the best possible 5 card poker hand.

The Dealer’s Button

In games that use a full time dealer, a dealer’s button is used to represent the position of the dealer. At the beginning of each hand, the dealer’s button moves one spot to the left. This is done so that the players can take turns paying the blinds and acting in late / early position.

The Blinds

The blinds are small, forced bets that two players must make at the beginning of each hand. The person to the left of the dealer must act as the “small blind” and donate half of a small bet to the pot. The person to the left of the small blind acts as the big blind and must donate one small bet to the pot. In a game of $5/$10 Holdem, the blinds would be $2.50 and $5.00.

Preflop

The two players to the left of the dealer pay the blinds. Each player is then dealt two cards face down. The cards are dealt one at a time, beginning with the player to the left of the dealer.

The preflop betting round begins with the player to the left of the big blind. Each player has the option to call the minimum bet, raise or fold. If any player raises, the other players must match that amount or fold.

The Flop

Three cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table. These are the first community cards. All the players at the table share these cards.

The flop betting round and all subsequent betting rounds begin with the first remaining player to the left of the dealer. This time, the first player may check, bet or fold. The betting continues clockwise around the table.

The Turn

One community card is dealt face up next to the flop.

The turn betting round is played the same as the flop betting round. In fixed limit games, this is where the big bets kick in.

The River

One last community card is dealt face up next to the turn.

There is one more betting round just like the previous betting round.

The Showdown

The players still remaining in the hand now reveal their cards. The player with the best 5 card poker hand (using any combination of hole cards and community cards) wins the pot.