Texas Holdem Poker

Although a single hand of Texas Hold'em can theoretically be played by up to 22 players with a single deck of playng cards, usually 2 to 10 people sit at a poker table.

Texas Hold'em is the most sensitive to position of any poker variations, since the order of betting is fixed throughout all betting rounds and a player's position determines how much information they have to work with.

Holdem is commonly played in the rest of the world as well, but 7 card stud, Omaha and other poker games are also popular today.

Texas Holdem Rules

PLAY OF THE HAND

Texas Holdem begins with each player being dealt two cards face down. These are the player's hole cards, also sometimes referred to as "pocket cards". These are the only cards each player will receive during each hand, and they will only (potentially) be revealed if there is a showdown, making Texas Holdem a "closed" poker game.

Each hand begins with a "pre-flop" betting round, starting with the player to the left of the big blind (or the player to the left of the dealer, if no blinds are used) and continues clockwise.

After the pre-flop betting round, the dealer extracts a burn card from the deck and places it into the discard pile, followed by dealing three cards face-up as the first set of community cards, which are collectively referred to as the "flop".

The flop is followed by a second betting round, where players examine these community cards as they relate to their own pocket cards. This flp and all subsequent betting rounds begin with the player to the dealer's left and continue clockwise to the player who is the dealer being last. After the flop betting round ends, another card is placed into the burn pile, and a single community card called the "turn" (or fourth street) is dealt, followed by a third round of betting.

Lastly, a final burn card is followed by a single community card called the "River" card (or fifth street), followed by a fourth betting round and a showdown, if necessary. A showndown is where two or more players play to win the pot by competing for the best hand.

BETTING STRUCTURES

In casino Texas Holdem poker games, it is most common to use a fixed limit and two blinds for Texas Holdem games. For example, a $1/$2 fixed limit game involves a small blind of $1 and big blind of $2 (blinds do sometimes vary), and the initial betting pre-flop is in increments of $1. On the flop, another $1 bet increment is allowed. On the Turn and River, bet increments are the same size as the big blind (e.g., $2).

This double-blind structure is relatively recent. Up until the 1980s, a single-blind structure was most commonly used in Texas Holdem games.

Antes may be used instead of, or in addition to, the blinds; this is especially true in Texas Holdem poker tournament play.

The no-limit game is the most popular tournament game, and many Texas Holdem tournaments (including the above mentioned World Series championship tournament event) are played with this no-limit structure.

No-limit games are where anyone can place a bet up to all of their chip stack. Typically, the minimum bet size is equal to the big blind, and players are encouraged to place bets in increments of the big blind size (although this is rarely enforced).

THE SHOWDOWN

If a player bets and all other players fold, then the remaining player is awarded the pot and is not required to show his pocket cards. This is common whenever a player raises or reraises heavily, in order to take the pot. If two or more players remain after the final betting round, a showdown takes place.

At a showdown, each player plays the best five-card hand she can make from the seven cards comprising the two hole cards and the board (the five community cards shared by everyone). A player may use both of her own two hole cards, only one, or none at all, to form a final five-card hand. If the five community cards form the player's best poker hand, then the player is said to be "playing the board" (a hand shared by everyone at the table, unless someone can make a better hand).

If the best hand is shared by more than one player (e.g. if no player is able to beat the board), then the pot is split equally amongst all players. However, it is common for players to have closely-valued, but not identically ranked hands.

In particular, "kickers" are often needed to break ties. A kicker is a card that is not used to actually make the poker hand, but is left over and used to break ties. Nevertheless, one must be very careful in determining the best hand, because often the board nullifies kickers. This is one of the reasons that Texas Holdem is a very complex game.

Straights often split the pot, for example, and multiple flushes may also occur. In the case of flushes, the flush is awarded to the player with the highest flush card which completes a flush and beats the board's flush cards. If there is a flush on board, (i.e. if all the board cards are the same suit), then under cards in that suit do not play, and if no one has a card in the flush suit beating the board, then the pot is split. The sole exception to this rule is the case of a straight-flush.

The best possible hand given the five community cards is referred to as "the nuts". The lowest possible nuts is three queens (this occurs with, for example, 2 3 7 8 Q on the board, with no more than two cards of any one suit).

Texas Holdem is said to take a minute to learn, and a lifetime to master. That's because there are so many combinations of play possible, making this form of poker one of the most fun and unpredictable poker variants around. Learn more about playing winning Texas Holdem poker