How to play Texas Hold 'em Poker: An Introduction

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How to play Texas Hold 'em Poker: An Introduction

by Jordan Jones

July 12, 2009

As of late, a breed of poker known as Texas Hold 'em has become the dominant form of the game; this is due in part to the substantial amount of skill involved as opposed to other forms of poker play. This will serve as a very brief overview of the Texas hold 'em rules; each hand has been broken down into five steps.

Each player is dealt two "hole" cards, these cards are personal - only to be seen and used by that player. Formal play begins in a clockwise fashion with two mandatory bets (known as blinds) starting from the dealer's left, the blinds rotate clockwise after each completed hand. These blinds (short for blind bets) insure action each hand. The first blind is called the small blind. The second blind is referred as the big blind, being twice as big as its predecessor. Both players must post their blinds prior to seeing their cards.
The first person in position to bet is the player to the left of the big blind; the minimum bet requirement is the amount of the big blind. This acting player must therefore choose to call the big blind, raise, or fold. This continues in a clockwise fashion until it reaches those who posted the blinds. The individual in the small blind position must call the difference between the blind he posted and the current bet amount. The player in the big blind position must also do the same but has the option to check (pass) if no previous player has raised the bet.
Next, three community cards are dealt in middle of the table for all players to play off of (these cards are referred to as "the flop"). Using these cards along with their hole cards, a player must make the best possible five card hand. Betting proceeds starting to the left of the big blind just as it did prior to the flop.
A fourth community card (known as fourth street or the turn) is then dealt followed, by another round of betting.
The final card (called the river) is dealt followed by one last round of betting. An important detail to note is before placing the flop, turn or the river on the board the dealer discards the current top card from the deck (commonly called a burn card) to discourage players against a method of cheating known as card marking.

Following the conclusive round of betting, the remaining players must turn their cards over and the sum of the pot (all previously collected bets) is awarded to the player with the highest ranking hand. If two players have the same winning hand (i.e. a pair of seven’s) the player’s other card (known as the kicker) is the deciding factor. The winner is the individual with the highest kicker. If both players have the same kicker, the pot is split 50/50. In a nutshell, those are the rules of Texas Hold'em poker; as for winning, that's a game in itself.

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