Texas Holdem Poker

In Texas Hold’em poker, the player makes the best five card hand out of a total of seven different cards. Two of the seven cards are exclusive to each player and are dealt at the beginning of the round. As the game and betting continues, up to 5 more cards will be laid out on the table, face up, and are common to every player, these are called the “community cards” or the board. This game is fun to play with a larger number of players as it is common for players to muck their cards in the early stage of the holdem game.

Before the cards are dealt out, the players will ante up or, in most texas holdem games, two blinds must be posted (the small and the big blind). These are two predetermined amounts that the first two players to the left of the dealer (or the player on the button) must put in to the pot. The amount of the big blind is commonly double the amount of the small blind. In structured betting holdem games, the big blind will most likely be equal to the lower end of the structure. Blinds are posted in order to get the betting started and to give players incentives to act.

Now the dealer will deal two cards (face down) to every player. These two cards are exclusive to the player and will later be used, in combination with the community cards, to form the best five card hand possible. Once the cards are dealt the first round of betting occurs. The player to the left of the big blind will act first in this round. They will either call (put in the amount of the big blind), fold (they feel there cards are lousy and will have no luck in winning the round, or they can raise (put in a higher amount than the big blind). The betting will continue until all the players have either folded or called on the bets of players who acted before them. In some games there will be a “cap” on the betting. Meaning that the pot can only be raised a predetermined number of times.

Once the betting is over the dealer will burn the top card on the deck and place the “flop” (the first three community cards) on the table face up. The cards in the flop are used by every player. Now the second betting round will take place. The betting follows the same format as the first betting round.

And when the betting is over and all the players have either folded and called, if there are at least two players still in the game (no one has yet to take the pot), the dealer burns the top card and the “turn” or the fourth street is placed face up on the table. This is the next, single, community card that everyone will use to possibly benefit their hand.

The betting now continues as before and once over, the final community card, after the top card is burnt, is added to the board. This card is referred to as the “river” or fifth street. The players who are still in the round now have a total of seven cards to form the best possible poker hand and the final betting round takes place. If no one has taken the pot by this point and two or more players have called a showdown now takes place. The players turn over their cards and the winner is determined. He winner takes the pot. If two or more players hold the same ranking hand, the pot is split equally between them.

Now that the round is over, the button moves one place to the left (representing the dealer) and the game continues as the previous round. And so on.

Betting Styles. In texas holdem poker there are three different betting formats that you may come across, Structured Betting, Spread Limit Betting and No Limit. In Structured betting games, the amounts of the bets are predetermined. For example, if the structured game is set at $2-$5, then in the first two betting rounds every bet made by a player must be exactly $2, no more, no less. And in the third and fourth round, the bets must equal $5. In a Spread Limit texas holdem game, the bets must be an amount within a predetermined amount. For example, the game is $3 -$6 spread limit holdem. In this case the bets can be as low as $3, as high as $6 and anywhere in between. It is up to the player to chose his/her amount. It is common for the minimum and maximum bets to increase during the third and fourth betting rounds. And finally there is no limit texas holdem poker. In this version of holdem, the bets can be of any amount up to the amount of chips you have left. These games can get quite exciting because the pot size can get very high.

The Rake. Since poker is a game where the house is not one of the players, they must make their money somewhere. If they didn’t profit off a poker game they would not have an incentive to operate the game. Therefore the in most cases the house will take a rake out of the pot. In other words they will keep, as their profits, a set percentage of every pot formed in the session.

To Summarize:

1. The first two players to the left of the dealer (button) post the small and big blinds.
   
   
2. The dealer deals two unique cards to every player
   
   
3. The player to the left of the button acts first in the first round of betting
   
   
4. The top card is burned and the flop (3 community cards) is dealt face up on the table
   
   
5. The second betting round takes place
   
   
6. The top card is burned and the turn ( fourth street) is added to the board
   
   
7. Third round of betting takes place
   
   
8. Top card is burned and the river ( fifth street) joins the board.
   
   
9. The final betting round takes place
   
   
10. The best remaining hand takes the pot.