Texas Holdem Poker Rules

As the most poplar version of poker, Texas Holdem Poker is the game that you will most often find when entering a card room or casino. The poker tournaments, such as The World Poker Tour and The World Series of Poker that you will see on television all follow Texas Holdem Rules. The following will outline for you the rules of this game so you can follow along with the pros and get a good understanding of the game so you can put your skills to the test and take part in a game of your own. The object of the game is to form the best 5 card poker hand form a combination of 2 pocket cards and 5 community cards.

Texas Holdem is played with the typical 52 card deck. At the beginning of the game, and each round thereafter, a small white disk is placed in front of one of the players. This is known as the “dealer button” or the “button”. The button signifies to the players who is sitting in the dealers’ position. This will signify which two players must post the blinds and where the betting will begin. The button rotates a player to the left after each round of play.

The game kicks off by the two players sitting to the left of the button posting blinds. The blinds act as the antes for each hand and are used to encourage players to put money into the pot. The player to the buttons immediate left is responsible for posting the small blind. The small blind is a fixed amount of money that, when playing limit poker, is typically one half to two thirds of the minimum bet. The player to the small blinds left must post the big blind, which is typically twice the amount of the small blind or equal to the amount of the minimum bet.

Once the blinds are in, the dealer will deal two cards to every player, face down. These cards are known as “hole” or “pocket” cards. The first round of betting will now begin. The player who is sitting next to the big blinds left acts first in this round. He/she can now either fold their cards, call the big blind bet (put in an equal amount of money as the big blind) or they can raise the bet to an amount higher than the big blind. The action now moves to the next player to the left. If the previous player has folded or called the bet, then the player has the same three options as the previous player, fold, call, or bet. However if he raised the bet now in order to stay in the round the player must put in the amount of money at least equal to the previous players bet. The action moves in this sequence around the table until every player has had a chance to act. However if all the players had simply folded or called the big blinds bet, when the action comes around to the big blind, they have the option of checking their hand, since they have already put the amount of money in the pot. The betting round finishes when all bets have been called.

When the first round of betting is over, the dealer will place three cards, from the top of the deck, face up on the table. These 3 cards are known as “the flop”. The flop are the first of 5 community cards that will eventually make up the board. These three cards are now used by every player still in the round to aid in making their best poker hand. The next betting round takes place now. The first player to left of the button begins this and each subsequent round of betting. The players have the option of folding, checking (if no bet has been raised ahead of them, calling any bets or raising the pot. Once every player has acted and all bets have been called we move on to the next step.

At this point in the game, the fourth community card is dealt to the board. This card is referred to as the “Turn” or “ Fourth Street”. The turn card sets the third betting round in motion. This round follows the same method as the previous one.

Once completed, the fifth and final community card is dealt face up on the table. His card is the “River” or “ Fifth Street”. The players will now have their best five card hand form, using any combination of their hole cards and the 5 community cards. The fourth and final betting round takes place.

After this last round, if there are still at least two players in the game a showdown will occur. A showdown is the point where all the players in the round turn over their hole cards and a winner is determined. The winner takes the pot. If two or more players tie (have the exact same ranking hand) then they will equally share the pot. The button now moves one player to the left and the game continues, following the same method as the previous round.

As you can see, the rules are very simple and it won’t take you very long to get the hang of Texas Holdem Poker.