Texas Hold'em
 Texas Hold'em has fast become the
most popular poker game in the
world. It is a type of community
poker, which features a number of
cards that are dealt face up in
front of the dealer. These cards are
visible to all players, and all
players share the cards. Players can
then use their own cards and the
community cards to form a winning
hand.
There are three variations of
Texas Hold'em available at Poker.com
(defined by their betting limits):
Limit Texas Hold'em (there is
a specified betting limit in each
game and on each round of betting)
Pot Limit Texas Hold'em (a
player can bet what is in the pot)
No Limit Texas Hold'em (a
player can bet all of their chips at
any time)
Basic Play
1. Blind Bets
2. Deal - each player is dealt 2
cards
3. First betting round
4. The Flop - the first three
community cards are dealt
5. Second betting round
6. The Turn - the fourth community
card is dealt
7. Third betting round
8. The River - the final community
card is dealt
9. Final betting round
10. Showdown
The Dealer Button
Texas Hold'em uses a small disc
called the "dealer button" to
indicate the dealer of each hand.
Once a hand is completed, the dealer
button moves clockwise to the next
player. This ensures that each
player has the chance of playing
early or late and that every player
gets a chance to post the "blind
bets".
Note: During Single Table
Tournaments the first player to get
the dealer button is determined
through a high card draw (each
player is dealt one card; the player
with the highest value card goes
first. If two or more players have
the same value card then they are
ranked according to suit - high to
low - spades, hearts, diamonds,
clubs).
The Blind Bets
The player to the left of the
dealer button is required to place
the "small blind" (usually equal to
half the lower stake) and the next
player to the left is required to
place the "big blind" (equal to the
lower stake limit). Once the blind
bets have been made, the cards are
dealt and the next player to the
left starts the first betting round.
Both the small and the big blinds
are considered live bets and
therefore the player has the option
of checking, calling, raising or
folding when the betting action
comes back around to their position.
After the flop and after each
subsequent betting round, the first
active player left of the button is
first to act.
When a player sits down at an
active table, they will be required
to post the equivalent of the big
blind. Also, to prevent "blinds"
abuse, players are required to post
the small blind and the big blind
upon re-entry (returning from
sitting out) to the game if both
blinds are missed (only the big
blind amount is posted as a live bet
and the remainder is added directly
to the pot). All players have the
option of sitting out and waiting
for the button to rotate to their
position before starting to play.
The mandatory posting of the
blind is in place to ensure fairness
to all players; preventing players
from constantly switching seats to
gain a positional advantage, or from
entering games in a late position
and then leaving before they are
required to post the big blind.
First Betting Round
Starting with the player to the
left of the "big blind", they have
the option to bet, raise or fold.
All remaining players can then call,
raise or fold. To "call" is to bet
the same as the previous player. If
the first player folds, then the
next player will have the option to
bet while the remaining players can
call.
The bets in the first betting
round are set at the lower limit of
the stakes structure, so in a
$10/$20 game the value of a bet is
$10 while the raise is $20 (a raise
includes a call of the previous bet
plus an additional bet).
The Second Betting Round
After the flop (when the first 3
community cards have been dealt),
the second betting round begins.
The first player to the left of
the dealer button is the first to
act (bet, raise, check or fold).
Checking is to refrain from betting
and is only available if no bet has
yet been made in the betting round.
Once a bet has been made, remaining
players will only have the option to
call, raise or fold. Like the first
round, the second also limits the
bets and raises to the lower limit
of the stakes structure.
The Third Betting Round
The third betting round starts
after the Turn (when the fourth
community card has been dealt).
Once again, the player to the
left of the dealer button begins the
betting (bet, check or fold).
However, this time the bets and
raises are limited to the upper
limit of the stakes structure. Each
subsequent player can then call,
check, raise or fold (a player can
only check if no bet has been made).
The Final Betting Round
The final betting round happens
after the River card (the final
community card) has been dealt.
The player to the left of the
dealer button can bet, check, raise
or fold. Bets and raises are limited
to the upper limit of the stakes
structure. Remaining players can
then call, check, raise or fold (a
player can only check if no bet has
been made).
The Showdown
Any remaining players will now
display their two cards and the
player who has the best hand wins.
Players can use a combination of
their own cards and the community
cards (2 player cards + 3 community
cards or 1 player card + 4 community
cards) or all 5 community cards (called
playing the board).
If two or more players have the
same hand then the pot is split
equally between them.
Betting Exceptions
In Limit Texas Hold'em a maximum
of four bets are allowed per player
in a betting round - (1) bet, (2)
raise, (3) re-raise and (4) cap. In
No Limit and Pot Limit Texas Hold'em
the number of times a player can
raise is not limited. However, a
player can not raise themselves (if
a player raises and then all the
remaining players call or fold, then
the player who raised would not get
an option to raise because they were
the last to raise).
A player is declared All-In if
they do not have enough chips to
call. This player is eligible for
the portion of the pot to the point
of their final bet.
All further bets by other players
go to a "side pot" which any All-In
players are excluded from. |
