Texas Holdem Poker is a community card game. This means that it is players with cards that are dealt in the middle of the table which every player is allowed to use.
The idea of the game is to make the best five card hand possible by combining any combination of your two privately dealt hole cards, and the five community cards on the table.
Look at our poker hand rank chart to see what combinations are the best.
As the cards are being dealt, players bet in organised betting rounds on the strength of their cards. Here’s how it all works.
Pre flop
One person is nominated as the dealer for the hand. Everybody who plays takes turns to be the dealer for one hand at a time. After a hand is finished, the player to the dealers left becomes the new dealer for the next hand. If there is a professional dealer at the table, he will deal the cards for each player as if the player were dealing themselves.
Betting limits
Before any cards are dealt it is decided what limits the game will be played for. For example, if the game is a $1/$2 game, then the small blind will always be $1 and the big blind will always be $2.
What are the small and big blinds?
The small and big blinds are sums of money that are put into each pot before any cards are dealt to ensure that there is money in every pot to play for. The player to the dealers left always pays the small blind and the player to the small blinds left always pays the big blind. Once the small and big blinds have been put into the pot the cards are dealt.
How are the cards dealt?
The dealer deals two cards to each player, one card at a time, in a clockwise direction.
The first round of betting
Once every player has been dealt two cards, the first round of betting starts. As the small and big blind have already put money into the pot, the player to the left of the big blind acts first. He has three choices.
He can fold, which means that he gives his cards back without putting any money into the pot, and plays no further part in the hand.
He can call, which means that he matches the amount of the big blind to stay in the hand.
Or he can raise, which means that he puts a bet into the pot which is bigger than the big blind. The minimum amount of any raise must be equal to the amount of the big blind. You can raise as much as you like, including going “all in”, which means betting all of your money.
Every other player then takes their turn to act in a clockwise direction. They also each have the choice to either fold, call or raise. If there has been a previous raise, all players much match the amount of the raise with their call, not the amount of the big blind. If no bets are made, the small blind must match the amount of the big blind to stay in the pot. If all players fold including the small blind, then the big blind wins the pot without any cards being dealt.
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