Texas Hold’em Rules

If you’ve ever been to a land based or online poker room then you probably already know that Texas Hold’em is by far the most popular poker game in the world today.  Popularized by recent television coverage, celebrity games and massive tournaments like the WPT and WSOP, if you’re only going to learn one game, Texas Hold’em is it.

 There are 3 different variations of betting in Texas Hold’em. These are;

• Limit - The table will have a fixed betting limit such as $.50 or $1.00 per bet.
• Pot Limit - Players can bet as much as the total amount in the pot at the time.
• No Limit - The table has no limit, so a player can bet as much as they want at any time, provided they have the chips to cover the bet of course.

No Limit games are often glorified on television and are in fact quite popular in the online tournament scene, but there are usually more players on fixed limit tables when it comes to regular ring games.  Pot limit is similar to no-limit games, but limits your investment pre-flop when it’s not possible to bet much.

How to play Texas Hold’em:

• The 2 players sitting to the left of the dealer will have to post a small and a big blind. A blind is when you are obligated to place a set bet before you see/receive your 2 cards face down.
• After the players have placed their blinds, the dealer will give everyone 2 cards face down.
• There is a round of betting, starting with the player seated to the left of the blinds.  Betting continues until there are no further raises, and each player has called or folded their hands.
• 3 cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table. These cards in the middle are shared (community) cards for all the players to use in their hands, and these partuclar three are called the “Flop”.
• There is another round of betting in the same order as the previous round.
• The 4th card is dealt face up in the middle of the table, known as the “Turn”.
• There is another round of betting in the same order as the previous rounds.
• The last community card is then placed in the middle of the table, called the “River”.
• Then there is the final round of betting.
• Remaining players show their cards, starting with the last player to bet.  If all other players at the table fold, the remaining player takes the pot and is not obligated to show their cards.  If callers cannot beat the hands turned up before them, they may toss in their cards without showing.