How to Play Texas Hold’em

If you’re just now learning the rules to Texas Holdem, you couldn’t have come at a better time!  Poker is more popular now than it ever has been in history.  The game looks deceptively complicated on paper but it’s actually pretty simple once you get the hang of it.

What I recommend you do is print these rules out, grab a couple of friends and run through a few sample hands with the rules in front of you.  Trust me; it will make things much easier this way.  Also, if you’re needing an additional resource, I would highly recommend checking out my friend’s Texas Hold’em site as well.  The Professor is all about sharing his knowledge, so reading up on our tutorials and following other top sites dedicated to the game is a great way to improve.

Now let’s get to learning all about Texas Holdem already!

The Dealer and Blinds

Every hand starts out with a new dealer.  The dealer can be an actual person who deals the cards or it can be represented by a small dealer’s button.  The dealer’s button moves one spot to the left at the beginning of each hand.  Whoever has the button is referred to as the “dealer” whether or not he’s actually dealing the cards.  It’s just a way to mark position.

Next, the blinds are posted.  The blinds are small, forced antes that are used to get a little money in the pot and stir up action.  The player sitting directly to the left of the dealer is the small blind.  The person sitting directly to the left of the small blind is the big blind.

The size of the blinds is set at some predetermined amount, with the small blind usually being equal to half the big blind.  So if the big blind is $1, the small blind will be 50 cents.  As the dealer’s button moves to the left every hand, the position of the blinds will move accordingly so that everyone at the table will have their turn to post the blinds.

Dealing the Hole Cards

After the blinds are posted, each player is dealt two cards face down.  These are called the “hole cards.”

The first action goes to the person sitting directly to the left of the big blind.  This person may take one of three actions: call the blind, raise or fold.  The action then continues around the table clockwise.

If any player decides to raise, all the other players at the table must call the raise, fold their cards or re-raise when the action gets around the table to them.

Dealing the Flop

After all bets have been matched, three cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table.  This is called the “flop.”

These are the first three community cards and every player can use them in combination with his hole cards to make the best five card poker hand.

After the flop has been dealt, another round of betting begins.  This time, the betting begins with the person directly to the left of the dealer.  This is the same person who posted the small blind at the beginning of the hand.

This person may check, bet or fold.  A check just means that he doesn’t want to make any bets right now and the next person may act.  If he bets, everyone else at the table must either match the bet or raise it.

Dealing the Turn

After all the bets have been matched, one more card is dealt face up next to the flop.  This card is called the “turn.”

After the flop has been dealt, there is another round of betting just like there was on the flop.  Again, the action starts on the person sitting directly to the left of the dealer.

Dealing the River

After the all bets have been matched, a final card is dealt face up next to the turn.  This card is called the “river.”

Next there is one last round of betting just like there was on the turn.  The action begins with the player to the left of the dealer.

The Showdown

After all the bets have been matched, the players remaining in the hand lay their cards down face-up and have the showdown.  Whoever has the best five card poker hand, using any combination of their hole cards and the community cards on the table, wins the pot.

After the winner has collected the pot, the cards are shuffled, the dealer’s button is moved one spot to the left and a new hand may begin. Congratulations, you now know how to play one of the most popular poker games ever.