How to Play Texas Holdem Poker

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In Texas Holdem, each player is dealt two personal cards, called "pocket" or "hole" cards, to be used in combination with the five face-up community cards to make the best possible poker hand using five of the seven cards.

To indicate which person is the dealer from round to round, a disc or other such marker, called the "button", is placed in front of them. To start the action, the person to the left of the dealer posts the "small blind", a forced bet usually half of the minimum bet. The next person to the left posts the big blind, a forced bet equal to the minimum bet. These two bets are called "blind" because they are posted before the two players look at their cards.

Players are then dealt the two pocket cards, face down, and the person on the left of the player who posted the big blind will begin the first round of betting. In the first round, a player can call, raise or fold. In order to call, the player must place a bet that is equal to the previous bet. After the first player, each subsequent player is given the option to call the present bet, to raise the bet, or to fold. Players who fold are out of the game until the next deal.

After the first round of betting is finished, the dealer takes the top card and sets it aside (called "burning"), and then places the three community cards face up on the table. This is called the Flop. This and all other betting rounds afterward now start with the first player to the left of the dealer. Players now have the option to check (to pass on betting without folding), or to bet. After the betting is opened by a player, players can no longer check when it is their turn to act, but can instead call or raise the action. The round concludes when all bets have been called, or in a fixed limit game, when the maximum number of bets possible (the "cap", usually 1 bet and 3 raises) has been reached.

After betting is finished another card is burned and the fourth card, called the "Turn card" or "4th Street," is added to the community cards. Players bet again just as they did on the flop betting round. In a fixed limit game, the bet is now double the previous bet and remains double for the final betting round as well. After the third betting round, another card is burned and the fifth and final card, known as the "River" or "5th Street," is dealt. There is one last round of betting, after which the remaining players turn up their pocket cards. The highest five card poker hand that can be made using any combination of the available seven cards (a player’s two hole cards and the five community cards) wins the pot. If there is a tie, then every player who is tied divides the pot evenly between them.

After the hand is finished, the Button moves clockwise to the next player, who becomes the dealer and play begins again.

There are three different types of Texas Hold’em; though the basic rules stay the same, the method of betting changes:

In a fixed limit texas hold em game, bets and raises are set at a predetermined amount. For example, in a $10/$20 game, the small blind is $5, half the minimum bet, and $10 is the big blind. Bets and raises on preflop and flop betting are made in $10 increments. On the turn and river betting rounds, betting is in increments twice that of the first two streets, $20 a bet. Betting is capped in fixed limit, usually at four total bets (1 bet and 3 raises).

In No-Limit Holdem, the maximum bet is determined only by the amount of chips a player has in front of them. Bets and raises can be made of any amount above the minimum bet (the size of the big blind), and at any time a player can go "All In," meaning they have bet all of their money. For the other players to call they must match their opponent’s bet, up to and including going all in themselves. This is the type of play you see on the World Poker Tour and World Series of Poker Main Event.

Pot Limit Hold’em is a lot like No Limit Hold'em except that the maximum bet is determined by the number of chips in the pot, not by what a player has in front of them. Players can bet as much as it costs them to call, plus the size of the pot.