Texas Hold'em

Texas Hold'em is one of the most popular poker games today. Texas Hold'em uses a combination of player held cards (pocket cards) and common cards which all players can see and some of which they must use to construct their hands. This may seem a little complicated, however Texas Hold'em is in fact quite simple and extremely fun. Below is a brief explanation of how to play Texas Hold'em.

Every Texas Hold'em table will first and foremost establish a betting limit. This will include a minimum and maximum bet. It is generally accepted that the maximum bet (or bet limit) is equal to twice the minimum bet. A typical Texas Hold'em bet limit may read $1/$2. Once this is established, a dealer for the first hand will be chosen and two compulsory bets will be placed. These compulsory bets are known as the 'small blind' and 'big blind.' The small blind is placed by the player directly to the dealer's left and the big blind is placed by the player immediately to the left of the small blind. The small blind is equal to half the minimum bet (in our example $.50) and the big blind is equal to the minimum bet. The dealer position rotates to the left at the end of every hand, so each player's position will change in relation to the dealer and the two blinds throughout the game.

With the blinds placed, each player is dealt two cards face down -these are the player's pocket cards, and after dealt the first round of betting begins. With the pocket cards dealt and first bets placed the hand will go three times through a sequence of dealing and betting. The first part of this sequence is 'the flop.' The dealer turns over the first three (of five) community cards for all to see. Another round of betting ensues. The dealer turns over a fourth community card; another round of betting. The dealer turns over a fifth and final community card after which the final round of betting occurs. A player must use three community cards and their two pocket cards to form a hand. The highest ranking hand wins the pot.

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