Texas Hold'Em – The Basics

Texas Hold'Em has been gaining popularity for years, very recently becoming the most popular poker game in both Europe and North America. This is greatly in part to internet playing as well as televised poker tournaments which feature Texas Hold'Em. Because it's a community card poker game, Texas Hold'Em allows players to strategize in ways that aren't possible when playing other forms of poker in which all the player use individual hands.

Texas Hold'Em is a community card poker game which uses a combination of face down cards and face up community cards. The cards are used to make a five card hand. Hands in Texas Hold'Em are comprised in the form of 2 hole cards and 3 community cards, 1 hole card and 4 community cards, or all 5 community cards. If more than one player uses the 5 community cards for their hand then the pot is split between the players.

The number of players at a table for Texas Hold'Em is usually between 2-10 players however, however due to the number of cards needed to play in a deck you could have as many as 22 players in a hand.

Texas Hold most often uses small blind and big blind bets, either with or without antes which every player must pay to get in on a poker hand. When both small blind and big blind bets are required in a single hand it is called a double-blind betting structure.

Blind bets in poker are bets of a certain amount that the player in the small or big blind position must make prior to the cards being dealt in order to participate in the game. When Texas Hold'Em is played without an ante the only players putting money in to play that round are the ones in the blind positions.

Typically, the small blind amount is half the minimum bet amount, and big blind is at least the minimum bet. The position for the small blind is one seat to the left of the player behind the dealer button, which is used when there is a formal dealer for the game. The big blind position is one seat to the left of the small blind.

The three most common betting structures for Texas Hold'Em are pot-limit hold'em in which a player is allowed to raise up to the total amount of the pot, no-limit hold'em where a player can raise any amount of what they are holding, and limit hold'em is when there is a fixed amount for raises not determined by the players.

Playing the Game

The dealer deals each player 2 cards face down without discarding the first card of the deck, which is known as burning the card. These 2 cards are called a player's hole cards, also known as pocket cards. These cards are only shown if there is a showdown.

Before the first of the community cards of a Texas Hold'em are laid out, which is termed pre-flop, there is a pre-flop betting round. If blinds are used then the opening bet will go to the player to the left of the big blind, but if no blinds are used the player to the left of the dealer starts the betting. In either instance betting is continued around the table clockwise.

Each player will have the opportunity to either raise the bet, call the raises of active players, fold, or go all in if it's no limit hold'em. Blinds put in by players count towards their contribution of the pot, so blind players either check or call the raise if there is one.

As long as at least 2 players haven't folded the game commences with the dealer burning the first card, then laying out the first 3 of the community cards, which is called the flop. At this point the betting rounds change slightly, starting with the player to the left of the dealer or the player behind the dealer button.

After all active players either raise, call or fold the dealer again burns the top card of the deck then lays down the fourth community card, which is known as the fourth street card or the turn. There is then a third betting round.

The dealer then once more burns the first card and deals the fifth and last community card, known as the fifth street card or the river. The fourth betting round then takes place.

If one player bets and everyone else folds then that player wins the pot. In this instance none of the players have to show their hole cards, and shouldn't. However, if there's more than one player left after all the betting rounds then there's what is called a showdown.

The Showdown

During a showdown the remaining players reveal their 2 pocket or hole cards to determine who has the best hand. In most cases there are hands that are close in value but with a clear winner. Sometimes, as mentioned before, there are hands of equal value and the pot is split between the players. This occurs when the hands use all five cards, and are ranked the same numerically. Unlike some other forms of poker Texas Hold'Em doesn't use the suits of cards to determine their rank, and only make a difference in the case of a flush or straight flush.

If fewer than 5 cards are used for the players' hands then the winner is determined by the kicker card. A kicker card is a card not used in determining the rank of the hand, such as the card left over if there are 2 pairs in a hand. If multiple players have hands of equal value whichever player has the highest kicker card wins. Because players work off of community cards in Texas Hold'em it's common for kicker cards to determine the winner of a hand.

In Texas Hold'Em tournaments multiple tables, with multiple players are set up. There will be a winner from each table who will then face winners from other tables until only one player remains.