Texas Hold´em is the most popular poker game out there. It´s the main event at the World Series of Poker. You´ve certainly heard of Texas Hold´em, but do you know how to play?
Texas Hold’em isn’t terribly difficult to play, but the strategy is challenging. Before playing Texas Hold’em, you need to understand how blinds work. Blinds are bets that are placed before receiving any cards. Some games use an ante, but Texas Hold’em uses blinds. The player to the dealer’s left places the small blind, and the player to the small blind’s left places the big blind. In a fixed limit game, the big blind is the same amount as the lower limit, while the small blind is about half of that amount. For example, if the game is a $5/$10 limit game, the small blind may be $3 rather than $2.50 in order to keep the amount in whole dollars.
Once the blinds are placed, the dealer gives each player two cards. These are called the hole cards, and they are the only cards that no other player sees. Once the hole cards are distributed, there is a round of betting. Since the blinds have already placed bets, the player to the left of the big blind starts the betting round. To stay in the round, he must put in the value of the big blind. If he puts in just the amount of the big blind, he has called. If he decides to put in more than the amount of the big blind, he can raise. In a $5/$10 limit game, he can call for $5 or raise for $10. He may also fold, choosing to put in no money at all. The player to his left can also opt to call, raise, or fold. If the first player raised, then calling would cost $10, while raising would cost $15. In a fixed limit game, only three raises are allowed in each round. A player may not raise twice in a row. The betting continues, clockwise around the table, until every player has put in the same amount or folded.
When the betting has been completed, the dealer places three cards, face up, in the middle of the table. This is called the flop. After the flop, there is another round of betting, this time beginning with the player who placed the small blind. If the player doesn’t wish to add money, they may check. If no one raises, then no one needs to add money to stay in the round. At the end of that betting round, one card, called the turn, is dealt face up next to the flop. This is followed by another round of betting. In a fixed limit game, this round is at the higher limit, meaning that any raise must be in increments of $10 in a $5/$10 game. One final card is dealt, referred to as the river. This is followed by another round of betting at the higher limit.
When the betting is completed, the winner is determined. Beginning with the small blind and moving clockwise, players may show their hands or muck their cards, giving up the right to the pot. Players who know that they have not won should muck their hands so that other players won’t know what risks they took in the round. The player who shows the best hand wins. If all other players have folded, then the winner does not need to show his or her cards to win.
For every new round, the dealer position moves one to the left, so that every player has the same opportunity to be dealer, small blind, and big blind.
