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Texas Hold'Em

Overview

Cards dealt to each player 2 concealed
Community cards dealt 5
Number of betting rounds 4
Limits Fixed limit
Pot limit
No limit
Blinds or antes Blinds

Texas Hold'em is a relatively new member of the poker family. But it is the variation that has been the most popular around the world in the last years. The unofficial world championship of poker is contested in no limit Texas Hold'em – a game sometimes called the Cadillac of poker.

The Game

In Texas Hold'em you get two hole cards, cards that the other players cannot see. Then five cards are dealt face up on the board, successively. They are community cards that all players can use to put together a five card poker hand.

To form the best possible hand, you can use either both your hole cards together with three of the community cards on the board, or one hole card with four community cards, or simply all five community cards.

The player who can put together the highest poker hand wins the pot.

Blinds

Texas Hold'em is played with blinds. Before the cards are dealt, the first two players to the left of the dealer post a small and a big blind respectively to create a starting pot.

The deal

When the blinds have been posted, each player is dealt two cards face down, the hole cards.

Then the first betting round takes place, starting with the player to the left of the big blind.

The flop

When the first betting round is finished, three cards are dealt face up on the table. They are called "the flop".

Then the second betting round takes place, starting with the first player to the left of the dealer who is still in the hand.

The turn (fourth street)

After the second betting round, the fourth community card is dealt. It is called the turn.

The third betting round takes place, starting with the first player to the left of the dealer who is still in the hand.

The river (fifth street)

The fifth and last community card is called the river. Now the hand is concluded by the fourth and last betting round, again starting with the first player to the left of the dealer who is still in the hand.

If more than one player remains in the hand after the betting, there is a showdown.

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Game Advice For Texas Hold'em

Play good starting hands

Do not enter the betting with any two cards! With ten players around the table, someone will have a better starting hand most of the time. When you enter the game with the second best hand, your opponent is a favorite to win the pot.

The importance of position

In Texas Hold'em, your position remains the same throughout the entire hand. A player that acts after you will act after you all the way to the river. This is a great disadvantage for you. As a rule, play only very strong hands in early position. On the other hand, when you are in a late position, the advantage is yours to exploit.

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Glossary entries for this article:

  • Betting rounds

    Every poker hand played is divided into four betting rounds which start at the player to the left of the button in the first position making an action. These are as follows:
    Pre-flop : The betting round before the flop.
    Flop round: The flop has been dealt and betting starts again.
    Turn round : The turn has been dealt and betting starts again.
    River round : This comes after the fourth and final betting round. This is followed by the showdown.

  • Big Blind

    A bet that must be posted by the player two seats to the left of the button. It is equal to the amount of the smaller betting limit in a game, for example, in a $10-20 game, the big blind would be $10.

  • Blind

    Forced bets placed in the pot by the first two players in front of the dealer button, in Hold'em and Omaha. See "small blind" and "big blind."

  • Board

    The five community cards that all the players can see and use to build their hand.
    $2: The first three community cards to be dealt.
    Turn : The fourth community card.
    River : The fifth and final community card.

  • Board

    Backgammon is played on a board consisting of 4 quadrants. Each quadrant has 6 points.

  • Community cards

    The five cards on the board shared by all players.

  • Fifth Street

    The fifth community card in Hold'em or Omaha (in these games, 5th street is more often called "the river"). Also sometimes used to refer to the fifth card received in 7 Card Stud.

  • Flop

    In Hold'em or Omaha, the first three community cards, turned up all at once.

  • Fourth Street

    The fourth community card in Hold'em or Omaha (in these games, 4th street is more often called "the turn."). Also sometimes used to refer to the fourth card received in 7 Card Stud.

  • Hole cards

    The cards in your starting hand that are faced down and cannot be seen by the other players. These are sometimes referred to as pocket cards.

  • Limit

    The dollar value of the blind. Defines how "big" the game is. Obviously, you need a much larger stack to play a $50-limit game than a $0.50 game.

  • Position

    A player's position in relation to the dealer's button. As the button moves, so does your position. These are defined as follows:
    Early: First three seats left of (after) the button. The least desirable positions as these players must make their moves first.
    Middle: Seats 4 to 7 after the button.
    Late: Positions 8 and 9. Playing out of this position gives players an edge since they have already seen the other player's moves.
    On the button : This seat acts last and as such, has an even bigger edge than the late position.

  • River

    In Hold'em or Omaha, the fifth and final community card. Also sometimes called fifth street.

  • Starting hand

    The two face-down cards dealt to each player at the start of a hand.