Learn Texas Holdem Poker Rules easily
If you are new to poker and want to learn the Texas Holdem poker rules, then you have come to the right place. It is very important to learn and understand the Texas Holdem poker rules first before playing the game.
- This course is designed to give the average poker player a step up in mastering the fundamentals of Texas Hold'em in an easy-to-follow course. Start down the road to becoming a more polished player with these 5 steps. Analysing Amateur Poker Players Learn about specific situations amateur players mess up on a regular basis.
- Texas Hold'em is a community card poker game with game play focused as much on the betting as on the cards being played. Although the rules and game play are the same the end goal is slightly different depending on if you're playing a Texas Holdem cash game or a Texas Holdem tournament.
What is Texas Hold'em Poker?
Currently, Texas Hold'em is the most popular game of all possible poker variants. For a long time, 7 card studs were the most popular poker casino game, but since then the leading place has definitely taken over Texas Hold'em. Knowing the basics of this game will give you a base to learn other poker variants.
Texas Hold'em Poker is a card game that is played between 2-9 players using Ispit cards (No Jokers) and poker chips are used for bidding. There are different other poker games that can be played like Omaha Hold'em, Chinese Poker, 5 card poker, etc. Here I'll be talking about the rules of a classic poker that is played all over the world and is very popular i.e, Texas Holdem Poker rules.
Texas Holdem poker rules are very easy to understand but very difficult to master and perfect it.
Texas Hold'em Poker can be played both onlineand offline and a lot of cash can be won by winning the game. In India, conducting poker tournaments is illegal and would be held accountable except in Goa and a few other places. But, playing poker online is completely legal and trusted as well as safe.
In Texas Hold'em poker, the player wins the round if the player has the best hand among the other players. Along with the players, there will be a dealer who deals the card to the players. The dealer's job is to shuffle the cards and distribute the cards to the players where each player gets two cards. Also, the dealer is responsible for counting the chips present on the table and distribute it to the player that wins the hand. Let's get into the basics of Texas Holdem poker rules.
Small And Big Blind
What is Small and Big Blind? In poker, there is something called the small blind and the big blind. The small blind and big blind are forced bets that the players pay before they even see the cards. The small blind is placed by the player sitting left to the dealer and the big blind is placed by the player sitting left of the small blind player.
The amount that has to be paid by the player is set accordingly to the money that the players get beforehand, i.e If the players receive more money, then the big and small blind are higher and vice versa.
After the amount is paid by the players with the small and big blind, the player left of the big blind starts the game by bidding the same amount as the big blind or the player can raise the amount if he wants. Then the next player has to bid the amount that has been raised by the previous player.
Fold
If the player doesn't want to bid the small and big blind then that player can submit his cards to the dealer. Now this move is known as a fold. After folding the player cannot play for the entire hand and has to wait for the next hand to begin.
Flop, Turn and River
Along with these players cards, there will be five different cards were it will be displayed to all the players who are playing.
Flop
After everyone bids small and big blind the dealer then displays three more cards. This is known as the Flop. After the flop, the players can start to bid again. Now, if the player doesn't want to bid, then that player can check, and the turn is passed to the next player. The player next to the player who checked can either bid or check again and the turn is passed to the next player and so on.
Turn
After each player bids, the dealer then proceeds to display one more card and this move is called Turn. Now the players can start to bid as before or check if he wishes to.
River
The river is the last card of the five that are displayed to the players and the players can again bid or check.
Show
After the river card and everyone bids, the players have to show their cards to the dealer. The player that bid the last amount has to show their cards first. The other players still playing need not show their hand if they get beaten by the last bit player.
The player that has the best hand wins that round and takes all the money kept on the table. Now sometimes, two players might end with the same hand and in those situations, the bidding amount is split in half and shared between the two players.
End of Tournament
The player who's bidding amount gets over is out of the game. In some tournaments, the player can re-buy the amount and play again. The players keep getting eliminated as they lose all the amount they had. In the end, the player that has the money left wins the game.
Summary
I'll list out the rules in bullet points to summarize the Texas Holdem poker rules.
Rules
- Texas Hold'em is played between 2-9 players and each player is dealt with 2 cards facing down.
- To deal with the cards a dealer will be present. If there is no dealer then a dealer button is placed in front of one player and the cards are dealt from him and in the clockwise direction. After each hand, the dealer button moves one step in the clockwise direction.
- The two players left of the dealer has to pay the small and the big blind respectively. These are the minimum bets that every player must pay in order to play the hand. The small and the big blind has to be placed without even seeing their cards.
- The person sitting to the left of Big blind starts the game and he can bet the minimum amount or fold his hand. After he has played the same is repeated for the remaining players in the clockwise direction.
- After each one of them bets then three cards are dealt on the table facing up and is known as the flop. After seeing the flop each player can bet, check or fold.
- Similarly, a fourth card is dealt on the table facing up after each one of the players bet and is known as the turn card. Again each player can check, bet or fold his hand.
- After the betting is finished, a fifth card is dealt on the table facing up and is known as the River. Again each player can check, bet or fold his hand.
- After the betting, the winner is decided and the player that betted last has to show his card if he has the better hand than the other players, he wins everything that is present on the table.
These were the summary of the Texas Holdem Poker Rules. It's very easy to learn and super fun to play.
General FAQ'S
What is Texas Holdem Poker?
Texas Holdem Poker is a card game and is played between 2-9 players. The winner is decided by the Poker Hand Rankings, by choosing the 5 best cards.
What is Small and Big Blind?
The small blind and big blind are forced bets that the players pay before they even see the cards. The Small Blind is half the amount of Big Blind.
Is Poker and Texas Hold'em the same thing?
No. Texas Hold'em is one of the variations of poker. There are several other variations of poker like Chinese Poker, 7 card stud and so on.
What is the best Hand in Texas Hold'em Poker?
Royal Flush consisting of 5 cards of the same suit and in sequence starting from Ten to Ace. I.e, A-K-Q-J-T.
I am the owner of the site rohithebbar.com. I love playing poker and other card games.
Related Posts:
There are many different forms of poker including seven card stud, Omaha, five-card draw, and Texas hold'em to name a few. Hold'em has evolved as the most popular game worldwide and is the form we shall use to cover the basic rules of poker.
Basics Of Texas Holdem Poker
In this lesson we'll take you step by step through the basic rules of poker and we'll use an example hand to illustrate. You can read the text that follows or alternatively you can watch the video version instead. Watching the video is probably the better option because it's easier to follow the betting action, but the choice is yours.
The Setup
The game of hold'em is typically played with nine or ten players at the table.
Figure 1
In our example we have ten players. The dealer button is on player 1, the blinds have been posted, and each player has received their hole cards. If this doesn't make sense to you, then don't worry we'll explain exactly what this all means.
The Dealer Button
The dealer button is the round disc labelled with 'Dealer' or 'D', and it signifies who is the dealer for the hand. Please be aware that each player gets to ‘act' as the dealer, even if they don't physically deal the cards. After each hand the dealer button moves to the next player, in a clockwise manner. In figure 1, the dealer button is with player 1, but for the next hand it'll be with player 2, and then player 3, and so on.
The dealer position is also called 'the button' and is the most favourable position in the game as that player gets to act last after he has seen everyone else make their decisions. The exception to this rule occurs on the very first round of betting wherein the 'blinds' will act after the button.
Blind Bets
Poker Basics Texas Holdem Game
Before any cards are dealt the two players to the left of the dealer button are required to post what are referred to as the blinds. These are forced and compulsory bets that encourage the action and give players something to shoot for. Typically there is a small blind directly to the left of the button, who posts half the size of the big blind's obligation. The amount of the blinds is determined by the stakes of the game.
Figure 2
In our example we're using blinds of $1 and $2. In case it's not obvious, they are called blind bets because the two players are required to post them before they see their cards.
The Deal
Once the blinds have been posted each player is dealt two facedown cards, which are often referred to as their hole cards. The best two hole cards a player can be dealt in hold'em are two Aces', but we'll discuss the importance of starting hand selection in later lessons. All you need to know for now is that after the blinds have been posted and the hole cards have been dealt, the betting action can begin.
Pre-Flop
This first betting round is called the pre-flop betting round. The first player to act is the player directly to the left of the big blind (in our example this would be player 4) and he has three options; to call the amount of the big blind, which in our example would be $2, to raise, or to fold. If a player decides to fold then they muck (discard/throw away) their cards facedown and sit out until the next hand is dealt. The action then follows around the table in a clockwise direction until each player has been afforded the opportunity to call, raise or fold.
The whole betting procedure of poker can be a little confusing for beginners. In our example hand you can see that players 2 and 3 have posted the blinds. If all the players to the left of player 3 decide to call the $2 bet then the action is on the small blind, player 2, who has so far only posted a small blind of $1. He now has the option to call $1 more to make up the bet, or he can raise. If he calls the extra $1, then the big blind is left with the final option. Since the blind bets are made before the cards are dealt, they are considered 'live' which means that even if all the other players just call the big blind he then still has the option to raise, if he wishes. If the big blind doesn't want to raise then the betting round is over and we can move onto the flop, which we'll explain in a moment.
What if a player decides to raise? If a player decides to raise the big blind bet of $2, then all the remaining players must either call the new bet, re-raise, or fold.
Figure 3
In our example player 6 raised the betting to $4, player 7 folded and is now out of the hand. Player 8 called, but players 9, 10, and 1 all folded and are also out of this hand. Players 2, 3, 4, and 5, all called player 6's raise. Once all bets have been equalized (i.e. matched), then the betting round is over. In our example, six players are now left in and the pot contains $24 ($4 x 6). This brings us onto the next betting round, called the flop.
Do you have other poker questions? We fully recommend reading the book Unfolding Poker and getting usable answers that you can put to use in your NEXT session.
And if you enjoy audiobooks, be sure to grab the audiobook combo and turn your next drive into a coaching session!
The Flop
After the first round of betting is complete three community cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table. All the active players can use these three cards, along with their two hole cards, to make their best possible hand. These three cards are known as 'the flop'. Here's the flop before any further betting has taken place:
Figure 4
You will notice that all the bets from previous round (pre-flop) are now in the pot. After the flop has been dealt, another betting round begins. The first active player to the left of the dealer button starts the action. In our example this is the small blind from the opening round, player 2. The forced action created by the blind bets no longer exists and that player has two options; to check or bet. A check means to neither open the betting nor fold. When a player checks the action moves onto the next active player, who may also check. If a player wants to check they either verbally announce 'check', or they tap the table with their finger or hand (or click the mouse if playing online poker).
If a player decides to open the betting, the option to check is over, and a player must either call, raise, or fold – this includes any players who have previously checked. Once all bets for this betting round have been matched or every player has opted to check, then we move onto the next betting round. For our example hand, let's suppose that after the flop was dealt, players 2, 3, 4, and 5, all checked. But player 6 then bet $2, which was called by player 8. Players 2, 3, and 4 all fold, but player 5 calls the $2. These three players get to see 'the turn'.
The Turn
What is Small and Big Blind? In poker, there is something called the small blind and the big blind. The small blind and big blind are forced bets that the players pay before they even see the cards. The small blind is placed by the player sitting left to the dealer and the big blind is placed by the player sitting left of the small blind player.
The amount that has to be paid by the player is set accordingly to the money that the players get beforehand, i.e If the players receive more money, then the big and small blind are higher and vice versa.
After the amount is paid by the players with the small and big blind, the player left of the big blind starts the game by bidding the same amount as the big blind or the player can raise the amount if he wants. Then the next player has to bid the amount that has been raised by the previous player.
Fold
If the player doesn't want to bid the small and big blind then that player can submit his cards to the dealer. Now this move is known as a fold. After folding the player cannot play for the entire hand and has to wait for the next hand to begin.
Flop, Turn and River
Along with these players cards, there will be five different cards were it will be displayed to all the players who are playing.
Flop
After everyone bids small and big blind the dealer then displays three more cards. This is known as the Flop. After the flop, the players can start to bid again. Now, if the player doesn't want to bid, then that player can check, and the turn is passed to the next player. The player next to the player who checked can either bid or check again and the turn is passed to the next player and so on.
Turn
After each player bids, the dealer then proceeds to display one more card and this move is called Turn. Now the players can start to bid as before or check if he wishes to.
River
The river is the last card of the five that are displayed to the players and the players can again bid or check.
Show
After the river card and everyone bids, the players have to show their cards to the dealer. The player that bid the last amount has to show their cards first. The other players still playing need not show their hand if they get beaten by the last bit player.
The player that has the best hand wins that round and takes all the money kept on the table. Now sometimes, two players might end with the same hand and in those situations, the bidding amount is split in half and shared between the two players.
End of Tournament
The player who's bidding amount gets over is out of the game. In some tournaments, the player can re-buy the amount and play again. The players keep getting eliminated as they lose all the amount they had. In the end, the player that has the money left wins the game.
Summary
I'll list out the rules in bullet points to summarize the Texas Holdem poker rules.
Rules
- Texas Hold'em is played between 2-9 players and each player is dealt with 2 cards facing down.
- To deal with the cards a dealer will be present. If there is no dealer then a dealer button is placed in front of one player and the cards are dealt from him and in the clockwise direction. After each hand, the dealer button moves one step in the clockwise direction.
- The two players left of the dealer has to pay the small and the big blind respectively. These are the minimum bets that every player must pay in order to play the hand. The small and the big blind has to be placed without even seeing their cards.
- The person sitting to the left of Big blind starts the game and he can bet the minimum amount or fold his hand. After he has played the same is repeated for the remaining players in the clockwise direction.
- After each one of them bets then three cards are dealt on the table facing up and is known as the flop. After seeing the flop each player can bet, check or fold.
- Similarly, a fourth card is dealt on the table facing up after each one of the players bet and is known as the turn card. Again each player can check, bet or fold his hand.
- After the betting is finished, a fifth card is dealt on the table facing up and is known as the River. Again each player can check, bet or fold his hand.
- After the betting, the winner is decided and the player that betted last has to show his card if he has the better hand than the other players, he wins everything that is present on the table.
These were the summary of the Texas Holdem Poker Rules. It's very easy to learn and super fun to play.
General FAQ'S
What is Texas Holdem Poker?
Texas Holdem Poker is a card game and is played between 2-9 players. The winner is decided by the Poker Hand Rankings, by choosing the 5 best cards.
What is Small and Big Blind?
The small blind and big blind are forced bets that the players pay before they even see the cards. The Small Blind is half the amount of Big Blind.
Is Poker and Texas Hold'em the same thing?
No. Texas Hold'em is one of the variations of poker. There are several other variations of poker like Chinese Poker, 7 card stud and so on.
What is the best Hand in Texas Hold'em Poker?
Royal Flush consisting of 5 cards of the same suit and in sequence starting from Ten to Ace. I.e, A-K-Q-J-T.
I am the owner of the site rohithebbar.com. I love playing poker and other card games.
Related Posts:
There are many different forms of poker including seven card stud, Omaha, five-card draw, and Texas hold'em to name a few. Hold'em has evolved as the most popular game worldwide and is the form we shall use to cover the basic rules of poker.
Basics Of Texas Holdem Poker
In this lesson we'll take you step by step through the basic rules of poker and we'll use an example hand to illustrate. You can read the text that follows or alternatively you can watch the video version instead. Watching the video is probably the better option because it's easier to follow the betting action, but the choice is yours.
The Setup
The game of hold'em is typically played with nine or ten players at the table.
Figure 1
In our example we have ten players. The dealer button is on player 1, the blinds have been posted, and each player has received their hole cards. If this doesn't make sense to you, then don't worry we'll explain exactly what this all means.
The Dealer Button
The dealer button is the round disc labelled with 'Dealer' or 'D', and it signifies who is the dealer for the hand. Please be aware that each player gets to ‘act' as the dealer, even if they don't physically deal the cards. After each hand the dealer button moves to the next player, in a clockwise manner. In figure 1, the dealer button is with player 1, but for the next hand it'll be with player 2, and then player 3, and so on.
The dealer position is also called 'the button' and is the most favourable position in the game as that player gets to act last after he has seen everyone else make their decisions. The exception to this rule occurs on the very first round of betting wherein the 'blinds' will act after the button.
Blind Bets
Poker Basics Texas Holdem Game
Before any cards are dealt the two players to the left of the dealer button are required to post what are referred to as the blinds. These are forced and compulsory bets that encourage the action and give players something to shoot for. Typically there is a small blind directly to the left of the button, who posts half the size of the big blind's obligation. The amount of the blinds is determined by the stakes of the game.
Figure 2
In our example we're using blinds of $1 and $2. In case it's not obvious, they are called blind bets because the two players are required to post them before they see their cards.
The Deal
Once the blinds have been posted each player is dealt two facedown cards, which are often referred to as their hole cards. The best two hole cards a player can be dealt in hold'em are two Aces', but we'll discuss the importance of starting hand selection in later lessons. All you need to know for now is that after the blinds have been posted and the hole cards have been dealt, the betting action can begin.
Pre-Flop
This first betting round is called the pre-flop betting round. The first player to act is the player directly to the left of the big blind (in our example this would be player 4) and he has three options; to call the amount of the big blind, which in our example would be $2, to raise, or to fold. If a player decides to fold then they muck (discard/throw away) their cards facedown and sit out until the next hand is dealt. The action then follows around the table in a clockwise direction until each player has been afforded the opportunity to call, raise or fold.
The whole betting procedure of poker can be a little confusing for beginners. In our example hand you can see that players 2 and 3 have posted the blinds. If all the players to the left of player 3 decide to call the $2 bet then the action is on the small blind, player 2, who has so far only posted a small blind of $1. He now has the option to call $1 more to make up the bet, or he can raise. If he calls the extra $1, then the big blind is left with the final option. Since the blind bets are made before the cards are dealt, they are considered 'live' which means that even if all the other players just call the big blind he then still has the option to raise, if he wishes. If the big blind doesn't want to raise then the betting round is over and we can move onto the flop, which we'll explain in a moment.
What if a player decides to raise? If a player decides to raise the big blind bet of $2, then all the remaining players must either call the new bet, re-raise, or fold.
Figure 3
In our example player 6 raised the betting to $4, player 7 folded and is now out of the hand. Player 8 called, but players 9, 10, and 1 all folded and are also out of this hand. Players 2, 3, 4, and 5, all called player 6's raise. Once all bets have been equalized (i.e. matched), then the betting round is over. In our example, six players are now left in and the pot contains $24 ($4 x 6). This brings us onto the next betting round, called the flop.
Do you have other poker questions? We fully recommend reading the book Unfolding Poker and getting usable answers that you can put to use in your NEXT session.
And if you enjoy audiobooks, be sure to grab the audiobook combo and turn your next drive into a coaching session!
The Flop
After the first round of betting is complete three community cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table. All the active players can use these three cards, along with their two hole cards, to make their best possible hand. These three cards are known as 'the flop'. Here's the flop before any further betting has taken place:
Figure 4
You will notice that all the bets from previous round (pre-flop) are now in the pot. After the flop has been dealt, another betting round begins. The first active player to the left of the dealer button starts the action. In our example this is the small blind from the opening round, player 2. The forced action created by the blind bets no longer exists and that player has two options; to check or bet. A check means to neither open the betting nor fold. When a player checks the action moves onto the next active player, who may also check. If a player wants to check they either verbally announce 'check', or they tap the table with their finger or hand (or click the mouse if playing online poker).
If a player decides to open the betting, the option to check is over, and a player must either call, raise, or fold – this includes any players who have previously checked. Once all bets for this betting round have been matched or every player has opted to check, then we move onto the next betting round. For our example hand, let's suppose that after the flop was dealt, players 2, 3, 4, and 5, all checked. But player 6 then bet $2, which was called by player 8. Players 2, 3, and 4 all fold, but player 5 calls the $2. These three players get to see 'the turn'.
The Turn
After the second round of betting (the flop) a fourth card is dealt and that card is called 'the turn' – it's also sometimes referred to as 4th street. In our example hand we have three players remaining:
Figure 5
You will also notice that the pot now contains $30, which is made up of $24 from the first betting round, and $6 from the betting on the flop. After the forth community card (the turn) has been dealt, another round of betting takes place, exactly the same format as the previous betting round, starting with the first active player to the left of the dealer button. In our example, this would be player 5. He may check or bet. Let's suppose that player 5 checks, as do players 6 and 8. If all the players check, the round is over, and we move onto 'the river'.
The River
After the third round of betting is complete the fifth and final board card is dealt and that card is called 'the river' – it's also sometimes referred to as 5th street.
Figure 6
In our example hand, there is $30 in the pot and player 5 bets $4. He's raised by player 6 (who makes it $8 total). Let's suppose that player 8 folds, and player 5 decides to call the extra $4. When the final betting round ends with two or more active players (as our example has done), then we get to what is called a 'showdown'.
The Showdown
After the final betting round is completed, it's time to see who has won the hand, and the money in the pot. Now that all of the cards have been dealt, each player can combine his two hole cards with any of the five cards on the board to create his best five card poker hand. The winning hand must been seen, which means players can now reveal their two hole cards. The player that was called (player 6) is required to show first. Figure 7 shows an example showdown after both players have shown their hole cards:
Figure 7
Which hand wins? Player 5 has a straight (9, T, J, Q, K), and player 6 has a higher straight (T, J, Q, K, A) but his best hand is a flush (A, K, Q, T, 5 of hearts). If you studied the poker hand rankings lesson then you will be aware that a flush always beats a straight. Therefore player 6 wins this hand, and as you can see in figure 6, after the final betting on the river, the pot now contains $46. Player 6 wins the pot of $46, and a new hand can begin.
Poker Basics Texas Holdem Free
Some Important Points…
In our above example it was mentioned on more than one occasion that not all hands will reach the point of a showdown. It's important that you realize that a hand of poker can be over even before the players get to see the flop. Our example hand made it to a showdown, but if a player had made a bet which wasn't called during any of the betting rounds, then this player would've won, uncontested. Think of it like a boxing fight, where a fighter could land a knockout blow in the first round, or both boxers could still be standing after 12 rounds, in which case it'd be decided on points.
It's also worth noting that if you do get to a showdown scenario then you are not obligated to even use your two hole cards. If the best five card hand you can make is comprised of the five community cards, you are said to be playing the board. For example, if the five community cards (flop, turn, and river) made up a Royal flush, the best possible hand in poker, then all the remaining active players would share the pot, regardless of their hole cards. Even though each player has seven cards in total, only five of them count – your best five.
Poker Basics Texas Holdem Games
Once you have the basic rules of poker understood, it's time to start building a powerful strategy. See how our friends at Red Chip Poker built the perfect course to give you the perfect playbook…
Of course there are many other rules and important concepts you need to understand, but hopefully you've learnt a lot from this lesson. The game of Texas hold'em is a deceptively simple game, but as you move through the myriad of poker lessons here on Pokerlogy you will experience an astounding wealth of information and strategy.
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By Tim Ryerson
Tim is from London, England and has been playing poker since the late 1990's. He is the ‘Editor-in-Chief' at Pokerology.com and is responsible for all the content on the website.