Texas Hold’em Poker is the most popular poker game in the United States. The game is very simple. It is a strategic game, and a player can achieve expertise in this game by practice. So, let’s start the guide on How to Play Texas Hold’em Poker.
Important Information about Texas Hold’em Poker
What are the requirements to play Texas Hold’em Poker?
A 52 cards standard deck and poker chips are required. Also, two or more players are required to play Texas Hold’em Poker.
The ranks of the cards in Texas Hold’em Poker:
The Ranks of the Cards from Highest to Lowest: Ace (A), King (K), Queen (Q), Jack (J), 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.
What is the Ranking Order of Hands in Texas Hold’em Poker?
The ranking order of Hands in Texas Hold’em Poker from Highest to Lowest:
- Royal Flush (Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10 of the same suit or say, the highest possible straight flush)
- Straight Flush (Five same suited cards in a sequence)
- Four of a Kind
- Full House [Three of a kind (Three cards of the same rank) with a pair(Two cards of the same rank)]
- Flush (Five cards of the same suit)
- Straight (Five cards in a sequence)
- Three of a Kind
- Two Pairs
- Pair
- High Card
The Object in Texas Hold’em Poker
The main object in Texas Hold’em Poker is to win chips. The player can win chips by making the highest-ranking poker hand at the showdown. Only the active players’ hands are compared at showdown. If all the players except one fold their hands, then the remaining player is the winner.
How to Select Dealer
The dealer is determined by drawing the cards. Each player draws one card from the deck and the player with the highest-ranking card is the dealer for the round. If there is more than one player with the highest-ranking card, then they again draw a new card and the player with the highest-ranking card this time will be the dealer.
Blinds
In Texas Hold’em Poker and Omaha Poker, there is a concept of blinds instead of Ante. The player on the left of the dealer places the “Small Blind” and the player on the left of the small blind player places the “Big Blind”. Usually, the big blind is the double of the small blind.
Dealing The Cards
Once the blinds are placed, the dealer deals 2 cards to each player starting from his left, one card at a time, face-down, in a clockwise manner.
How to Play Texas Hold’em Poker
Texas Hold’em Poker is played in four rounds of betting. 1) Pre-flop, 2) Flop, 3) Turn, 4) River.
1) Pre-flop
After the cards are dealt, the first round of betting, named “Pre-flop”, begins. The player on the left of the big blind player is first to play, then the turn moves in a clockwise manner. Each player has 3 options during his turn.
1. Fold: The player throws away his cards and gets out of this round. He can play in the next round.
2. Call: The player has to place a bet of the same amount as the previous bet and he remains in the game. The first bet should match the amount of the big blind.
3. Raise: The player places a bet of double the amount of the previous bet.
If the small blind player or the big blind player takes action of call or raise, then the amount of the small blind and the big blind is deducted from the amount of the call or raise. So, at the end of the pre-flop round, each active player has contributed the same amount to the pot.
The player who made the big blind is the last player to take the action. As soon as the big blind player takes action, the pre-flop round ends.
2) Flop
This round begins once the pre-flop round is completed. The dealer burns(Discards) the top card of the remaining deck, face-down, and then deals 3 cards face-up, in the middle of the table. The cards dealt in the middle of the table are known as the “Community Cards”.
The first active player on the left of the dealer starts the flop round of betting. The player has two options either check or bet. If the player does not want to bet, then he can check, and still remain in the game. And the play moves in a clockwise manner. Each player has the option of check or bet.
As soon as a player makes a bet by call or raise, the following players must have to match the previous bet to remain in the game.
3) Turn
After the flop round, the turn round begins. The dealer burns the top card of the remaining deck and deals one card in the middle of the table. After dealing, the betting begins. The betting in the Turn round is the same as the flop round.
4) River
After the turn round, the river round begins. The dealer burns the top card of the remaining deck and deals the last community card in the middle of the table. After that, the last betting round begins. The betting in the river round is the same as the turn round.
As soon as the last betting round is completed, the showdown begins. All the remaining players show their hands. The player makes a poker hand with the help of 7 cards available to him(2 cards dealt to him and 5 community cards).
The player with the best poker hand wins all the chips. If more than one player has the same poker hand and that hand is the highest poker hand in that round, then the pot is distributed equally to those players.
This is How to Play Texas Hold’em Poker. Play and enjoy.
Thank you.