Victor
Chandler Poker Shool
Texas Hold'em
How To Play
Without mincing words, Texas Hold'em is the daddy of all poker
games. And the good news is that you don't have to be brainier
than Stephen Hawking to play. If you're new to the game, just
read through our how to play guide below.
The aim of the game
OK, let's start at the beginning. Texas Hold'em is a fast-paced
7-card game that's the most popular, and most exciting, form of
poker played today. If you've ever watched poker on the TV,
chances are that you've seen Texas Hold'em.
The all important aim of the game is to make the best 5 card
hand that you can, using both the two cards that you're dealt
face down and the five community cards dealt face up in the
middle of the table. But more of that a little later.
The dealer button
Every hand, one player will get the dealer button (a small disk
marked with a D). The position of the dealer is important, as
the two players to the dealer's left post the blinds. The dealer
button moves to the left after each hand, so everyone acts as
the virtual dealer and everyone is required to post blinds.
Blinds
The player to the immediate left of the dealer posts the small
blind, and the player to their left posts the big blind. The
blinds are placed in the pot to kickstart the betting and give
players an incentive to enter the hand. They also mean that the
winner of hand can never walk away completely empty-handed.
The size of the blinds are dictated by the stakes of the table
that you're playing at. The small blind is typically half the
minimum bet of the game, while the big blind is typically the
same as the game's minimum bet. It's probably best illustrated
by an example: if you're playing at a $2/$4 table, the small
blind will be $1 and the big blind $2.
The opening deal
Once the blinds have been posted, it's time for some cards.
Moving clockwise round the table from the dealer, each player
receives two cards dealt face down that only they get to see.
These are also called pocket cards or hole cards. It's now time
to start some betting. That is why we're here after all.
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Betting following the opening deal
At this stage, each player is betting on what hand they feel
their pocket cards could lead to. The betting starts with the
player to the immediate left of the big blind.
For this round of betting, each player has three choices: to
fold, raise, or call the big blind. As the players who posted
the blinds have effectively opened the betting, each player has
to at least call this bet to stay in the hand, so checking isn't
an option at this stage.
The betting goes round the table in a clockwise direction until
each player has either called, folded or raised. If no-one has
raised by the time the betting returns to the person who posted
the big blind, this player may check his own blind, fold or
raise.
The first round of betting is at the lower level of table
stakes, so in a $2/$4 game all raises are increments of $2. Once
the betting is completed it's time to see the flop. Just a quick
note on betting before you move on. The betting can't go on for
ever, as we use the standard bet and three raises model. That
is, for any round of betting there can be an opening bet and no
more than three raises. After the third raise betting is said to
be capped.
The flop
Right, now the first round of betting is out of the way, it's
time for the flop (things start to get really interesting now).
The flop is the set of three cards that are dealt face up in the
middle of the table, and each player can use these community
cards to build their hand. The middle of the table where these
cards are dealt is commonly known as the board.
Now it's time for another round of betting, again at the lower
levels of the table stakes. This time, the betting starts with
the player to the immediate left of the dealer, regardless of
whether the dealer is still active in the hand or not. The
player to the left of the dealer will keep the initial action
for the rest of the hand. Apart from that, the betting process
is the same as pre-flop betting.
The turn card
Once the round of betting has finished, it's time for another
card to be dealt face up on the board. This fourth card is
called the turn card, and again can be used by all players to
construct their hand.
The betting after the turn is now at the higher level of the
table stakes, so in a $2/$4 game all bets will now be increments
of $4. |
The river
Four down, one to go. It's now time for the fifth and final
community card to be dealt: the river. Now that all the cards
have been dealt, each player remaining in the hand can now see
what their best five card hand is. It's now time for the final
round of betting, again at the higher level of the table stakes.
The showdown
Ta da! It's now time to see who's the daddy and takes the pot:
the showdown. Each player who's remained in the hand shows their
cards, starting with the last person to bet and so on. The
winner is decided using these universal hand rankings.
If a player wins a pot by default, that is every other player
has folded, there is no showdown and the winning player can
decide whether to show their cards or not. Most people don't,
it's always nice to keep people guessing.
A final note...
If that all seems rather complicated and likely to last an
eternity, don't worry. It really is quite simple, and despite a
few stages in each hand it passes very quickly. And if you're
worried of getting stung while you're still learning how to
play, make sure that you take full advantage of our play money
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