Texas Hold’em Rules

For those who never played texas hold’em poker, here is a brief description of the rules. The texas hold’em rules might seem hard to understand at first but when playing I’m sure you will find them very easy.

When it’s your turn to act you have the option to fold (throw away your cards), check (when there has been no action in front of you and you chose not to bet you can check), bet (when you’re the first player to take action or no one has made a bet before you, you can put chips on the table), call (matching the bet or raised amount), or raise (to increase the previous bet).

1. A Single 52-card deck is used.
2. A player is designated as the dealer; in online this is usually presented with a button. You do not actually deal the cards yourself; you are the last player to receive his cards. This is important because the game must rotate clockwise each hand.
3. The game starts with the two players next to the dealer. The player to the left of the dealer must post a small blind and the player to the left of the small blind must make a big blind bet. The amounts depend on the table limits. The purpose of the blinds is to get the ball rolling.
4. Each player is being dealt two cards.
5. The player to the left of the big blind must now call, fold or raise the big blind bet. The play will go around the table until everyone has made a bet. Some players will "fold" (drop out of the hand), while the others will bet until they all have the same amount of chips on the table.
6. The sizes of the bets depend on the game you’re playing. (limit hold’em, pot limit hold’em and no-limit hold’em)
7. Three cards will be dealt in the middle of the table, which are seen by all players. These cards are used by all players to make a hand. This round is called the flop.
8. Players start betting again, starting with the player to the left of the dealer. Again players have the choice to check, bet, call, raise or fold depending on the bets made and the hands players are holding.
9. A fourth card is dealt and placed in the middle of the table. Again this card is available to all players. This round is called the turn.
10. Another betting round begins in the same way as the previous ones and the minimum bet is doubled.
11. A fifth and final community card is dealt in the center of the table and is available to all players. This round is called the river.
12. Another betting round will begin in the same manner of all the previous rounds. The only difference is that this is the final round and the player with the highest poker value will win. Players can use his own two cards and the five cards on the table. Players do NOT have to use BOTH of his own cards (if a player can create a higher value hand by using only one of his own cards and four of the cards on the table then that hand will count).
13. To see the hand rankings click here.
14. If two or more players have the same hand rankings then the individual cards will be used to determine the winner. If the ranking of all five cards are the same then we have a tie and the pot will be split.
15. If a player runs out if money in the middle of a hand, a second pot is created.
16. Players can only buy chips in between hands; not in the middle of a hand.
17. There are three types of games. A limt hold’em (a game with specified amounts like a 1/2 game, a 3/6 game, a 10/20 game, etc…), a pot limt game (the maximum raise can be anything up to the amount in the pot) and a no limit game (the maximum raise is dependant of the size of the chips a player has on the table).