Rules of Texas Holdem Poker

Introduction
Texas Hold em is one of the most popular poker games in the world. Everywhere you look there is a game going on. This is the game of championships. If you ever wanted to know how this great game is played and want to try your hand online then this is the place to do it.

The Texas Hold’em table has six to ten players. A single card is dealt to each player to determine who is going to start the game. The player with the highest card is the first dealer. A special chip is placed in front of the dealer to distinguish the dealer from other players. This is called the button and after each round the dealer button rotates to the left of the table.

Before the Deal Come the Blind Bets
Before the cards are dealt there is a forced bet by the first 2 players sitting to the dealers left. The little blind being the person sitting directly to the left of the dealer. The little blind bet is half of the big blind. The big blind sits to the left of the little blind and must bet double the amount established for the little blind.

The Cards are Dealt
The dealer then deals two face down cards to each player, dealing them out one at a time, and starting with the person that is seated to his left. When the cards are dealt, the players can look at their cards.
At this point each player needs to decide if the want to call the current bet, which is that of the big blind, or the highest amount bet up to this point. The player can match that bet, fold and not bet, or raise the bet. Each person to the left of the big blind has this choice as their turn comes up. When and if a player raises the bet then every player must either “call” that bet, “raise” or “fold”. When there are no more raises, the big blind can check. In other words he can decide, he doesn’t want to put in more money, or raise, if he raises then the other players need to match or fold. The betting will stop when everyone has either folded or called the last raise.

Then Comes the Flop
The dealer then “burns” (he deals a card to the side and this card is not used). He then deals three cards face down and then turns them all up at the same time ( the flop). These are called community cards, and all the players can use them along with the pocket cards they have in their hands to make the best poker hand. At this point the person that is in the little blind position will be the first to act on every round from here on out. This person has to decide on whether to check (if he doesn’t want to bet or want to fold). Otherwise he places the first bet and the round continues.

At this point when the dealer has dealt the flop and all the players can see five cards, if players don’t have anything in their hand, then this is the time to fold. The round will end when everyone has either bet, raised, or folded.

Then comes the Turn
After betting on the flop has finished, the dealer will burn another card and then turn over another community card called the “Turn.” Another round of bidding begins with the small blind beginning.

In Comes the River!
After the round of bidding has ended, the dealer will burn another card and then turn over the last community card known as the river. Everyone bids again, and if everyone folds but the last player then he wins the pot. This player does not need to show his hand at this point. He can just “muck” or throw it into the discarded pile.

The Showdown
When the river has been dealt and there is more than one player you’ve reach the showdown. Beginning with the player closest to the dealers left each player shows their cards in turn. If any subsequent hand can’t beat the hand shown the card may be mucked. It’s always a good idea to muck as to not reveal your poker strategy to your opponents. If you’ve got the best hand then throw’em down and pull in that monster pot! then the last player to bet is called, after seeing it the players can either “muck” or show their better hand. The best hand wins.