Texas Holdem Poker

Texas Hold'em Poker is the most popular variations of table poker available online. It is regulary played on TV shows such as Channel Four's Late Night Poker and during the World Poker Tour. It’s also the game played at Binions casino every year for the multi-million dollar World Series of Poker.

How Texas Hold’em is played

The basic game of Texas Hold'em is fairly simple to understand. Its complexity lies in the infinate ways a player can read other players at the table and take that knowledge to form a decision on the next move.

Each player receives two cards from the dealer, known as pocket cards. Five cards, known as the 'community cards' are then laid open on the table during which a series of betting rounds occur. The winner is the player who can put together the best five-card hand from the seven available cards according to standard poker hand rankings.

Each poker game is split into four individual betting rounds. Two initial cards are dealt to each player. Known as the 'pocket cards', the player makes the first decision as to whether they have good enough cards to continue, bluff, or simply to 'fold' their hand. At this point, the first round of betting takes place.

Betting always goes clockwise around the table. In an online poker room, the first person able to make a bet is the player sitting to the left of the dealer - represented by a 'dealer button'. The player with the 'button' is often seen to be in the strongest position since they have the ability to see all the action before getting to bet themselves. To equal things out, the 'button' moves around the table.

The first player to bet has 3 choices – they may bet, fold (ie to surrender the hand) or check (passing the opportunity to the next player). After this first bet, the remaining players have the chance to raise, fold or call (matching the previous players bet). Once all the players have made their decision at least once and either folded or contributed the same amount to the pot (the betting money in the middle of the table), the betting round is completed. In each betting round there are the maximum of three raises.

The second round of betting occurs after the 'flop’ (whereby three of the community cards are dealt face up on the table). At this point it may become clear what the potential hands other players may be holding.After this betting round is over, the fourth card, know as the 'turn' is dealt. Another betting round follows until the fifth and final community card, known as the 'river', is dealt. When the final betting round has taken place, which is known as the ‘showdown’, the players reveal their cards and the winner is made known.

Blind bets

In order to ensure there is money in the pot for each game of Texas Hold'em, the 2 players on the left of the dealer each place a mandatory bet known as a blind (since no player at this point has seen their cards). One player places the small blind or half the table minimum whilst the second player bets the full minimum – the big blind. To ensure fairness in a game, and in order to stop players from coming in and out of a game just before its their turn to post a blind, every player is required to put a big blind in when they first sit at the table.