Table Of Contents

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If you want to learn how to play Texas hold'em games, then you need to start from the basic rules and hands. That's exactly what you'll find on this beginner's guide to the game.

Texas hold'em is a simple poker game, but it can be daunting to get to grips with.

But don't let that put you off. By the time you are down with this beginner's guide to Texas hold'em, you will know:

1. What Is Texas Hold'em Poker?

Texas Hold'em is the most popular of all poker variations.

All of the marquee tournaments around the world (including those played at the World Series of Poker, the World Poker Tour, the and the European Poker Tour) feature the no-limit variation of this game.

Texas hold'em is so popular that is the only poker game many players will ever learn.

It takes a moment to learn, but a lifetime to master.

Discovering how to play Texas hold'em poker is not difficult and the simplicity of its rules, gameplay, and hand-ranking all contribute to the popularity of the game.

However, don't let the simplicity of the game mislead you.

The number of possible situations and combinations is so vast that Texas hold'em can be an extremely complex game when you play at the highest levels.

If you are approaching the game of Texas hold'em for the first time, starting from the basic rules of the game is key. Not only these are the easiest ones to learn, but they are also essential to understand the gameplay and, later on, the game's basic strategy.

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2. Texas Hold'em Rules

So how do you play Texas hold'em?

The goal of a Texas hold'em game is to use your hole card and in combination with the community cards to make the best possible five-card poker hand.

Hold'em is not unlike other poker games like five-card draw.

However, the way players construct their hands in Texas hold'em is a little different than in draw poker.

It's always possible a player can 'bluff' and get others to fold better hands.

• In a game of Texas hold'em, each player is dealt two cards face down (the 'hole cards')
• Throughout several betting rounds, five more cards are (eventually) dealt face up in the middle of the table
• These face-up cards are called the 'community cards.' Each player is free to use the community cards in combination with their hole cards to build a five-card poker hand.

While we will see each betting round and different phase that forms a full hand of a Texas hold'em game, you should know that the five community cards are dealt in three stages:

• The Flop: the first three community cards.
• The Turn: the fourth community card.
• The River:The fifth and final community card.

Your mission is to construct your five-card poker hands using the best available five cards out of the seven total cards (the two hole cards and the five community cards).

You can do that by using both your hole cards in combination with three community cards, one hole card in combination with four community cards, or no hole cards.

If the cards on the table lead to a better combination, you can also play all five community cards and forget about yours.

In a game of Texas hold'em you can do whatever works to make the best five-card hand.

If the betting causes all but one player to fold, the lone remaining player wins the pot without having to show any cards.

For that reason, players don't always have to hold the best hand to win the pot. It's always possible a player can 'bluff' and get others to fold better hands.

READ ALSO: Common Poker Tells: How to Read People in Poker

If two or more players make it all of the way to the showdown after the last community card is dealt and all betting is complete, the only way to win the pot is to have the highest-ranking five-card poker hand.

Now that you know the basics of Texas hold'em and you start to begin gaining an understanding of how the game works, it's time to get into some specifics.

These include how to deal Texas hold'em and how the betting works.

Basic Rules Key Takeaways:

• A game of Texas hold'em feature several betting rounds
• Players get two private and up to five community cards
• Unless all players abandon the game before the showdown, you need the highest poker hand to win

How to Play

Let's have a look at all the different key aspects of a Texas hold'em game, including the different positions at the table and the betting rounds featured in the game.

The Button

The play moves clockwise around the table, starting with action to the left of the dealer button.

The 'button' is a round disc that sits in front of a player and is rotated one seat to the left every hand.

When playing in casinos and poker rooms, the player with the dealer button doesn't deal the cards (the poker room hires someone to do that).

In when you play poker home games with friends the player with the button usually deals the hands.

The button determines which player at the table is the acting dealer.

The first two players sitting to the immediate left of the button are required to post a 'small blind' and a 'big blind' to initiate the betting.

From there, the action occurs on multiple streets:

• Preflop
• Flop
• Turn
• River

Each one of these moments (or 'streets' in the game's lingo) is explained further below.

The button determines which player at the table is the acting dealer.

In Texas hold'em, the player on button, or last active player closest to the button receives the last action on all post-flop streets of play.

While the dealer button dictates which players have to post the small and big blinds, it also determines where the dealing of the cards begin.

The player to the immediate left of the dealer button in the small blind receives the first card and then the dealer pitches cards around the table in a clockwise motion from player to player until each has received two starting cards.

READ ALSO: Poker Positions Explained: the Importance of Position in Poker

The Blinds

Before every new hand begins, two players at the table are obligated to post small and big blinds.

The blinds are forced bets that begin the wagering.

Without these blinds, the game would be very boring because no one would be required to put any money into the pot and players could just wait around until they are dealt pocket aces (AA) and only play then.

The blinds ensure there will be some level of 'action' on every hand.

In tournaments, the blinds are raised at regular intervals. In cash games, the blinds always stay the same.

In tournaments, the blinds are raised at regular intervals.

• As the number of players keeps decreasing and the stacks of the remaining players keep getting bigger, it is a necessity that the blinds keep increasing throughout a tournament. [*]In cash games, the blinds always stay the same.

The player directly to the left of the button posts the small blind, and the player to his or her direct left posts the big blind.

The small blind is generally half the amount of the big blind, although this stipulation varies from room to room and can also be dependent on the game being played.

In a '$1/$2' Texas holdem game, the small blind is $1 and the big blind is $2.

First Betting Round: Preflop

The first round of betting takes place right after each player has been dealt two hole cards.

The first player to act is the player to the left of the big blind.

This position referred to as 'under the gun' because the player has to act first. The first player has three options:

• Call: match the amount of the big blind
• Raise: increase the bet within the specific limits of the game
• Fold: throw the hand away

If the player chooses to fold, he or she is out of the game and no longer eligible to win the current hand.

Players can bet anywhere from the amount of the big blind (the minimum bet allowed) up to the total amount in the current pot.

The amount a player can raise to depends on the game that is being played.

In a game of no-limit Texas hold'em, the minimum opening raise must be at least twice the big blind, and the maximum raise can be all of the chips a player has in his or her stack (an 'all-in' bet).

There are other betting variations in hold'em poker.

In fixed-limit hold'em (or just 'limit hold'em), a raise is always exactly twice the big blind.

In pot-limit hold'em (played much less often than the other variations), players can bet anywhere from the amount of the big blind (the minimum bet allowed) up to the total amount in the current pot.

After the first player ('under the gun') acts, the play proceeds in a clockwise fashion around the table with each player also having the same three options — to call, to raise, or fold.

Texas Holdem Farben Reihenfolge

Once the last bet is called and the action is 'closed,' the preflop round is over and play moves on to the 'flop.'

Second Betting Round: The Flop

After the first preflop betting round has been completed, the first three community cards are dealt and a second betting round follows involving only the players who have not folded already.

A check simply means to pass the action to the next player in the hand.

In this betting round (and subsequent ones), the action starts with the first active player to the left of the button.

Along with the options to bet, call, fold, or raise, a player now has the option to 'check' if no betting action has occurred beforehand.

A check simply means to pass the action to the next player in the hand.

Again betting continues until the last bet or raise has been called (which closes the action).

It also can happen that every player simply chooses not to be and checks around the table, which also ends the betting round.

Third Betting Round: The Turn

Call – match the amount of the big blind

The fourth community card, called the turn, is dealt face-up following all betting action on the flop.

Once this has been completed, another round of betting occurs, similar to that on the previous street of play.

Again players have the option to options to check, bet, call, fold, or raise.

Final Betting Round: The River

Fold – throw the hand away

The fifth community card, called the river, is dealt face-up following all betting action on the turn.

Once this has been completed, another round of betting occurs, similar to what took play on the previous street of play.

Once more the remaining players have the option to options to check, bet, call, fold, or raise.

After all betting action has been completed, the remaining players in the hand with hole cards now expose their holdings to determine a winner. This is called the showdown.

The Showdown

Players construct their hands by choosing the five best cards from the seven available

The remaining players show their hole cards, and with the assistance of the dealer, a winning hand is determined.

The player with the best combination of five cards wins the pot according to the official poker hand rankings.

3. The Hands in Texas Hold'em

These hand rankings aren't specifically part of Texas hold'em rules, but apply to many different poker games.

• Royal Flush — five cards of the same suit, ranked ace through ten; e.g., A♥K♥Q♥J♥10♥
• Straight Flush — five cards of the same suit and consecutively ranked; e.g., 9♣8♣7♣6♣5♣
• Four of a Kind — four cards of the same rank; e.g., Q♣Q♥Q♦Q♠4♦
• Full House — three cards of the same rank and two more cards of the same rank; e.g., J♣J♥J♠8♦8♥
• Flush — any five cards of the same suit; e.g., A♠J♠8♠5♠2♠
• Straight — any five cards consecutively ranked; e.g., Q♣J♦10♥9♠8♦
• Three of a Kind — three cards of the same rank; e.g., 8♣8♠8♦K♣4♥
• Two Pair — two cards of the same rank and two more cards of the same rank; e.g., A♠A♣J♦J♣7♠
• One Pair — two cards of the same rank; e.g., 10♥10♣9♥4♦2♦
• High Card — five unmatched cards; e.g., A♣J♦10♠5♣2♥ would be called 'ace-high'

Players construct their hands by choosing the five best cards from the seven available (their two hole cards and the five community cards).

If the board is showing 9♣5♠K♦3♠A♥, a player with the two hole cards 9♠ would have two pair (aces and nines) and would lose to a player who has 9♦9♥ for three of a kind (three nines).

Learning hold'em poker begins with understanding how hands are dealt and the order of play as described above.

Of course, learning Texas hold'em rules is just the beginning, as the next step is to learn strategy which involves understanding what constitutes good starting hand selection, the odds and probabilities associated with the game, the significance of position and getting to act last during those post-flop betting rounds, and many other aspects of the game.

4. How to Play Texas Hold'em Games Online

Now that you know how Texas Hold'em works, it's time to put the theory into practice and play your first games.

The best way to start playing Texas Hold'em is to start from these free poker games available online and then move up to the real money action only when you feel comfortable enough to do so.

All the 'must-have poker rooms' below offer free games to practice online.

If you are completely new to the game, you should go for play money options, first. These risk-free games with fake money are an excellent way to familiarise with the different moments of play and the betting rounds.

The play money games are a great way to learn more about the hand rankings and begin to read the board fast enough to take all the right decisions at the right time.

After that, you should more to the poker freerolls. These are free poker tournaments with actual prizes on tap that range from free money to free entries into more expensive real money games.

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I’ve been working on a series of blog posts I call the “What Is Gambling” series, and I just wrapped up a post about “What Is Poker?” Today’s post is titled “What Is Texas Holdem,” which is probably the most appropriate follow-up to “What Is Poker” you could ask for.

The goal for these posts is to explain the essence of what these activities are and how they work. This post is meant to introduce the novice to the game of Texas holdem and also to explain how the game works so well that even an expert might learn something from it.

In Texas holdem, the board (the community cards) consists of 7 face-up card. These aren’t all dealt at once, though—they’re dealt in phases, with betting rounds in between. You get to use any combination of your hole cards with the community cards to create your hand.

This means you can use 2 cards from your hand and 3 cards from the board, 1 card from your hand and 4 cards from the board, or just play 5 cards from the board.

The rest of this post goes into more detail about how to play Texas holdem and how to play it well.

As I discussed in the post about poker, one of the integral aspects of the game is the betting. Without betting, it ain’t poker.

In all poker games, you have forced bets. These are bets players must make to stay in the game. Withou these forced bets, you wouldn’t have any action. Players would just fold until they got a hand they figured was the nuts.

In most other poker games, these forced bets take the form of antes, which are small bets everyone must place before getting a hand.

The players to the left of the dealer place the small blind and the big blind, respectively.

As the dealer position orbits the table, so do the blinds.

Every orbit, you’ll pay the small blind once and the big blind once, and so will all the other players at the table.

For example, if you’re playing in a $4/$8 Texas holdem game, the blinds are usually $2 (for the small blind) and $4 (for the big blind).

The Betting Structure Varies Based on Which Version of Texas Holdem You’re Playing

The order in which you bet doesn’t change based on the version, but the size of your bets does. In limit holdem, you must place bets in increments that are pre-determined.

In the example above, the bets must be made in increments of $4 in the first 2 rounds of the game and in increments of $8 in the final 2 rounds of the game.

But many Texas holdem games are played in pot limit or no limit format. In a pot limit game, the maximum size of your bet is equal to the amount of money in the pot.

In a no limit game, you can bet all the chips in front of you any time it’s your turn to bet.

At least this is true when you look at limit versus pot limit or limit versus no limit. Pot limit and no limit are similar enough that the strategies are often more or less the same.

This becomes more obvious when you start looking at books about poker strategy. A book about limit holdem reads very differently from a book about no limit strategy.

But most of the advice in a no limit Texas holdem game would apply equally to a pot limit game.

In a home version of the game, the person with the deck of cards is the dealer. She gets to deal one hand, then the deal moves to the person on her left. This continues around the table without end.

If you’re playing in a casino, a cardroom employee deals the cards for you. You track the location of the dealer position for purposes of who places the blinds by using a plastic disk called a dealer button. (It even has the word “dealer” printed on it.)

I played in a home game Saturday night where they were using the dealer button as well as the deck of cards to track the dealer position. I thought that was silly, but it also meant I was playing with some less sophisticated players, which is usually good for my bankroll.

A hand of Texas holdem plays out over the following rounds:

• Pre-Flop
• The Flop
• The Turn
• The River

Pre-Flop is the round of betting that takes place after everyone gets their first 2 hole cards. You’re betting on the strength of these cards without the benefit of having seen the flop or any of the community cards.

The Flop is when the dealer flips over the first 3 cards of the community cards. They’re supposed to be flipped over all at the same time, by the way, not one at a time.

The Turn is when the dealer flips over the 4th of the 5 community cards.

The River is when the dealer flips over the 5th (and final) card on the board.

In all Texas holdem games, you have minimum bet sizes during the first 2 rounds and minimum bet sizes during the second 2 rounds. This means you can bet the lower amounts during the pre-flop and flop stages, but you must bet the higher amounts after the turn and the river.

In a limit game where the limits are $4/$8, you’d need to bet $4 minimum during the first 2 rounds and $8 minimum during the next 2 rounds. If you want to make a raise, you would need to raise at least that amount, too.

In a pot limit or no limit game, you still must make the minimum bets for those rounds, but you have the option to bet more. If you want to raise, you must raise at least the size of the previous bet.

For example, if someone bets $20, and you want to raise, you must raise by $20 minimum. It doesn’t matter what the blinds or the minimum bets are at that point.

If you want to play in the hand at all pre-flop, you must at least call the big blind. That means you must post a bet the same size as that big blind. You also have the option of raising or folding.

After the flop, you also have the option of checking, which means you’re not folding, but you’re not betting into the pot, either.

How the Game Plays Out Each Hand

During each phase of the game is a round of betting. If everyone but one player folds, that player wins the pot by default. If more than one player is still involved in the hand at the end of the betting, you have a showdown.

Texas Holdem For Beginners By Daniel

During the showdown, you compare your best possible 5-card hand with your opponents’, and the best 5-card hand wins the money in the pot. In the event of a tie, the amount of money in the pot is split between the players who tied.

All the Texas holdem games I’ve ever played in were played “cards speak.” This means that even if you don’t recognize your best possible poker hand, you still get credit for the best possible hand you can make.

Some players win a lot of money at Texas holdem by betting and raising relentlessly against weaker opponents who are too willing to fold. Other players lost a lot of money by checking and calling consistently when they don’t have strong hands.

I’ll have more to say about that in the next few sections, which are all about Texas holdem strategies.

Most people who’ve been paying attention already know that poker is a game of skill as well as chance. In any extended period of time, the player with more skill will eventually win all the money. That’s because over time, everyone gets the same number of good hands and bad hands.

No one has written a definitive guide to strategy for all kinds of Texas holdem games. It’s not like blackjack; the game hasn’t been “solved.” That’s because, by its nature, Texas holdem is a game of incomplete information.

You don’t know what cards are going to be dealt on the future rounds. You also don’t know what cards your opponents are holding.

There’s only one situation in Texas holdem where the best possible play is a certainty—you should always bet and raise preflop with aces.

But even that is up for debate and nuance. Since pocket aces are the best possible hand in Texas holdem at that point in the game, you should always want to get as much of your money and your opponents’ money in the pot as possible.

But how to do that?

Which would be the perfect situation?

You don’t know what your opponents are going to do.

And that uncertainty gets even greater when you’re dealing with a hand that’s not as good as a pair of aces in the hole.

Which brings me to the next point I want to make about Texas holdem strategy:

The best Texas holdem strategy is to play a limited number of hands before the flop and fold the rest. The idea is that you want to get your money into the pot when you have the best of it, and you want to avoid putting money in the pot when you don’t.

David Sklansky suggests that the Fundamental Theorem of Poker is this:

Every time you act in the same way you would if you knew what your opponents’ hidden cards are, you gain. Every time you act in a different than you would if you knew what your opponent was holding, you lose.

But it also means that you should bet and raise heavily when you have strong cards, and check or fold when you have weak cards.

If you have strong cards, they’re more likely to be better than your opponents’. If you knew that for a certainty, you would, of course, bet and/or raise.

If you have weak cards, they’re more likely to bet worse than your opponents’. If you knew that for a certainty, you would almost always fold.

It’s the hands in the middle that give you the most trouble.

You don’t have to memorize a chart or table outlining the strength of the various possible Texas holdem hands. You can, instead, think of these starting hands in terms of their categories.

Big pairs are pocket pairs of 10 or higher. These hands usually play well from any position at the table. (I’ll have more to say about position in the next section, so stick around and read all the way through this post.)

Medium and small pairs are pairs of 9s or lower. These hands play well from middle to late position, and they usually play better with more people in the pot.

That’s because you want a lot of money in the pot on the rare occasion that you hit 3 of a kind on the flop.

Suited connectors are cards that are adjacent to each other in ranking and are also of the same suit. You have the potential to make a flush or a straight with these cards. The higher these cards are in ranking, the better.

Most suited connectors where the higher card is 9 or less are speculative at best, but if you have at least one 10 or better, you have a solid speculative hand.

They don’t have to be immediately adjacent, either, although their value drops the further the 2 cards are from each other in rank. For example, 10-J suited is a better starting hand than 8-10 suited.

Big-little suited is a hand with an ace or a king in it and another lower-ranked card of the same suit. This includes AK and AQ, which are both more-or-less monsters when they’re suited.

It also includes hands as speculative as A-2 or A-3 suited, which are speculative in the extreme—you need to hit 2 pair or a solid flush draw on the flop to continue in the hand unless you’re bluffing.

AK and AQ are playable if they’re not suited, too, but big cards lose a lot of value when they’re not suited. AJ is really speculative and needs to hit you flop and later rounds really hard if you want to continue in the hand and win.

Most other hands aren’t really playable. The rule of thumb is that big pairs can sometimes win pots if you can thin the field with your bets and raises, but the other hands, being more speculative, need to hit the flop before you should continue with the hand.

Earlier I talked about players who lose a lot of money because they call a lot of bets when they shouldn’t. These players are examples of loose, passive players.

A loose player is one who plays in a lot of hands—she doesn’t fold often enough. A tight player is one who folds a lot and only plays strong hands.

A passive player is one who checks and calls a lot. An aggressive player, on the other hand, is one who bets and raises a lot. Aggressive players tend to do better, because they win money when their opponents fold.

They also win bigger pots when they win, because they’re forcing their opponents to put money in the pot.

Players can also be loose and aggressive. Some players in some games succeed well with such an approach. They win so much money from their opponents’ folding in the face of their aggression that they can afford to lose some pots when their hands don’t hit.

Loose, passive players are the best opponents you can hope for. They’ll pay you off repeatedly by putting money into the pot with sub-standard holdings and never put pressure on you to make a hard decision.

Your goal is to be a tight, aggressive player. You won’t play many hands, but when you get cards, you’ll bet and raise with those hands. That’s a winning approach to Texas holdem.

In fact, it’s a winning approach to almost any poker variation.

I left the most important aspect of Texas holdem strategy for last—position.

This refers to when you act during the game. The location of the dealer button and the blinds determines your position.

The first player to the left of the big blind makes the first decision pre-flop. After the flop, the first player to the left of the dealer button makes the first decision.

This is early position.

From early position, you need stronger hands to warrant playing. You have less information about your opponents and what they’re planning to do from early position.

On the other hand, if you’re in late position, you have much more information about how many players are in the pot and what the strength of their hands might be.

You can play more hands from late position, because you’ll also get to see what you opponents are going to do when they see the flop and later phases of the hand.

Conclusion

Texas holdem poker is the most popular version of poker played in the United States. If you’ve never played, it can be confusing at first.

You should try some of the free online versions of Texas holdem before playing for any kind of meaningful stakes.

What did you learn about the essence of Texas holdem that you didn’t already know from this post?