Learn How to Play Texas Holdem in Less Than Ten Minutes with These Simple Rules

The most often played kind of poker is called Texas Hold’em, and it is this game that novice players should begin with. When you have a solid foundation in Texas Hold’em, other poker variations will seem less foreign to you since they are so close to the standard game.
The goal of Texas Hold’em poker is to construct the greatest possible five-card hand out of the seven cards in your hand utilizing any combination of the two. Each player receives two cards, which can only be seen by them and used by them. After that, five cards are placed face up in the center of the table. These are the community cards, and everyone at the table has access to them and can use them.

Dealer Button

When the game begins, a fictitious dealer is selected at random. This nominal dealer is important because it indicates who posts the mandatory bets (also known as blinds) before each hand, and it also indicates who is first to act in each betting round. Although it is obvious that the computer handles all of the dealing when playing online poker, this nominal dealer is still important.
A disc with the letter “D” and referred to as the dealer button is used to identify the game’s current dealer. After the completion of each hand, the dealer button is passed to the player who is immediately to the left of the present dealer. This procedure is repeated in a clockwise direction after each hand is played out.
The Void Fillers
Before the start of each hand in Texas Holdem, players are required to make both of the following bets: the ante and the blinds. These are referred to as the “Small blind” and the “Big blind,” and they ensure that there are chips up for grabs in every hand that is played.
The small blind bet is made by the player who is immediately to the left of the dealer, while the big blind bet is made by the person who is immediately to the left of the small blind.
When playing No Limit games, the amount of the blinds is determined by the stakes of the table you are currently sitting at. For instance, the small blind at a table with stakes of $1 and $2 would be $1, while the big blind would be $2.

Before the Flop — The Initial Round of Betting

The “hole cards” are the two cards that are handed to each player at the table after the blinds have been posted. These cards are dealt with the face down. These cards are invisible to everyone but the current player.
At this point, the first round of betting has begun, and each player needs to decide how to proceed based on the strength of their hole cards. They are able to choose amongst the following options:
Throw away all of your cards and give up on this hand by folding.
To “call” is to match the amount of the large blind bet or the highest stake placed by another player if that player has raised, and to participate in the current hand.
Raise is to place a wager that is more than the present wager (or big blind). In that case, any other player who wishes to keep playing would be required to call your additional bet in order to keep playing. Because the size of the large blind must be increased before a raise may be called for, the bare minimum for a raise is two times the amount of the big blind. There is no predetermined limit to the amount that you may raise in No Limit, and you are free to contribute the entirety of your stack if you so want.
On a table, the action is always performed in a clockwise direction. The player to the left of the large blind acts first during the first round of betting. This player acts after the big blind. After all players at the table have had a chance to act, the amount of money that was contributed to the pot by each player who is still involved in the hand is compared to determine whether or not it is even.

Second Round of Betting on the Flop

The “Flop” is a term that refers to the three cards that are dealt face up in the middle of the table after the initial round of betting has concluded. The cards in the middle of the table are referred to as “Community Cards,” and they are known by this name because all of the players use them while constructing their final hands.
Players currently have access to 5 cards (2 hole cards and 3 community cards), out of a total of 7 cards, and should have a decent understanding of how their hand is developing as a result. This marks the beginning of the second round of betting.
The action starts with the player who is still in the hand and is to the left of the dealer at the beginning of this round of betting as well as all following rounds. This player may choose to either:
Check, but do not place any bets.
When you “bet,” you put a wager that the other players in the hand have to at least call in order for you to continue playing the hand. The magnitude of the large blind constitutes the minimum wager in poker.
This round of betting will conclude with no one betting if everyone checks their cards. After a wager has been placed, the remaining players have the option of either:
Turn around, let go of the hand
Place a call on the wager that has already been placed.
Raise is to increase the wager that has already been placed, at which point the other players are obligated to call in order to keep playing the hand.
In the same manner as the previous betting round, the action proceeds clockwise around the table until all players have either called, checked, or folded and the amount of money that has been contributed to the pot by each player who is still involved in the hand is equal.

The Turnabout

After the second round of betting, the dealer will lay a fourth community card face up in the middle of the table. This card is known as the “Turn card,” however it is also frequently referred to as “Fourth Street.”
There is a third round of betting that takes place after the Turn, and it functions in the same manner as the previous round of betting did.

The River (S)

After the third round of betting, the dealer will lay the fifth and final community card face up in the middle of the table; this card is known as the “River card.”
The fourth and final betting round takes place in the exact same manner as the previous round after the River card is dealt.

The Crucial Faceoff

After the last round of betting, the players who are still in the hand have the option of using any combination of the two hole cards they have and the five community cards that are dealt face up on the table to construct the greatest possible five card hand.
The person who has the best hand overall is the winner of the pot. If two or more players hold a hand with the same value, then the pot is divided evenly amongst those players.
Please refer to our Poker Hand Ranking Guide if you are unaware of which hand is superior to others and have not already learned this information.

Next Hand

Once the current hand has been completed, the winning player is given the pot, and the game then moves on to the next hand in the sequence.
After the cards are mixed, the next two players post their blinds, and then the dealer button is passed to the next player to the left of the current dealer. After this, the cards are dealt once again.