How to Play Texas Holdem: The Complete Guide

Texas Hold’em poker is well-known owing to the spotlight granted by television and movies. The simplicity of the rules and the trend has made Texas Hold’em a favourite at online and live casinos. But if you are a beginner that has just stepped into the world of gambling, then you might wonder how to play Texas Holdem. And we are here to the rescue! This is a detailed guide on how to play Texas Holdem.

How to Play Texas Holdem: The Rules

Before we go into the details on how the game goes, let us get acquainted with the rules.

• Each player receives two cards, which are known only to those players. These are the ‘hole’ cards (private cards) that each player holds.
• The dealer then draws five cards that can be used by all the players to enhance their hand. These shared cards form a board. The players are supposed to create the best 5-card hand possible using cards from the board and the hole cards.
• Before and after revealing the cards, the players are supposed to place bets. To stay in the game and peek at the next card, all the players must put the same amount of chips in the pot.
• And the player who manages to make the best hand wins!

Hold’em Variants

Based on their betting requirements, Hold’em can be categorized into four broad types.

• Limit Texas Hold’em in which there is a pre-set betting requirement for each round of betting. The bets are of the same size as the big blind on flop and pre-flop. Bets are doubled on turn and river. The players have four betting choices – bet, raise, re-raise, and cap.
• No-Limit Texas Hold’em is where the players can bet any amount. You can bet all your chips if you want to. The minimum bet is the amount bet by the previous player. Here, there is no cap for the number of raises allowed.
• Pot Limit Texas Hold’em where the players can bet any amount, but the amount should not surpass the pot amount. The minimum bet is the bet made by the previous player. Again, this variant has no cap on the number of raises.
• Mixed Texas Hold’em switches between the rules of Limit and No-Limit Texas Hold’em. And so, the rules switch as mentioned above for Limit and No Limit.

How to Play Texas Hold’em: The Mumbo-Jumbo You Need to Know

Now that you are familiar with the rules and have some idea about the game let us dive into the technical jargon and terms. It is necessary to familiarize yourself with these terms if you want to learn how to play Texas Holdem.

1. The Blinds

You will know who is the nominal dealer as they are marked with a ‘button’ or label. The game goes in the clockwise direction, so the next player places the first forced bet, which is the small blind. The next player can place a big blind, which is usually twice the amount of a small blind. The sizes of these blinds depend upon the betting system that is deployed. In some games, all the players are required to put a small amount into the pot. After this, all the players are given their two hole cards.

2. The Betting Alternatives

Like other poker forms, Hold’em also has the fold, check, call, raise, and betting actions. These alternatives depend upon the actions taken by the preceding players. If none of the players have placed bets, you can either check (not make a bet and keep the cards) or place a bet. But if a bet has been placed, then you can call, raise, or fold. The call is when you make the same bet as the preceding player, and ‘raise’ matches the previous bet amount and raises it.

3. Pre-flop

After viewing the hole cards, each player can now play their hand by calling or raising the big blind. The real action starts to the left of the big blind. This player has the choice to call, raise, or fold. The betting continues clockwise until the active players have made equal bets to the pot.

4. Flop

By now, there are three face-up cards on the board, and they are called ‘flop.’ all the active players can use the flop. The bets on the flop start with the player to the left to the button. The betting choices are similar to pre-flop.

5. The turn

This happens after the betting on the flop is completed. The ‘turn’ is the fourth card added to the board. The betting on this card also takes place in the same manner as flop and pre-flop.

6. The River

The card that follows the turn is called the river. This is the fifth card that is placed face-up on the board. The same betting happens for this card too.

7. The Showdown

If there one player left, then the player shows their cards and takes the pot. However, if there are two or more players left, then the player immediately to the dealer’s left reveals their cards first. The player with the victory hand takes the pot. In case there are identical hands, the pot is halved and shared with the two winners. Hold’em rules consider all suits equal.

After this, a new game begins, and the button is shifted clockwise to the next player.

So, this is how to play Texas Holdem. The game is easy to learn but difficult to master. But thanks to the rise of online casinos, you can now play Hold’em for free on various online casino sites! The practice is the key to perfection, so try out your strategy today!