Texas Hold'em is the most popular online and televised poker game. The game itself can be very complex. As a result, we will try to break down the bare essentials and later get into strategy. The game itself is typically played with 9-10 players at a table with a rotating blind system. The blind system is used to initiate betting and establish a decent pot size. The rotating blind system consists of two blinds. The big blind is the minumum bet on the table and starts at the second position left of the dealer. The small blind is half of the minimum bet and is directly to the left of the dealer. For example, if the table minimum is $5, then the big blind would be $5 and the small blind would be $2.50. The blinds move one player to the left after each hand is dealt.
Texas hold'em tournaments sometimes also use antes during the game. An ante is a small charge that every player must contribute to the pot. The idea is that typically late in tournaments it is beneficial to have more money in the pot to start action. Once the antes and blinds are posted, each player is dealt two down cards (Hole cards) starting with the small blind and ending with the dealer. Now, let's get to the action.
The player to the left of the big blind has to first opportunity to act. This player has a few options. First of all, the player can call the minimum bet (Big blind.) Second, the player can raise the bet higher than the previous bet, which would be the big blind in this case. Finally, the last option the player has is to fold his hand paying no more and playing no more in that hand. This action continues until the play reaches the small blind. The small blind already has their partial bet on the table and must call the action, raise the action, or fold their hand and donate their small blind. The big blind can either raise or check (Decline an additional bet) if there are no other raises on the table as they have already placed a full bet. If there happens to be a raise on the table, any player that called the original bet has the option to call the raise or reraise the pot.
Once the pre-flop betting action has ceased, the flop begins. The "Flop" refers to the three community cards that the dealer places face up in the center of the table. A second round of betting now begins with the player to the left of the dealer button. Each active player must check or bet their hand. If there happens to be a bet, every other player must either call, raise, reraise, or fold their hand before action continues.
The fourth community card that comes after the flop is also called the "Turn" or "Fourth Street." There is now another round of betting starting with the player to the left of the dealer. The last community card, a.k.a "The River or fifth street," is then placed face up in the center of the table and final round of betting commences. Once all bets have been placed, the final showdown will reveal whose hole cards give the best 5 card hand and win the pot.
Players of texas hold'em can use any combination of their two hole cards and the five community cards to form the best five card hand. This gives them the option of using two hole cards and three community, one hole card and four community, or using all five community cards. However, using all five community cards typically ends in a split pot or loss as everyone can do the same.
There are a lot of variations in the amount of players, game limits, blind structures, and betting positions that we will discuss in further detailed articles.