Texas Hold’em is by far the most popular form of poker today. All the major poker tournaments such as the WSOP are played in this format. This is mainly because it’s really quick and easy to learn but it’s not as easy to master the game.

The Button

The button is used to identify which player is the dealer. If you are playing online or in a casino then you don’t need to worry about who has to deal. It’s still important to know where the the button is though.

The cards are dealt starting with the player directly to the left of the button. The button is also used to indicate who’s turn it is to place the small and big blinds but we will get to that in a moment. Once each hand is complete then the button is moved round to the next player on the left.

The Blinds

Before each hand two compulsory bets are made by the two player directly to the left of the button. These are called the ‘Blinds’ and they are there to make the game more interesting. By posting the blinds it means that there is always some money in the pot for every hand.

The blinds in tournaments increase at regular intervals to increase the pressure. If this didn’t happen then tournaments would go on forever. The blinds in ring games always stay at the same level. For example if you saw an online poker room that said NL$1/$2 then the small blind would be $1 and the big blind would be $2.

Pre Flop Action

Each player will receive two cards known as ‘Hole Cards’. After theses cards are dealt then the first round of betting begins. The payer to act first is the player directly to the left of the Big Blind (Also known as Under the Gun) and the action goes round the table in a clockwise direction.

Each player has three options when it is their turn:

Fold – Also known as mucking your hand. This is when you give up your cards and take no further part in that hand.

Call – This is when you match the previous bet amount. If you are the first to act then you would match the Big Blind amount.

Raise – This is when you increase the bet amount to more than the previous bet or more than the Big Blind if your first to act.

A raise must be at least the amount of the previous bet so if the last bet was $10 then you must raise to at least $20. The maximum a player can raise depends on what game you are playing.

Limit Hold’em – You can only raise by the amount of the Big Blind.

Pot Limit hold’em – You can only raise by the pot amount. This is the total of all the bets placed up to that point.

No Limit hold’em – You can raise any amount in No Limit Hold’em. When you bet all of your chips then you are ‘All In’.

Every player have these options when it is there turn to act. If a raise has already been made then you have the option of a Re-Raise or a Re-Re-Raise.

The Flop

Three cards are now dealt face up on the table. This is also known as ‘The Flop’. In this round and the following rounds of betting the action starts with the person directly to the left of the button.

Just like in the previous round of betting players can Fold, Call, Bet and Raise. In addition to these options players can now Check. This means that if there were no bets before you then you can wait and see what the other players do. If you Check and then someone bets after, you must either Call, Raise or Fold.

The Turn

One more card is dealt face up and this is called ‘The Turn’. As before betting begins with the player directly to the left of the button and each player has the option to Fold, Check, Bet or Raise.

The River

One final card is now dealt face up which is known as ‘The River’. This is the final round of betting and players have the same options as before. Each player can Fold, Check, Bet or Raise before the winner of the hand is decided.

The Showdown

Once the final round of betting is complete then the hand goes to showdown. The player with the best 5 card combination is the winner of the hand and takes the total amount of money that was bet during the hand (The Pot). For more information on what hand beats what you can check out our Hand Ranking Chart.