Texas Hold'em
Texas Hold’em is probably the most popular version of Poker from which all other Hold’em games derive. The game is played with two “hole cards” dealt to each player face down and five “community” cards dealt face up in the center of the table. The players make their best hand using their hole cards with a combination of any of the community cards. There are no limits for how many community cards could be used and the player holding the best hand wins the round.
The table for Texas Hold’em usually seats nine or ten players. Each player gets to be the dealer when his turn comes. At the start of the game each player is dealt one card, and the one with the highest gets to be the first dealer. Even if the casino provides a person who would actually deal the cards, one of the players must always be a “notional” dealer as this plays an important role in the betting order. The dealer’s position is marked with a plastic disc also called a “button”, which rotates to the next player after each round is played.
Each round of the game begins with two compulsory bets called “small blind” and “big blind”. Before any cards are dealt, the first player to the left of the dealer makes a small blind, the amount of which is usually half of the minimum bet, and the next player has to place a big blind, which is equal to the minimum bet of the game. The small and big blind are afterwards counted as a part of the player’s bet. After the two hole cards are dealt to each player, the true betting commences, consisted of four betting rounds:
First betting round
After the players receive their hole cards, the one to the left from the big blind starts the betting round. Accordingly to his cards, he has to raise, call or fold to the big blind, and the betting continues to rotate around the table. When it reaches back players 1 and 2, they also have to raise, call or fold by adding the appropriate amount to their initial small and big blind. The initial bet could not be raised more than three times, after which all players have only the options to fold or call. This concerns not only the first, but all betting rounds. As soon as all bets on the table are equal, the first community cards are dealt and the new round begins.
The Flop
The first three community cards are called the “flop”. The second betting round starts as soon as the flop is dealt. The first player, that hasn’t folded, to the left of the dealer places the first bet. As soon as all players have finished and all bets are equal, another community card is dealt.
The Turn
The fourth community card that is dealt is called the “turn”, after which follows another betting round, same as the previous ones.
The River
The fifth and last community card is called the “river”. It is again followed by a regular betting round.
The Showdown
With the betting rounds over and all community cards on the table, the showdown takes place if there are more than one players that haven’t folded. All players make their best hand using any combination of their two hole cards and the community cards. The player with the highest hand wins the round and takes the pot. If all but one player have folded, he would then automatically win and is not obliged to show his cards to the rest of the players. If a player reveals a winning hand first, during the showdown, the others might decide to “muck” their hands, or simply announcing they were defeated without showing their hands. The same goes for a player that has folded. Not revealing his hand to others is a good way for a player to keep his opponents from learning his strategies and playing style.
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