Ultimate Texas Holdem Strategy The biggest takeaway from the rules section is that the amount a player is allowed to Raise will decrease with each passing round of play. Either way, a Raise (aka Play Bet) must be made at some point, or the player must fold.
Playing Texas Holdem online might even be the easiest way to get comfortable with the rules of Texas Hold’em as you can play hands at a much faster pace. You can choose to play for real money, of course, or you can start playing the free Texas Holdem games offered at every site.

Rules To Play Texas Holdem Poker

Welcome to the Texas holdem poker section of our site. On this page we provide a complete guide to the game, how to play, the rules, and online versions. We also offer some observations about free games, strategy, and tips for winning. Throughout you’ll find links to other pages that cover specific subjects in greater detail.

We’re going to assume that the reader is a beginner and is starting from scratch. This doesn’t mean that there’s nothing in this section to help the intermediate or advanced player. If you already understand something we’ve covered here, just skip past it and move on to something you do need to understand.

Texas Hold’em Cash Game Strategy. In a Texas Holdem cash game, the chips you have in front of you are valued in real dollars, when you bet a $5 chip – that’s the equivalent of a real five bucks from your pocket. This means that decisions you make cumulatively win. At the start of a Hold’em hand, after the two blinds have been posted, all players are dealt two cards facedown. These are known as the hole or pocket cards. Players then make a decision to call the blinds (match the big blind), raise the blinds (increase the bet) or fold. Lean the best strategy to play no-limit Texas Hold'em with the best strategy articles from PokerNews. Read everything you need to know about the game.

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Texas holdem is one of a number of poker games called “community” poker games. In a community poker game, each player receives a certain number of cards, and each player also shares several community cards which are dealt in the middle of the table. In this specific game, you get 2 cards face down, and 5 cards are spread out in the middle of the table.

You can use any combination of the 2 cards in your hand and the 5 cards on the board in order to create the best possible 5 card poker hand. Rounds of betting take place during certain parts of the deal, which happen in stages, and the player who hasn’t folded and has the best hand at the end wins the money in the pot.

Other community card games that are related to Texas holdem include Omaha, Omaha 8, Pineapple, and Crazy Pineapple. The main differences between Texas holdem and these other community card games is the number of cards dealt to each player-in Omaha you get 4 “hole cards”, and in Pineapple you get 3.

How to Play – The Rules for Playing Texas Holdem Poker

Now that you have a general idea of how the game works, we’ll cover the specific rules for playing in detail. Once you’ve read this section, you should have a pretty good idea of how to play Texas holdem. We also include a link to our incredibly detailed guide to how to play Texas holdem, as well as other detailed guides

How Betting Works – The Blinds

The first thing you need to understand about the game is how the betting works. In most other varieties of poker, every player has to place a mandatory bet called an “ante”. They place this bet every hand, and this forced bet is what drives the action. Without a forced bet, players could just wait until they had a perfect hand before entering a pot. That would make for a boring poker game.

You’ll occasionally run into a Texas holdem game which uses an ante, but most of them don’t. All Texas holdem games (even those with an ante) use a “blinds” system. A blind is a forced bet, just like an ante, but it’s a rotating bet. You only have to place a blind bet when it’s your turn; the blinds rotate around the table.

There are 2 blinds in Texas holdem-the small blind and the big blind. These are pre-determined by the stakes of the game. In general, the small blind is half the size of the big blind. In a home poker game, the blinds are posted by the 2 players to the left of the dealer. In a casino cardroom, where there’s a professional dealer, a dealer button rotates around the table so that the players know who has to post the blind. In a heads-up situation, the player with the dealer button places the small blind, and the other player places the big blind.

How Betting Works II – Betting Limits

Texas holdem can be played in one of 3 varieties based on the betting rules:

Limit holdem
Pot limit holdem
No limit holdem

In limit holdem, the sizes of the bets are pre-determined, and you can’t bet more than those sizes.

Example

You’re playing in a $3/$6 limit holdem game. During the first 2 rounds of the hand, your bets must be in increments of $3. You can bet $3 or you can raise $3. During the final 2 rounds of the hand, your bets must be in increments of $6. You can bet $6 or you can raise $6.

In pot limit holdem, the sizes of the bets are limited by the amount of money in the pot. You cannot bet or raise more than the size of the pot.

You’re playing in a pot limit game with $2/$5 blinds. There’s $7 in the pot, so the most you can bet or raise when it’s your turn is $7. Once someone has bet $7 into the pot, there’s now $14 in the pot, so you can raise that amount. Pots can grow in size very quickly in pot limit holdem, which changes the strategy in multiple ways.

In no limit holdem, you can bet as many chips as you want to, as long as you have the money in front of you.

You’re playing in a no limit holdem game with $2/$5 blinds. There’s $7 in the pot, and you have $93 in chips in front of you. You can raise up to $93 if you want to, but no more.

One common misconception that’s used as a plot point in television and film is when a poker player has to risk his house or something in order to cover the size of a bet someone else made at the table. This never happens in real life. In an actual poker game, you never have to bet more money than you have in front of you, but the other player only has to risk that amount, too.

You raise the pot to $93, but the player who acts after you only has $50 in front of him. He can still call your bet, but you’ll only risk $50 against that player. The money is put into a side pot.

How Betting Works III – The Deal and Betting Rounds

The last piece of the betting puzzle is based on the way the deal is handled. Here’s how that works:

The 2 players to the left of the dealer post the blinds. Then the dealer deals everyone their 2 hole cards.

Once everyone has their hole cards, there’s a round of betting. You can call the big blind to get into the hand, or you can fold. If you call, you have to put a bet of the appropriate size into the pot. If you fold, you don’t have to put any money into the pot, but you don’t get any additional cards, and you don’t have a chance of winning at the showdown. If you really like your hand, you can raise, which means you put the amount of the bet into the pot along with an additional amount. The player who bet previously has to put more money into the pot in order to stay in the hand.

After this betting action, the dealer deals 3 cards into the center of the table. These 3 cards are called the flop. After the flop, there’s another round of betting. The only players who can participate at this point are the ones who didn’t fold before the flop.

Then the dealer deals another face up card-the turn. After the turn, there’s another round of betting.

Texas Holdem Poker Rules Explained

Finally, the dealer deals one more face up card-the river. After the river, there’s a final round of betting.

After all the rounds of betting, all the players who are still in the pot turn over their hole cards. The player with the best hand, composed of the cards in their hand and on the board, wins the money in the pot.

In limit games, the numbers refer to the size of the bets during the first 2 rounds and during the 2nd 2 rounds.

Example

You’re playing in a $4/$8 limit holdem game. The blinds are $2 for the small blind and $4 for the large blind. After the hole cards and after the flop, the bets are made in $4 increments. After the turn and after the river, the bets are made in $8 increments.

For more information on betting strategies, you can refer to any of our in-depth beginner guides:

Texas Holdem Books

Texas Holdem Poker Strategy Rules