Texas Holdem is the most popular game played in online and offline casino poker rooms. Although deceptively simple, playing with experts requires a great deal of skill. Typically played with nine or ten players to a table it is faster passed and more action than stud or most other games. No limit Texas Holdem is the true Cadillac of poker and is used to determine the world champion of poker at the world series of poker.

When it comes to playing Texas Holdem, there are 3 types of games with different betting types:

Here's how Texas Holdem is played:

Typically, players sit around a poker table; a dealer is marked with a small “D”. Action is always initiated by the dealer and continues in clock like manner.

When playing Texas Holdem, before cards are dealt, the first two players to the left of the dealer are required to post blind bets. Small Blind (SB) and Big Blind (BB) are forced bets and used to stimulate some action and get the game going.

The small blind (to the dealers left) places a bet equal to half the smallest structured bet, and the big blind (to the small blinds left) places a bet equal to the smallest structured bet.

Each Texas Holdem player is then dealt two cards face down, with the player on the small blind receiving the first card and the player with the dealer button receiving the last card. These cards are typically called “pocket cards”.

The first betting round begins with the player to the left of the big blind. Each player has the following options:

Once again, betting continues in a clockwise manner .

After the first round of betting is complete 3 cards are dealt and turned face up in the middle of the table. This is known as the “flop.” These are community cards used by the players. Another betting round begins with the first active player (player still left in the game) to the left of the dealer button.

When the betting round after the flop is completed, a fourth card is tuned face up in the middle of the table. This is referred to as the “turn”. Once again, betting begins with the first active player to the left of the dealer button

Following the betting round for the turn, the fifth and final card is turned face up in the middle of the table. This is referred to as the “River” and the final betting round begins with the first player to the left of the dealer button.

Once the final betting round is complete the remaining players must show their cards to see who wins the pot. To determine the winner, the players may use any combination of their two hole cards (either one or both) and the five cards on the table to form the highest cards on the board. (Click here for hand rankings).

Related Resources

Texas Holdem Basics
Texas Holdem Starting Hands
Beginning Texas Holdem Part (1)
Beginning Texas Holdem Part (2)
Beginning Texas Holdem Part (3)