Texas Hold 'Em poker is by far the easiest version of poker for a beginner to learn. Instead of other poker games like Omaha High or 7 card stud which entail a great many more possibilities for calculating odds and cpmplex Whereas Hold'Em can be learnt in a few minutes by anyone, and you can be playing fairly well with a few hours practice. ...but it takes a lifetime to master.
A Texas Hold'Em poker game goes as follows:
The betting structure can vary. Sometimes antes are used, but most games start with two players to the left of the dealer placing out a predetermined amount of money so there is an initial amount to get things started. This is called posting the blinds.
Only 1 deck of cards is needed.
Each player is dealt two cards face down. These are called your hole cards.
Then there is a round of betting starting with the person to the left of the two who posted the blinds. This round is usually referred to by the term pre-flop. (before the first three comunity cards are exposed)
The amount a player can bet depends on what kind of game it is.
Similar to most versions of poker, players can check, raise, or fold.
After the betting round ends, the dealer discards the top card of the deck. This is called a burn card. This is done to prevent cheating.
The dealer then flips the next three cards face up on the table. These cards are called the flop. These are community cards that anyone can use in combination with their two pocket cards to form a poker hand. From these cards, now a player can estimate how good or bad their potential hand is, and bets accordingly.
There is another round of betting starting with the player immediatly to the left of the dealer.
After the betting concludes, the dealer burns another card and flips one more onto the table. (So now a total of 4 community cards are face up on the table) This is called the turn card. Players can use this sixth card (the 4 on the table plus the person's 2 hole cards) now to form a five card poker hand.
The player to the left of the dealer begins another round of betting.
Finally, the dealer burns a card and places the final card face up on the table. This is called the river cards. (note the old cliche...saved by the river!)
Players can now use any of the five cards on the table plus the two cards in their pocket to form the best five card poker hand.
There is one final round of betting starting with the player to the left of the dealer.
After that, all of the players remaining in the game begin to reveal their hands. This begins with the player who raised in the final round of etting. The player who shows the best hand wins! There are cases where players with equal hands share the winnings...ie. a split pot
Good luck...if you have any questions about the game, plese do not hestitate to drop us a line...
