Texas Holdem

OBJECTIVE

• The Objective of the game is to make the best possible Five Card hand.
• The two hole cards and three out of the five community cards may be used to make the best five card combination, one hole card and four out of the five community cards or even no hole cards and all five community cards may be used.

Texas Holdem GAME PLAY

• The Buy In: Every player in order to play at a table must have the minimum amount to buy-in to that table. The Buy-in amount is usually ten times the amount of the lower bet limit of the game i.e. if a player wishes to play a $50/$100 table the minimum buy-in for the table will be $500.
• In Poker the Dealer never plays instead a round plastic disc called ‘The Button’ moves around the table clockwise from player to player starting from the first player to the immediate left of the House Dealer.
• Before every round of play begins the button is shifted to the next player on the left to indicate the dealer for that round. A player is said to be ‘on the button’ if he is the dealer for the round of play.
• All players must post their mandatory bets know as Antes and the Small Blind is posted by the player to the immediate left of the button, the Big Blind is posted by the player to the left of the Small Blind.
• After the Blinds and Antes have been posted the House Dealer deals two cards to each player at the table (known as hole cards). • Players take a look at their hole cards and decide whether or not to play the hand.
• If players choose to play the hand they must either ‘Call’ i.e. they must bet an amount equal to the Big Blind or ‘Raise’ i.e. bet an amount higher than that of the Big Blind.
• If a player chooses not to play the hand he may ‘Fold’ i.e. he mucks or throws away the hand.
• After the first round of betting, in poker terms known as the ‘Pre Flop’, when all players have posted or placed equal bets the first set of three community cards called the ‘Flop’ are placed face up on the table after keeping aside the top card, this is called ‘Burning the Card’ it is done in case a player has seen the top card and to prevent cheating.
• Immediately after this the second round of betting starts from the player who previously posted the Small Blind.
• Similar to the first round of betting once all players have posted their bets the fourth community card known as the ‘Turn’ is revealed, after burning the top card again. Then the third round of betting starts.
• And again once all bets are placed the dealer burns the top card and declares the fifth and final community card, known as the ‘River’ thereby giving way to the last round of betting
• After all betting is complete there is a Showdown this is when all players reveal their hands to determine the best five card hand and hence the winner.
• The winner gets the entire pot, however, in certain circumstances when there is a draw between two or more players the pot is split between the tied players and hence called a ‘Split Pot’.
• A player may also win a pot if he is the only one who decides to play the hand and all other players choose to fold.

Texas Holdem Betting Structure

• The Small Blind is posted by the player to the left of the Button or the dealer.
• The Big Blind is posted by the player to the left of the small Blind.
• The player to the left of the Big Blind kicks off the betting for the first round.
• In all subsequent betting rounds the betting is kicked off by the Small Blind.
• A player may Call or Raise the Big Blind if he wishes to play the hand.

Texas Holdem Betting Structure

Limit Hold'em

Limit Hold'em is the most popular game both online and in live casinos. In limit Texas Hold'em, there are predetermined bets for each round. For example in a $10-$20 Limit Hold'em game, all bets and raises during the betting rounds before and immediately after the flop are $10, while bets for the turn and the river are $20. Typically the big blind in Internet Limit Hold'em is equal to the bets required in the first two rounds, and the little blind is half a bet. In addition, all bets and raises must be greater than or equal to the previous bet or raise, with the exception of a player that is raising all in. If a player does raise all in, and that bet is not greater than or equal to the previous raise, then the door is not opened for the original raiser to reraise.

Pot Limit

Texas Hold'em rules are the same as fixed Limit Hold'em rules, with the exception that the maximum bet is equal to the current pot size. A player may bet or raise any amount they wish, up to the amount that is currently in the pot. There are still minimum bets. If you're playing 10-20 no Limit Texas Hold em, for example, then you have to bet at least 20 dollars in the first two rounds, and at least 20 dollars in the latter two rounds. In addition, all bets and raises must be greater than or equal to the previous bet or raise, with the exception of a player that is raising all in. If a player does raise all in, and that bet is not greater than or equal to the previous raise, then the door is not opened for the original raiser to reraise.

Limit Hold'em

Limit Hold'em is the most popular game both online and in live casinos. In limit Texas Hold'em, there are predetermined bets for each round. For example in a $10-$20 Limit Hold'em game, all bets and raises during the betting rounds before and immediately after the flop are $10, while bets for the turn and the river are $20. Typically the big blind in Internet Limit Hold'em is equal to the bets required in the first two rounds, and the little blind is half a bet. In addition, all bets and raises must be greater than or equal to the previous bet or raise, with the exception of a player that is raising all in. If a player does raise all in, and that bet is not greater than or equal to the previous raise, then the door is not opened for the original raiser to reraise.

No Limit

No Limit Texas Hold'em rules are the same as fixed Limit Texas Hold'em rules, with the exception that there is no maximum bet. A player may bet or raise any amount they wish, up to the amount they have in front of them. There are still minimum bets, however. If you're playing 10-20 no Limit Texas Hold'em, for example, then you have to bet at least 20 dollars in the first two rounds, and at least 20 dollars in the latter two rounds. In addition, all bets and raises must be greater than or equal to the previous bet or raise, with the exception of a player that is raising all in. If a player does raise all in, and that bet is not greater than or equal to the previous raise, then the door is not opened for the original raiser to reraise.