Texas Hold'em Poker

Once a Player understands the basics of Texas Hold'em, you'll enjoy playing this game for years to come. This is probably the most popular Poker game in the world, and it is simple to learn just by following the easy Rules below.

You can also launch a very well done, Interactive description of Texas Hold'em by clicking here to see a one-on-one example of the game in action.

SEQUENCE OF PLAY FOR TEXAS HOLD'EM:

• Each Player is dealt two Cards face down (Pocket Cards)
• 1st Betting Round begins
• Dealer turns over three Community Board Cards (the Flop) face up
• 2nd Betting Round begins
• Dealer turns over one more Community Board Card (the Turn)
• 3rd Betting Round begins
• Dealer turns over one final Community Board Card (the River)
• Final Betting Round begins
• Showdown

At the Showdown for Texas Hold'em, Poker Rules indicate that Players may use either:

• Both Pocket Cards & three Board Cards
• One Pocket Card & four Board Cards
• All five Board Cards (playing the board)

BETTING IN TEXAS HOLD'EM:

There are four possible Betting Rounds in Texas Hold'em, shown in the Sequence of Play above. The general structure of Online Poker play does not differ from that of a Brick & Mortar Card Room.

Each Bet and Raise during the first two Rounds is set at the Lower-limit of the Stakes structure. For example, in a $5/$10 Texas Hold'em game, all Bets and Raises are $5 for the first two Rounds (after Pocket Cards are dealt, and after the Flop).

Betting and Raising during the last two Rounds is set at the Higher-limit of the Stakes structure. For example, all Bets and Raises are $10 for the last two Rounds (after the Turn and after the River), following accepted Poker Rules.

The maximum allowable number of Bets per Player during any Betting Round in Texas Hold'em is four. This includes a (1) Bet, (2) Raise, (3) Re-raise, and (4) Cap. The term Cap is used to describe the 3rd Raise in a Round since Betting is then Capped and can't be Raised further. Once Capped, Players will only have the option of Calling or Folding. Note that there is no Cap to the number of Raises in No-Limit and Pot-Limit games.

Check-raising is allowed in most games, including Texas Hold'em.

If you havn't yet, please look at the Poker Hand Rankings page.