Texas Hold Em Basics
Texas Hold Em poker is played with a standard 52 card deck, but what makes Texas Hold Em different from many other card games is the use of five community cards, which are dealt face up on the table that all players share. Apart from that, each player receives two faced down cards each (known as "hole" or "pocket" cards), and these two cards make up your starting hand. Every round of Texas Hold Em starts with every player being dealt their two hole cards, and the winner is the player that at the end, after several betting rounds, can the hole cards together with the five community cards in order to make the best ranked five card poker hand.
Texas Hold Em - the Dealer Button
The order of play in each round of Texas Hold Em poker is decided by the button, which is a visible marker that rotates clockwise between players before the start of each new hand. Those who is seated left of the button always acts first in any given betting round, and the player in front of the button acts last, which is a huge advantage since that player can await the actions of the other players before deciding on his own actions.
Texas Hold Em - the Blinds
After that the players are dealt their hole cards, comes the placing of blinds, which are small forced bets that ensure that every single pot has a value. In Texas Hold Em, the two players left of the button that places these small bets, and as the button moves before each round begins, so does the obligation to place blinds. In every Texas Hold Em round, always the two players left of the button that pay the blinds, and the value of the blinds depends on how big a game you are playing, and it is only before the first betting round that blinds are placed.
Texas Hold Em - Betting Rounds
After the blinds are placed occurs the first betting round (the pre-flop betting round), and it begins with just the hole cards in play. Once it is completed, begins the flop betting round with three of the communal cards now in play, and next, in Texas Hold Em game is the turn betting round, when an additional community card is dealt, and, finally, comes the river betting round (with all five community cards now on the board). When, in all betting rounds, comes the players turn to act, he has five options - call, bet, check, fold or raise, and to make a bet means wagering an amount, adding it to the pot. Basically, a call is matching a previously made bet, raising is to increase the wagered amount, folding means dropping out of the pot, not wanting to call any made bets or raises. In Texas Hold Em the player can check only if no bets are yet in play, and by this way the player simply passes on the action to the next player in turn.
