How To Play Texas Hold’em Poker
Although not much was known about the invention of Texas hold ’em, Robstown, Texas was officially recognized as the game’s birthplace under Texas Legislature since early 1900’. Since then the game has become a popular game among the American, from great lavish Las Vegas casino to household family card game. As the time approaches the age of the internet, Texas hold’em also become the staple game for online betting. People can now sit in front of a screen to show their perfect hand and play games with other players from all over the world. As for starters, there are few things new players need to know before they jump into the game.
The game begins with Pre-flop stage at a round table. The player turns to move around in a clockwise manner. There will be always one dealer who shuffle and give out the playing card. Then, there’s the small blind and the big blind. The small blind is the player adjacent to the dealer while big blind is the person next to the small blind, all placed in a clockwise fashion. The small blind and big blind are forced to give out bets as starters.
The whole game would pointless if none of the players put any money into the pot and they could just wait around until the situation suits them. These blinds will ensure there will be “action” on every hand. Once everything settled, each player is dealt with two cards and the game begins with the player positioned next to the big blind. The player has three options: Raise, to increase bet within game limit; Call, play the same bet as big blind; fold throw the hand and he or she is no longer eligible to win the current hand. The game is proceeding with subsequent players in a clockwise manner and dealt with similar option as the player before.
After the pre-flop bet has been completed, the dealer can proceed to flop stage where 3 cards are drawn from the deck and shown to all players. The betting continues from the players next to the dealer. Similarly, all players can either raise, call or fold except for the players already folded in previous betting round. Player now has the option to “check” which means to pass the action to the next player in the hand if there is no bet placed. The dealer will proceed to turn stage after all players have done betting.
The next stage of the game is the turning stage where one card is dealt and the player can start betting again with the option of raise, call, check or fold. With all the player done betting, dealer proceeds to river stage. After all, players are done, players now expose their holdings to determine a winner. This is called the showdown.
During the showdown, the remaining players open their cards, and with the help of the dealer, a winner is determined. The player with the best combination of five cards wins the pot according to the poker card combination ranking as shown:
- Royal Flush — Five cards of the same suit, ranked ace through ten; e.g., A♥K♥Q♥J♥10♥
- Straight Flush — Five cards of the same suit and consecutively ranked; e.g., 9♣8♣7♣6♣5♣
- Four of a Kind — Four cards of the same rank; e.g., Q♣Q♥Q♦Q♠4♦
- Full House — Three cards of the same rank and two more cards of the same rank; e.g., J♣J♥J♠8♦8♥
- Flush — any five cards of the same suit; e.g., A♠J♠8♠5♠2♠
- Straight — any five cards consecutively ranked; e.g., Q♣J♦10♥9♠8♦
- Three of a Kind — Three cards of the same rank; e.g., 8♣8♠8♦K♣4♥
- Two Pair — Two cards of the same rank and two more cards of the same rank; e.g., A♠A♣J♦J♣7♠
- One Pair — Two cards of the same rank; e.g., 10♥10♣9♥4♦2♦
- High Card — five unmatched cards; e.g., A♣J♦10♠5♣2♥ would be called “ace-high”
This summarizes the basic for playing Texas Hold’em. To truly master the game, players must learn more about the strategy which involves understanding what makes good starting hand selection, the probabilities within the game, opportunity seizing and many other aspects of the game.
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