Everything You Need to Know About Texas Hold’em Poker

It goes without saying that Texas Hold’em is one of the most popular Poker variations out there. The Texas Hold’em variation can be found at almost every land-based gambling venue and all the top online casinos like ours offer it.

For both beginners and intermediate players, we’ve created this comprehensive Texas Hold’em guide covering everything you need to know about the game. We start with the basics and gameplay rules and then go on to cover the Texas Hold’em hand rankings. Stick with us!

Basics of Texas Hold’em Poker

Texas Hold’em Poker is one of the most widely played Poker variations at both land-based gambling venues and casinos online. Owing to its popularity, Texas Hold’em Poker is featured in all the top Poker tournaments across the globe. They include the European Poker Tour, the World Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker, amongst others.

Getting started with Texas Hold’em Poker is quite easy, though the possible combinations can get complex when playing at the highest levels. When playing Texas Hold’em as a novice player, having an understanding of the fundamentals is crucial. Not only are the basics easy to learn, they are important when it comes to understanding the gameplay action.

Texas Hold’em Poker rules

Just like Four Card Poker, the gameplay rules for Texas Hold’em Poker are simple. The main aim of the game is to form the best possible five-card hand. For that, players can use their face-down cards in combination with the community cards.

Texas Hold’em Poker shares several similarities with 5-card Draw Poker. But the way in which the hands are constructed in Texas Hold’em Poker is somewhat different from Draw Poker. Below is an overview of how players try to form the best five-card hand in Hold’em:

When playing Texas Hold’em, each player receives two face-down cards. These face-down cards are commonly referred to as “hole cards”.

Then as the gameplay action continues, five more cards are eventually dealt on the Poker table. These five cards are dealt face-up and known as the “community cards”. Every player has the option to use those community cards to try to form the best five-card hand.

How to play Texas Hold’em Poker?

Now that you know the basics of Texas Hold’em Poker, let’s have a look at how the game is played:

The Blinds

Many Poker variations require players to make a mandatory wager, which is referred to as “Ante”. However, most Texas Hold’em Poker games don’t require you to make an Ante wager. Instead, Texas Hold’em makes use of the “Blinds” system.

Just like the Ante, a blind is also a forced wager. But given that the blind is a rotating wager, you only need to make it when it’s your turn. All Texas Hold’em Poker games involve two blinds – a small blind and a big blind. The blinds are posted by two players on the left of the dealer button. Usually, the bet amount for the small blind is half of the big blind. After placing the blinds, the dealer deals the first card to the small blind player and continues doing the same in a clockwise fashion until all players get their first two cards.

Preflop

The first Texas Hold’em Poker gameplay round starts after each player has received their initial two cards. The wagering action then initiates from the player in the small blind position. At this point, the player can go with any of the following three options:

• Call: To call means placing a wager equal to the big blind.
• Raise: Players go with this wagering option if they want to increase the size of their bet during the same gameplay round.
• Fold: To fold means to give up on one’s hand and surrender the current pot.

The Flop

Once done with the pre-flop wagering round, three community cards are dealt on the Hold’em table. After this, the second betting round called the Flop begins. Note that this wagering round only involves players who haven’t folded in the previous round.

As with the pre-flop round, the wagering action initiates from the player on the left of the big blind here. All the traditional wagering options – bet, call, fold or raise – are available in this round. Along with that, players can opt to check in this round. As explained in the Poker terms and terminologies, to check means to pass the wagering action to the next player at the table.

The Turn

This is the third betting round where the fourth community card is dealt on the Hold’em table. After that, the betting action takes place just like the other wagering rounds. Again, players can choose to go with any of the following wagering options – bet, fold, check, call or raise.

The Raise

After the completion of the Turn round, the fifth community card is dealt on the Hold’em table. Then another wagering round initiates starting from the player in the small blind position. Once again, players can opt to bet, fold, check, call or raise here.

The showdown

Finally, all the remaining players reveal their hole cards so that the winner could be determined. This is known as the showdown. Here, the player with the best Poker hand ranking walks away with the pot.

Conclusion

So, this covers our comprehensive guide on Texas Hold’em Poker. Now it’s time to check out the game on our platform. With us, you can find Hold’em games from several top software providers. Besides, we offer several other exciting Poker variations such as Three Card Poker and Jacks or Better Video Poker Game, amongst others. Have an enjoyable and entertaining Texas Hold’em gaming experience there!