Poker Overview
 While
there are many different poker variants, these days the most popular and
most widely played by far around the world is Texas Hold'em
poker, and this is the game that we'll explain the rules of
below.
Texas Hold'em poker was thought to have originated in Robstown,
Texas in the early 1900s. Its growth and subsequent popularity,
however,
is widely attributed to a group of intrepid Texan-born poker
players in the mid 1960s.
These include poker legend Doyle Brunson, Crandell Addington and
Amarillo Slim, who together brought Texas Hold'em to the
'gambling Mecca' of Las Vegas, Nevada, where it grabbed hold.
What's more, Texas Hold'em is the feature poker game
played in the planet's largest and most lucrative land poker
tournament, the World Series of Poker (WSOP), which is held
annually in Las Vegas.
Types of Texas Hold'em
There are three types of Texas Hold'em -
No Limit,
Limit
and
Pot
Limit. The rules of each are identical except that in no limit
games, players can bet anything from the minimum bet
to their entire chip stack. This is called 'going all-In'.
In limit poker games, players can only bet a certain amount as
per that game's set limits, while in pot limit games, players
can only bet as high as the value of the
pot.
Texas Hold'em Basics
Texas Hold'em is played with a standard 52 card deck with 2 to
10 players.
The objective of Texas Hold'em poker is for players to make the
best five card hand (as per regular ranking poker hands - see
below) using their two hole cards as well as the five community
cards, so that they win the pot.
Unlike other poker games where all the players
must put in a small initial bet known as an 'ante', Texas Hold'em
makes use of 'blinds'
instead.
During each hand only two players have to pay blinds, a 'Small Blind'
and a 'Big Blind' respectively. The Small Blind is traditionally
half of the Big Blind which itself is the equivalent of the minimum bet for the
hand.
When a hand of Texas Hold'em poker begins, the two players to the
immediate left of the dealer
(the player with the
Dealer Button,
but who is not the actual card
dealer) posts the
blinds.
The player to the immediate left of the dealer posts the
Small Blind while the second player to the left posts the Big Blind. After
each hand, the dealer button moves one player to the left
(clockwise).
Once the blinds are in, the dealer will deal each player two
'Hole Cards'
or 'Pocket
Cards' face down.
During course of play, the dealer will
deal five cards known as 'The Board' or 'Community Cards'
face up on the table after each round of betting (if the hand reaches that
far), which all of the players in the hand can use to make the
best five card hand.
In the first round, the dealer deals three cards face up known
as 'the Flop'.
In the second round, he or she will deal a fourth card face up
which is known as 'the
Turn'. In the
final round, the dealer will deal the fifth and last card face
up which is known as 'the
River'.Texas Hold'em Betting
In a hand of Texas Hold'em, betting always starts with the
player to the left of the player that posted the Big Blind and
is known as the 'pre-flop betting
round'.
After looking at his or her Hole
Cards, the player has three options - to 'check' (not bet) but
stay in the game, 'bet' or 'fold'.
If they check, then the player to their left has the same three
options and so on until the dealer deals the flop. (Note that the
Small Blind player always has to match the Big Blind in order to
stay in the hand and see the Flop).
However, if the player or any other player bets in the pre-flop
round, then to stay in the hand, all other players no longer
have the option to check. They must either 'call'
(match the initial bet), fold (throw in their cards), 'raise'
(increase the bet size), or 're-raise'
(raise a preceding player's raise).
If a player or players re-raise the initial bet or bets, then to
stay in the hand, the players that made the initial bets must
match all of the preceding raises. Once players have either
folded or matched all bets/raises, then the dealer deals the
Flop.
This is now the
second
betting round, and starts with the player
to the immediate left of the dealer (formerly the Small Blind).
Checking, betting, folding, raising and re-raising can take
place as it did in
the pre-flop round.
Once players have checked, folded
or matched all bets/raises, the dealer will deal the Turn card
for the
third betting round.
Players can once again check / bet / call / fold / raise /
re-raise until the dealer deals the final card.
When the River card is dealt, it indicates the
fourth and final betting round.
Once everyone has bet / folded etc, the remaining
players must show their cards in a 'showdown' and the player with the
best hand wins the accumulated pot.Texas Hold'em
Winning Hands
When players have the same hands, it is important to understand
that the highest hand always wins the pot.
For example, if two players each have a pair, one with 2 Kings
and one with 2 Aces, the player with the Aces wins the pot.
However, if both players have a pair of Aces, the player with
the highest 'kicker' or extra card wins the pot.
For instance if player A has a pair of Aces and his next highest
card is a Jack, and player B has a pair of Aces and her next
highest card is a Queen, she will win the pot.
If the board shows a ranked hand such as two pairs, and the
remaining players cannot improve upon those two pairs using
their hole cards, this is known as a 'split
pot' and the
pot is split equally amongst the players.
Poker Hand Values
These are the standard poker hand values and range from the
highest to lowest:
|
Poker Hand |
Description |
 |
Royal Flush |
All cards
of the same suit that rank from 10 to Ace. |
 |
Straight Flush |
All cards
of the same suit that rank in sequence. |
 |
Four of a Kind |
Four cards with the same
value. |
 |
Full House |
Three cards with the same value with two other cards of the
same value. |
 |
Flush |
All cards of the same suit. |
 |
Straight |
All cards unsuited that rank in sequence |
 |
Three of a Kind |
Three cards with the same value. |
 |
Two Pairs |
Two different
pairs of cards with the same value. |
 |
One Pair |
One
pair of cards with the same value. |
 |
High Card |
When not even
a pair can be made, the highest card wins. The King is the high card
here. |
|
|
|
