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Texas Hold’em is the most popular form
of poker played in casinos worldwide and on the Internet.
» The game
Texas Hold’em poker games use a 52-card deck. You will
notice a white round disk sitting in front of one of the players.
This disk is known as the dealer button and will rotate to
the next player on the left each hand. The “dealer”
is important because it designates who must post the blinds
and act first on each betting round.
The player immediately to the left of the dealer button must
post the small blind which is somewhere between
½ and 2/3 the minimum bet. The player to the left of
the small blind is the big blind and must post an amount
equal to the minimum bet. Without blinds, players could simply
wait for AA every hand since they would be losing nothing
for their patience.
Each player is dealt two cards face down and the first betting
round takes place. The first player to act is the player sitting
to the left of the big blind.
 
In this first betting round, players have the option of calling,
raising, or folding. If the pot is not raised, the big blind
can raise or has the option of checking since he has already
posted the minimum bet. In Limit games, each bet or raise
is equal to the minimum bet. For example, in a $1-$2 Limit
Texas Hold’em game, one player could bet $1 and another
player could raise to $2.
Three cards will then be dealt face up in the middle of the
table. These are community cards which every player
can use to make their best poker hand. This betting round
is known as the flop. The first player to the left
of the button begins the betting on this round and all subsequent
rounds. Players may bet, check, call, raise, or fold in turn.
Once again, the bets are equal to the minimum bet which would
be $1 in the example above.
A 4th card will then be dealt face up which is known as the
turn card. The bets on this round are equal to the maximum
bet. For example, in a $1-$2 Limit Texas Hold’em game,
one player could bet $2 and another player could raise to
$4.
 
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A 5th card is then dealt face up which is known as the
river card.
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Again the bets on this round are equal to the maximum bet.
The winner is the player who
can make the best five-card poker hand using his two hole
cards and five community cards. Players can use one, both,
or none of their hole cards to make the best hand. If two
players use the five community cards in the middle of the
table they would split the pot regardless of what their two
hole cards are.
»
Click here to see the Ranking
of Poker hands
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