In recent years, online poker and its most popular variation Texas Holdem, has taken the world by storm.  Across the globe, it has captured the interest of millions who enjoy the game and are lured by the chance to win big prizes.  Because of the World Series of Poker and the easy accessibility the internet offers to players, poker is one of the most popular card games of our time.

Texas Holdem is easy for new players to pick up, which helps its popularity, while expert play can take years to master, which keeps veteran players coming back for the next challenge.  If you are looking to get started in this deceptively complex game, here is a simple break down of the rules and concepts you’ll need to know.

Starting the Game:

Texas Holdem is a community based card game, which means that, although each player is given two cards of their own each hand, called the hole cards, there are also community cards that will be played face up in the center of the table throughout the course of play.  These community cards are considered to be in every player’s hand.

After receiving their hole cards which are dealt face down and hidden from other players, there is a round of betting.  The player to the left of the dealer is forced to make a bet called the small blind.  The player to his left has to make a larger bet, called the big blind.  These bets ensure that every hand there will be a pot of chips up for grabs.

Play Proceeds:

Play proceeds clockwise, and each player either has to call the largest bet, raise it by betting more than this amount, or they can fold which means they forfeit the hand but are not required to pay any more chips.  This betting goes on until everyone has either called or folded with no higher bets made.  Once this is done, the first three cards are dealt face up to the middle of the table.  These cards are collectively called the “flop”.  After this, another round of betting begins before a fourth card, called the “turn” is added to the first three.

Betting goes on again before the final fifth card is turned up, this card is known as the “river”.  Once the river is face up, one final round of betting occurs, and, if more than one player is still in the hand, the winner is determined by a showdown, where each player in contention reveals their two hole-cards and these are used in conjunction with the community cards to make the best poker hands possible.  Whichever player is capable of making the best hand wins the pot.

That’s all there is to the rules of Texas Holdem, but, if you wish to become a great player, you’ll want to practice and read as much as you can about some important details and strategies, and read many Texas hold’em tips on our site.  For example, poker is a game about knowing probability.  You need to know the probability that you might have the best hand, but also the probability of it improving when more cards are revealed, and the probability that your opponents have you beat or are “bluffing” by representing a good hand when you actually have them beat.