Getting Started: Texas Hold'em Poker Rules
For the sake of simplicity, we have chosen to explain the rules
that you will encounter playing Texas hold'em poker online. These
rules also apply to most Texas hold'em poker games you will encounter
in brick and mortar casinos but there are a few variations (typically
having to do with the blinds) that we won't go into here. If after
reading the rules you are still unclear about how to play, sign
up with an online poker room. It is free to sign up and you can
play with 'play money' until you get the hang of it.
HOW THE GAME IS PLAYED
The rules of Texas hold'em are simple to understand. At a full
table, you will be playing with nine other players. After each deal,
a small, circular puck (called the 'button') is passed from one
player to the next, rotating clockwise. Since all games feature
a house dealer, the button is used to denote which player will be
representing the dealer on each deal. The primary benefit of having
the button is that you will be able to act last on all future betting
rounds (except for the first betting round). Being able to act last
is always an advantage in poker, since you will be able to see how
much your opponents like their hands before you have to commit any
money to the pot.
At the beginning of each hand, the player to the button's left
is forced to make a 'blind bet', equal to 1/2 of the small bet (the
small bet is equal to the bet increments before the flop and on
the flop. In a $3/$6 game, a small bet is three dollars. In a $10/$20
game, a small bet is ten dollars. The big bets, which are the betting
increments on the turn and the river, would be six and twenty dollars
respectively). This player is called the 'small blind'. Then the
player to the small blind's left posts an amount equal to one small
bet. This player is called the 'big blind'.
Once the blinds are posted, each player is dealt two cards face
down. The first player to act is the player to the big blind's left.
He can fold, call a bet equal to one small bet, or raise to two
small bets. These are his only options. After he has acted, the
player to his left must act. If the first player raised, his only
options are to fold, or call the raise, or to reraise to three small
bets. Every player acts after the player to his right acts, moving
around the table clockwise. When it's the small blind's turn, she
can either fold, or call, or raise. The amount that she has already
put into the pot—her small blind—is considered 'live'
money, which means it counts towards the amount that she must call.
So, in a $1/$2 game, if nobody has raised, the small blind need
only put fifty cents into the pot to call. If there has been one
raise, she need put in $1.50, as opposed to the 2 dollars that all
other players must put into the pot. If she wants to raise, the
amount of the small blind is again deducted from the total amount
she must ‘put in the middle’. The same rules apply to
the big blind as apply to the small blind, except that, if nobody
has raised, the big blind can either raise by putting an additional
small bet in the pot, or elect to see the flop without having to
put up any money other than the amount he already put up for his
big blind.
After the pre flop betting round has concluded, three cards are
placed face-up in the middle of the table. This is called the "flop".
All of the cards on the flop are community cards, which means all
players still active in the hand can use these cards to make their
best five card poker hand. The betting round on the flop is essentially
the same as the action before the flop, with the bets coming in
increments of one small bet at a time, except that here the player
who was the small blind must act first (as opposed to the player
to the left of the big blind, who acted first before the flop) and
the player on the button gets to act last. After the flop betting
round has concluded, a fourth community card is turned face-up.
This card is called the "turn". The betting round here
mirrors the betting round on the flop, in terms of who must act
first and who acts last, except that now the bets have doubled in
size. In a $1/$2 game, for example, the bets now come in increments
of two dollars.
After the turn action, a fifth community card, called the "river",
is turned face-up. The betting round on the river is exactly the
same as the betting round on the turn, with bets coming in increments
of two dollars. This is the last card of the hand. When the river
betting round is finished all players still in the hand must turn
their hands up, and make their best five card poker hands out of
the seven cards available. Texas hold'em is a ‘cards speak’
game, which means the house dealer will declare your hand for you.
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