Poker Games: Down with The Basics of Texas Hold’em!
Texas Hold’em is the most popular form of poker played around the world. Therefore, by understanding the Texas Hold’em version, you’ll find learning more variants of poker much more straightforward as they more or less operate in the same lines. For learning Texas Hold’em poker basics and getting started with the game, all you’ll need to know are the different poker hand ranking rules as having the best hand is what will get you the pot. Without further ado, let’s get right into the basics of Texas Hold’em.
Blinds
Texas Hold’em consists of two blinds. These are obligatory bets known as small and big blinds. The player left of the dealer posts the small blind and the player left of the small blind posts the big blind which is generally double in value of the small blind. Play begins in a clockwise direction at the table starting from the big blind.
The Dealer Button
In the case of Texas Hold’em, there is no dealer on behalf of the house. Rather, there exists a dealer button. Here, each player acts as the dealer for a game before passing on the role to the one seated to their left for the next one. To decide the initial leader, players are dealt with one face-down card. Whoever gets the card with the highest value starts as the dealer.
Naturally, as the role of the dealer keeps shifting, the blinds also rotate. The role of blinds is to encourage players early in the game to place bets since the pot has something worth winning.
Pre-flop
The player left of the big blind gets the action started for the first of the four betting rounds immediately after the first two pocket (hole) cards are dealt. This round is termed as the pre-flop. All players are given three choices: to call, to raise, or to fold.
- Call: If the player wishes to continue in the game as they are confident on their pocket cards, they must call the bet by the big blind. This means to bet the same amount as the big blind.
- Raise: If a player is even more confident on his pocket cards, he can decide to raise the stakes even higher by increasing the bet placed by the big blind. The amount permitted to raise depends on the limit placed on the table in advance.
- Fold: Lastly, for those who find themselves to be at a weak position, they can choose to fold and discard their cards Players can choose to fold at any betting round. By folding cards, the player no longer continues in the round and so lose all the value they may have bet till then and so have no possibilities of winning the prize pool.
- Flop
After the pre-flop, we get to the flop round where three community cards are dealt face-up on the table. As soon as the flop has been dealt, the second betting round is underway.The regulations are exactly the same as to those in the pre-flop with only two changes:
- The first player to act is the player active to the left of the dealer.
- The first player to act can decide to check or bet since no bets have been placed until then.
In terms of limit of the bet placed in the flop round, in the Limit variant of Texas Hold’em this amount must equal the big blind. In the No-Limit variant, the amount should be at least twice as much.
Turn
Continuing the already established pattern, another card is dealt face-up on the table following the betting round at the flop. This is referred to as the turn. Players once again place their bets depending upon the newly introduced community card.
Betting on the turn is much like doing so at the flop with the only exception being that for most cases, the size of the bet for the turn and the final round is doubled.
In the No-Limit variant of Hold’em, players can decide to go All-in meaning they can place the entire stack of chips on the line. Here, players have the liberty to bet any amount of chips they find best.
River
The final community card is dealt face-up on the table and the last betting round begins. After players place their bets or fold their hands, we proceed to the showdown.
Showdown
This is the round players gamble for throughout the game. At the showdown, the players still left at the table (the ones who did not fold) show their pocket cards. The one with the best five-card poker hand wins the pot.
Here are a few Basic Texas Hold’em Showdown facts that’ll assist you during your next game
- The player to reveal his hand first is the one who bets the biggest at the river. However, if any other player wishes to show their hand first, they can do so as well.
- If all players have checked on the river, then the player nearest to the left of the dealer must show his hand first and the action then continues clockwise around the table.
- If the player’s present hand is not at par with the winning hand shown, then he can opt to show or muck his cards. In case of a tie when two players share identical hands, then the pot is split.
During the game, if at any point all players except for one-fold, then the final person remaining wins the pot and the next game begins.
And that was how you learn to play Texas Hold’em Poker in less than five minutes. Feel free to download the Spartan Poker app where you can play poker online for real money and win a bunch of rewards as well. The poker tournaments on Spartan are the best to put your skills to the test. Play more and win more to join our all new and exclusive VIP Club. So, head over to Spartan Poker, and let the cards be shuffled.
