How To Play Texas Hold'EM: Part 1

Ok, so this site has a lot of articles about strategies and techniques that can be applied to Texas Hold'EM poker, but if you don't even know how to play the game, then these articles are useless. If you want to learn the basics rules of play in Texas Hold'EM, then this article is for you.

TEXAS HOLD'EM BASIC RULES:
At the beginning of a game of Texas Hold'EM poker, the dealer shuffles the pack, which is a standard 52 card pack- no jokers. In a casino or a club that plays live poker, the dealer is called the croupier.

At times, it can be that the players themselves deal the pack, but this is only the case with private parties. In the case of a private party then the players will take turns at being the dealer, the turns follow the seating arrangements and are usually clockwise>

With games that involve a croupier, then the players are also dealers in turn, but only in a symbolic fashion, the casino's staff remains the only person to hold the full deck of cards. The player whose turn it is to be dealer will have a special chip placed in front of them, this is called "The Dealer Button" (-often abbreviated to button). The button is rotated around the table in a clockwise direction. In summary, the button indicates the position of the dealer, even though the croupier undertakes the deal for them.

THE TULES OF THE BLINDS IN TEXAS HOLD'EM:
The blinds are bets that are imposed on certain players before the cards are even dealt. It is the two players sat to the left of The Button who should respectively place their bets, these are called blinds, and there is a Small Blind and a Big Blind.

Being in a blind position allows the player to speak last once the round has gone around the table. In poker tournaments, the amount of the blinds is stratified and concurs with the level reached at any specific time during the tournament; so at the end of a tournament the blinds are a lot greater in value than at the start.

The small blind is placed by the player who is next in line to the left of the Button, and the big blind is placed by the player directly to the left of the small blind. In general, the big blind is twice the value of the small blind, so if the small blind is for $5 then the big blind will be for $10, and the players in the blind positions are OBLIGATED to place these bets.

The rules of Texas Hold'EM poker are international, and tend to be uniform throughout the world.

HOW ARE THE CARDS DEALT IN TEXAS HOLD'EM?
Each player will receive two hidden cards (also called private cards) which will constitute the foundation of their final hand- the cards are called ‘hidden' cards because they are dealt face down, so that only the player can view them, but he may reveal them to the rest of the table if he chooses to.

In order to ensure that the cards remain hidden from the other players (revealing them is considered foolish) most players will bring the two cards towards them with their left hand, and use the right thumb to lift the corner of the card in order to reveal the value, to themselves only.

The aim of the game is to combine the two cards in hand with the five cards that are dealt to the table as a whole, the community cards, which are dealt in the middle of the table and which are called ‘The Board'.

The aim of the combination of the two hidden cards with the five cards is to manage to get the best game possible using five cards from the board and the private hands, so to get the best five card combination from the total of seven cards available to play with to each player.

The five card combination can be constructed from two hidden cards and three community cards, one hidden card and four community cards, and even, but rarely, from five community cards and zero hidden cards.

The hands that the players manage to make are then compared with each other, and the hand that is considered to be the highest, for example the highest possible combination is the Royal Flush, will win the pot in that round. The pot is made up of the amount of the accumulated bets collected during the course of the round.

RULES OF THE ROUND OF BETTING:
Each round dealt is followed by a round of betting. As the game of Texas Hold'EM has four rounds of deals when it is completed, it also has four rounds of bidding/wagering. The first round of bids/wagers happen after the first round of deals, which has given each player their two private cards.

The first player to speak is that player sat directly after the big blind. In cash games only (as opposed to tournaments), this player can decide to bet an ‘overblind', also known as a ‘straddle', if the table accepts.

The advantage of the overblind (straddle bet after the big blind) is that he will get to speak last; this gives him the advantage of knowing, and analysing, the decisions of his opponents, before deciding on his course of action.

The first player to speak has three options; Call, Raise or Fold.

In order to call (also known as follow/ing) the player must place an equivalent bet of the big blind, or if the overblind was played, the overblind.

In order to raise, the player must put an amount equal to, or more than, two times the big blind, or the overblind if it has been made. The amount of the raise varies according to the bidding/wagering limits that are applied to the particular table being played.

In ‘limit' versions of the game, where the limits are pre-defined, the amount has already been established. Additionally, the number of possible raises is capped.

In versions of the game that are ‘pot-limit', the raise is capped in relation to the amount in the pot.

In no-limit versions of the game, finally, the raise can go All-In, that is to the value of the players stack, they are able to bet all they have in once round.

In order to fold, the player places his two hidden cards in front of him and pushes them to the centre of the table, this is known as a ‘muck'. When the cards belonging to a particular player touch the ballot (the place designated to the regrouping of thrown or folded cards), or that the croupier scoops them up, the hand is deemed to be a fold and the player can no longer be party to that round. He is out of play and therefore has no right to the pot, i.e. he can't win any money.

Each subsequent player around the table has the same options, with the additional prospect of orchestrating a re-raise. In order to be viable, a re-raise must be equal to, or greater than, two times the amount of the previous raise.

For example, if a player raises $10 then the re-raiser needs to raise $20, or more, to be eligible; so the small blind could be $2.50, the big blind would then have to be $5, the minimum raise would have to be $10, and if a player raises to that amount, and not over, then the re-raise can be $20 or more, but no less. If the raise had been greater than twice the big blind, say $15, then the re-raise would need to be at least $30 to be eligible, as the re-raise is relative to the amount of the original raise, and not so much on the blinds, although they still have some bearing in that the will set a minimum possible re-raise prior to the raise.

The end of the bidding/wagering happens when all the players have placed the same amount in the pot.

How To Play Texas Hold'EM Part 1

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