How to Play Texas Hold ‘Em, Part 1

Texas Hold ‘Em is a poker game variant that gained tremendous popularity in the 2000’s due to extended exposure on television and the internet. The game is now played in casinos across the globe and is the most popular poker game in the world. There are three main variations of Texas Hold ‘Em poker – limit, no-limit and pot-limit, each varying slightly in format.

Hold 'Em is a community card game where each player may use any combination of the five community cards and the player's own two hole cards to make a poker hand, in contrast to poker variants like stud or draw where each player holds a separate individual hand.

How to Play

Betting

Before any cards are dealt, players must establish who is the in the dealer, small blind and big blind positions. The dealer position is represented most of the time by a white disc, often referred to as ‘the Button’. In a casino game of Texas Hold ‘Em the dealer ALWAYS deals to the left of the button first, directly to the small blind. In a home game, the player with the dealer chip in front of them will take on the responsibilities of the dealer. After each hand is played, the dealer button rotates clockwise, changing the position of the dealer and the blinds.

The small blind and big blind are forced bets from the two players sitting to the left of the dealer button. The small blind is always half the amount of the big blind, and is posted by the player immediately to the dealer’s left. If, for example, we were playing a $5/$10 No-Limit Texas Hold ‘Em, the player in the small blind would be forced to post a $5 bet, with the big blind posting a $10 forced bet.

In limit hold 'em, bets and raises during the first two rounds of betting (pre-flop and flop) must be equal to the big blind; this amount is called the small bet. In the next two rounds of betting (turn and river), bets and raises must be equal to twice the big blind; this amount is called the big bet.

In no-limit hold 'em, players may bet or raise any amount over the minimum raise up to all of the chips the player has at the table (called an all-in bet). The minimum raise is equal to the big blind. If someone wishes to re-raise, they must raise at least the amount of the previous raise. For example, if the big blind is $2 and there is a bet of $6 to a total of $8, a raise must be at least $6 more for a total of $14. If a raise or re-raise is all-in and does not equal the size of the previous raise, the initial raiser can not re-raise again. This only matters of course if there was a call before the re-raise. In pot-limit Hold 'Em, the maximum raise is the current size of the pot (including the amount needed to call).

Stay tuned for part 2!