Texas Hold 'Em Poker

A Beginners' Guide to Texas Hold 'Em
Texas Hold'em is the most popular form of poker in the world. It is a community card game, with straightforward poker rules, where each player is dealt two cards which can be used in conjunction with the five face-up cards on the board to make the best possible five card poker hand. The following guide describes the poker rules for a Fixed Limit Texas Hold'em hand.

Pre-Flop
The size of the blinds is determined by the table's betting limits - the small blind is equal to half the lower bet amount, and the big blind is equal to the lower bet amount. For example - in a $2/$4 Fixed Limit Texas Hold�'em game, the small blind (SB) would be $1 and the big blind (BB) would be $2. At the start of a hand, the player to the left of the dealer button posts the small blind, and the player to his left posts the big blind. Then, starting with the small blind, two cards are dealt face down to each player, and the action begins with the player to the left of the big blind, who is referred to as being "under the gun". He may fold (muck his hand and take no further action in the pot), call (put in an amount equal to the big blind) or raise (put in an amount twice the big blind).

Play continues in this manner around the table until all players have matched the current bet amount or folded. The blinds posted at the start of the hand are considered live and contribute to the players' bet - if no one raises before action gets round to the big blind, he has the option of checking and seeing a flop, or raising and re-opening the betting. Normal fixed limit poker rules dictate there is a maximum of 3 raises on any betting round.

The Flop
Once all pre-flop betting is complete, it's time to move on to the flop. Three cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table. These are community cards which anyone can use as part of their final five card poker hand. Now, the betting begins with the first player left of the dealer button who remains in the hand, who has the option to check or bet. Bets at this stage are of the lower betting limit, which is the same as the big blind (so $2 in the same $2/$4 game). A check is simply declining the opportunity to bet, and can only be done if there have been no bets so far. Play continues in a clockwise direction until all players have matched the required bet or folded, and then we continue to the turn.

Turn & River
A fourth community card, called the turn, is now dealt face up next to the flop, and another round of betting ensues. In Fixed Limit Hold'em, the betting is almost identical to the flop, except now the larger betting limit comes into play, so all bets are doubled (making bets $4 in our $2/$4 game). Once this is done, a fifth and final community card, called the river, is now dealt face up next to the turn card and there is a final round of betting, which is identical to the turn with one exception - if only two players remain then an unlimited number of raises are permitted. Once all bets are matched then it's time for the showdown.

Showdown
All players still left in the hand at this stage now turn their cards over, starting with the first player to the left of the button. In Texas Hold'em, each player may use any combination of the two cards in his hand and the five face-up cards on the board to form the best possible five card hand using standard poker rules. The best hand at the showdown wins the pot, and if there are two or more hands of the same value, then the pot is split up into equal parts.

No Limit/Pot Limit Texas Hold'em Poker Rules
If No Limit or Pot Limit Hold'em is being played, the game plays in the same way with the following poker rules exceptions:

Bets can be of any size above the amount of the big blind (up to the current pot size in a PL game)

Raises can be of any size above the size of the previous (up to the current pot size in a PL game)

There is no limit to the number of raises permitted.

The table stakes ($0.25/$0.50, $3/$6 etc.) represent the size of the blinds, not bet sizes.