How Does Texas Holdem Work

1. How Does Texas Holdem Work
2. How Does Kicker Work In Texas Holdem
3. How Does Betting Work In Texas Holdem
4. How Does Texas Holdem Betting Work
5. How Does All In Work In Texas Holdem
6. How Does Texas Holdem Blinds Work

Texas hold ’em is a variation of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as the hole cards or hold cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt face up in three stages. The stages consist of a series of three cards “the flop”, later an additional single card “the turn” or “fourth street” and a final card “the river” or “fifth street”. Each player seeks the best five card poker hand from the combination of the community cards and their own hole cards. If a player’s best five card poker hand consists only of the five community cards and none of the player’s hole cards, it is called “playing the board”. Players have betting options to check, call, raise or fold. Rounds of betting take place before the flop is dealt, and after each subsequent deal.

At the start of the game When playing Texas Holdem poker, every player is dealt two cards face down – these are called your 'hole cards'. Then there is a round of betting where you can Check, Bet or Fold. This stage of the game is known as pre-flop and what you should do is dependent on those hole cards, or starting hand. Cash game Texas holdem is won and lost with a strict consideration of your position at the table. Over the long run you play each position roughly the same number of times and you’ll have the same hands in each position the same number of times if you play long enough. This means you have no excuse to play poor hands out of position. Texas Hold’em Poker Strategy: 5 Rules to Live. Poker strategy is everything.Anyone who says otherwise is kidding themselves. Yet, it’s unbelievable how many poker players ante up for a war of attrition against seasoned poker veterans without any strategy in mind.

Before playing it is important to understand the game and how the cards are used in Texas Holdem from the value of suits and ranks to how they’re used during actual gameplay. In order to understand how the cards work in Texas Holdem, the first step is to be aware of what suits and ranks are.

Texas Holdem (aka Texas Hold 'Em) is the poker game played most often at casinos and home poker games. Becoming a great Holdem player generally takes years of practice and studying, but learning how to play doesn’t take long at all. In this article, I’ll walk you through the Texas Holdem rules. The only tricky part of a tie breaker with four of a kind is when the four falls on the table in a game of Texas Holdem and is therefore shared between two (or more) players. A kicker can be used, however, if the fifth community card is higher than any card held by any player still in the hand, then the hand is considered a tie and the pot is.

The symbols in the corners of a card mark its suit. There are four suits in a standard American deck of cards and these include:

• Clubs – Black symbol that looks similar to a cloverleaf.
• Spades – The black symbol that doesn’t resemble a cloverleaf. Looks like a digging implement.
• Hearts – Red symbol that looks like a heart.
• Diamonds – Red symbols that resemble diamonds.

While the suit places the card into one of four categories, the rank determines its value within that category. The ace can serve as the highest or lowest card in a rank, but the other rankings remain the same. They are (from highest to lowest): King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2.

Hand Rankings in Texas Hold’em

If a game of Texas Hold’em results in a showdown, the winner is determined by comparing the cards of each remaining player. The participant with the strongest hand takes the pot. The following are all the available hands in order from strongest to weakest.

Straight Flush – Five cards of the same suit in sequence. The highest poker hand is the royal flush, which has an ace high followed by a king, queen, jack , and 10 (all of the same suit). Aces can also be used as low cards. In the rare case that multiple players have a straight flush, the winning hand is the one with the highest card. The chance of getting a straight flush during a game of Texas Hold’em is 0.0311%.

Four of a Kind – A hand containing four cards of one rank, as well as one unmatched card. Since Texas Hold’em uses community cards, it’s possible for more than one player to wind up with the same set of four. In this case, the winning hand is the one with the higher unmatched card. The odds of getting four of a kind (also known as “quads”) in a game of seven-card poker are 0.168%.

Full House – Also known as a “full boat,” this hand contains three matching cards of one rank and two matching cards of another rank. The three matching cards are meant to break ties, but the pairs can also be consulted if players have identical three-card sets. The probability of getting a full house in a game of seven-card poker is 2.60%.

Flush – Five cards of the same suit that are not in sequence. In the case of a tie, each card is compared (starting with the highest one) to find the player with the superior hand. A player can expect to get a flush 3.03% of the time when playing Texas Hold’em.

Straight – A five-card hand that’s in sequential order but is made up of at least two different suits. If two players have a straight, the highest card of each hand is compared to determine a winner. The chances of getting a straight during a game are 4.62%.

Three of a Kind – Also known as a “set” or “trips,” this five-card poker hand is comprised of three cards of the same rank, as well as two other unrelated cards. If two players have the same set of trips during the showdown phase, then the higher of the two unrelated cards are compared to determine a winner. Players can expect to achieve this hand 4.83% of the time during games of Texas Hold’em.

Two Pair – This hand is made up of two cards of the same rank, two cards of another matching rank, and another card of a third rank. The highest ranking pair is compared to break ties, and the second pair is consulted if these are the same. In the rare case that both sets of pairs are the same, then the hand with the highest fifth card is declared the winner. The player receives this hand 23.5% of the time.

One Pair – Contains two cards of an identical rank, as well as three other cards of different but non-matching ranks. If two players each have a pair, then the highest pair wins. In the case of a tie, the other cards are compared in descending order. In Texas Hold’em, the chance of getting a pair is 43.8%.

High Card – This hand has no matching ranks, and its value is determined by the highest card present. The probability of ending up with one of these hands is 17.4%, which means players have a better percentage chance of receiving a one or two-pair hand.

Dealing the Cards in Hold’em

If you’re learning about how the cards work in Texas Hold’em, you’ll need to be familiar with the order in which they’re dealt. No matter where you play, the following order will always be adhered to:

How Does Texas Holdem Work

1. The game begins with each player receiving two cards face down (known as hole or pocket cards). The player in the small blind receives the first card dealt, while the player with the dealer button gets the last card.
2. If two or more players remain after the pre-flop betting round, then three community cards known as the “flop” are dealt face-up in the center of the table. Players may use their two hole cards and the community cards to make the best five-card hand possible.
3. After another round of betting, a fourth community card known as the “turn” is dealt.
4. Another round of betting occurs, and a final community card known as the “river” is dealt in the center of the playing surface.
5. No more cards are dealt from this point on. One more round of betting takes place, and a showdown then occurs if two or more players remain in the pot.

How Does Kicker Work In Texas Holdem

Texas Holdem is the most popular variant of poker and the one we recommend beginners start with. Once you have a good understanding of Texas Holdem, other poker variants are quite similar and will be easier to learn.

The object of Texas Hold em poker is to create the best five-card hand using seven available cards. Each player is dealt 2 cards which only they can see and use. There are then 5 cards dealt to the middle of the table which are community cards which everybody can see and use.

How Does Betting Work In Texas Holdem

Dealer Button

Once the game starts an imaginary dealer is assigned. Obviously with online poker the computer does all the dealing automatically but this nominal dealer is important as it indicates who posts the compulsory bets (known as blinds) before each hand and it also indicates who is first to act in each betting round.

The current dealer is indicated by a disc marked with a “D” known as the dealer button. At the end of each hand the dealer button moves along to the next player to the left of the current dealer and continues to move clockwise after each hand is finished.

The Blinds

In Texas Holdem there are two compulsory bets that are made before the start of each hand. These are known as the “Small blind” and the “Big blind” and ensures that there are chips to be won in every hand.

The player to the immediate left of the dealer places the small blind and the player to the left of the small blind posts the big blind.

In No Limit games the size of the blinds is set by the stakes of the table you are at. So for example at a $1 / $2 table the small blind would be $1 and the big blind would be $2.

Before The Flop – First Betting Round

Once the blinds have been posted, two cards are dealt face down to each player at the table, these are known as “hole cards”. Only the individual player can see these cards.

At this point the first betting round begins and each player must make a decision on how to act based on the strength of their hole cards. They have the following options:

1. Fold – Throw the cards away and not play in this hand
2. Call – Call the size of the big blind or highest bet if another player has raised, and take part in the hand
3. Raise – Make a larger bet than the current bet (or big blind). Any other player who wants to continue would then have to call your increased bet in order to carry on. A raise must be at least an increase the size of the Big Blind so the minimum raise would be 2 times the big blind amount. In No Limit there is no maximum to your raise, It can be your whole stack if you wish.

Action always goes clockwise on a table. On the first betting round, the first person to act is the player to the left of the big blind. Each player acts in turn until all the players have acted at the table, and the amount put into the pot by each player remaining in the hand is equal.

The Flop – Second Betting Round

After the first betting round has finished, the dealer places 3 cards face up in the middle of the table – this is known as the “Flop”. The cards in the middle of the table are called “Community Cards” as they are shared by all the players towards making their final hands.

Players can now see 5 cards (2 hole cards + 3 community cards) out of the 7 cards to come and should have good idea of how their hand is developing. At this point the second betting round begins.

In this and all subsequent betting rounds, the action starts with the first player remaining in the hand to the left of the dealer. This player can either:

1. Check – not bet anything
2. Bet – place a bet which the other players must at least call to continue in the hand. The minimum bet is the size of the big blind.

If everyone checks then this betting round ends with no-one betting. As soon as someone bets then the other players can either:

1. Fold – drop out the hand
2. Call – call the bet that has been made
3. Raise – increase the bet that has been made which the other players must then call to continue in the hand.

As in the previous betting round, the plays continues clockwise around the table until all players have called, checked or folded and the amount placed in the pot by each player still in the hand is equal.

The Turn

After the second betting round, the dealer places a 4th community card, face up on the table – this is called the “Turn card”, it is sometimes also referred to as “Fourth Street”.

After the Turn there is a third betting round, which operates in exactly the same way as the previous betting round.

The River

After the third betting round, the dealer places the 5th and final community card face up on the table – this is called the “River card”.

After the River the fourth and final betting round takes place in the same way as the previous round.

How Does Texas Holdem Betting Work

The Showdown

After the final round of betting, each player still left in the hand can use any combination of the 2 hole cards in their hands and the 5 community cards on the table to produce the best 5 card hand.

The player with the highest ranking hand wins the pot. If two or more players have the same value hand then the pot is split between them equally.

If you have not already learnt which hand is better than another then please look at our Poker Hand Ranking Guide.

How Does All In Work In Texas Holdem

Next Hand

How Does Texas Holdem Blinds Work

Once the hand has finished and the pot has been awarded to the winning player, the game moves onto the next hand.

The dealer button moves to the next player on the left of the current dealer, the cards are shuffled, the blinds are posted by the next two players and the cards are dealt again.

Where to Play Texas Holdem?

We recommend 888 Poker for a great place to play Texas Holdem. To find out more about them see our 888 Poker Review or to see alternate rooms to play Texas Holdem then see the Professor's reviews in our Poker Reviews section.