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 How to play Texas Holdem.
Poker is just a great game to learn but I am biased I love the game. This short article explains the basics of how to play what is in my opinion the ultimate poker game Texas Holdem. Texas Holdem is a fairly easy game to learn. To become a proficient player is another matter entirely there are a lot of aspects to winning at Texas Holdem besides the cards you are dealt, however for now let stick to how the game is basically played you can become the next poker prodigy later.
A Texas Holdem hand begins with two players having to put in a blind. These two would be the two players to the left of the dealer. These two players are forced to put in money. One is the big blind and has to post the full amount the other is the small blind, which is half the amount that the big blind has to post.
Blinds are always agreed upon before a hand starts. If you are playing in a Texas Holdem tournament the blinds go up ever s often. This can be anywhere from every 10 minutes to 20 minutes or longer. Before you play be sure to ask how long the blinds are most tournaments will have a blind structure, which you can look at before getting in the tournament that way you can decide if you want to play. If you are playing for money per hand then the blinds will usually stay the same for example a low level money game may have the blinds at $1 and $2 which means the small blind post the $1 and the big blind posts $2 and this never changes. If you are looking at playing Texas Holdem online then you will see the tables posted with denominations and tournaments will have a buy in off x amount of dollars for so many chips.
After the blinds are posted each player at the table gets dealt two cards face down. After this each player can either decide to call the blind raise the blind or fold the cards and not commit any money in to the pot.
The player on the left of the Big Blind is first to act. The blinds are just like bets so the player on the left of the big blind has to call the blind or raise it, this continues all the way around the table clockwise until each player has called the blind raised or folded.
Once the pre flop betting is done the dealer will take one card face down of the top of the deck and discard it then turn up the next three cards. These three cards are called the flop.
After the flop is dealt in Texas Holdem another round of betting commences just like before. The players have 4 choices to check which means you are not betting and it goes to the next player to bet, or make a raise, once there is a raise you must either then decide to call the raise, re raise the raise or fold. If no one bets you can check all the way around. After this the dealer will burn another card face down and take the next card and flip it up this is called the turn. Now the same cycle repeats itself and one more card is burned and the last card, which is called the river, is turned up. Now the final round of betting commences. If no one bets everyone will flip there cards up and the highest hand wins. The highest hand consists of your hole cards and the 5 community cards on the table. If someone bets and another player calls the bet the person that made the original bet must show his or her cards. The person that called the bet has the option to either show their cards if it is the winning hand or they can muck it, which means you, fold and no one sees the cards.
Texas Holdem. Holdem has become the most widely played type of poker today. Since the emergence of the WSOP or World Series of Poker the game of Texas Holdem has grown in popularity. More Texas Holdem home games whether they be cash or tournament style games are being played more the never. So get in on the newest world wide craze and learn how to play Texas Holdem.
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