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With its very special set of rules, Texas Hold'em is by far the most popular of all the Poker games being played today. Texas Hold’em is a Seven-Card Stud Poker: Each player is dealt two cards face down, called ‘pocket cards,' while five community cards are dealt by the dealer, or the croupier, face up and are placed in front of the dealer. Yet Texas Hold’em is unique not only in terms of the number of cards used in each hand. Another distinctive feature has to do with the betting structure (for example, in this variation of Poker blind bets are made). Online Texas Hold’em enjoys particular popularity and is a must-have feature for every Internet casino or online Poker room.
Texas Holdem: history
While according to some sources Poker has a five-hundred-year history, Texas Hold’em is relatively a baby, since it emerged only in the beginning of the 20th century. Texas is considered the historic homeland of the game, and that’s where the name for this type of Poker comes from. However, it was due to its appearance in Las Vegas, the US gambling capital, in the mid-1960s that the game spread worldwide. Originally imported to Las Vegas by Texas gamblers, in 1969 this game was officially admitted to American casinos, and just a year later it was included in the World Series of Poker, a renowned international Poker tournament. By the early 1980s Texas Hold’em conquered European casinos and since then has been recognized as the King of Poker and Poker’s most popular variety.
Texas Hold'em: general principles
The objective of Texas Hold'em is similar to that in any other Poker game: Players make bets and build winning combinations in their hands, looking to collect the pot. A player can win a hand by either making other opponents fold their hands during any of the four rounds of betting, or by showing the best combination after all rounds of action are concluded.
The game begins with putting a small amount of money into the pot. This amount, or a forced contribution, is called an ’ante.’ It's not considerable indeed and almost never exceeds one fifth of the regular bets to be made. Sometimes, however, no preliminary contributions are required in the Texas Hold'em game.
Another important feature of Texas Hold'em is blind bets, or ‘blinds.’ Once the preliminary contributions have been made, the two players sitting next to the dealer (or a player dealing the cards) are placing blinds: 50% of the minimum bet for the first player, known as the ‘small blind,’ and the minimum bet in full for the next one, known as the big blind.
Betting in Texas Hold'em also differs from betting in other Poker games and consists of several rounds. After the blinds have been placed, the dealer deals two cards to each player face down, and the first round of betting, called the ‘preflop,’ starts. On the preflop the players make bets based on the value of their own hand only since they have not seen the flop cards yet.
On the second round (the ‘flop’), the dealer deals three cards face up, and the second round of betting begins.
On the third round the dealer deals the fourth card, known as the ‘turn,’ and the betting resumes.
In limit Texas Hold’em Poker when the turn is dealt, the betting limit is doubled. Every so often the turn round becomes the turning point of the game. Once the bets are doubled, the game becomes more aggressive, and less risky players or the ones with weaker card combinations, fold their hands. After the betting is over, the dealer deals the fifth community card face up, the ‘river,’ and the final betting round begins.
In addition to the two private, or pocket, cards, each player may use the five community cards. The objective remains the same: to build the strongest five-card combination possible. It’s important to realize that to build a hand, players do not have to use their pocket cards at all or they may use only one of them.
The ranking of Poker hands in Texas Hold’em is traditional and goes like this (in the descending order): royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair and high card./p>
Texas Hold'em: rules
All major rules of other Poker games – including the order of winning hands – apply to Texas Hold’em. Nonetheless, this variation of Poker has a number of its own, unique rules.
Betting Limits: Texas Hold’em may have a limit or no-limit structure. In no-limit Texas Hold’em, the amount of the bet is limited only by the value of the stack, and any player may go all-in in any round, when it is his or her turn to bet. In yet another variation of Texas Hold’em – Pot Limit Hold’em – the maximum amount of the bet is limited by the total amount of money that is already in the pot.
Rules of Betting: on any betting round, whether it is preflop, flop, turn, or river, players may take the following actions:
- Fold: to throw their hand away
- Bet: to make a bet
- Check: to pass their turn to bet (only allowed if no bet has been made in this round by any participating player).
- Call: to match the bet another player has made
- Raise: to increase the bet
Blinds Rules: once the first cards are dealt, the two players sitting next to the dealer contribute to the initial pot by making mandatory blind bets, the ‘small blind’ and the ‘big blind,’ respectively. In subsequent hands the dealer position rotates clockwise so that the player who placed the big blind in the previous hand, places the small blind in the second one, and the big blind is placed by the player to his or her immediate left. The amount of the small blind may not exceed half of the amount of the big blind.
