Texas Holdem Basics For All
By Thirty Something | November 10, 2008
The foundation of Texas hold' em begins with each player getting two cards, face down. The player that sits in the small blind receives the first card. The dealer gets the last card.
The cards that each player gets down are what are called the hole cards. These are the only cards that the player will get that he doesn't have to use as community cards. These cards will not be shown until the show down.
These cards are dealt at the end of play. This game starts with the pre flop, beginning with the player directly to the left of the dealer. Play then continues clockwise.
Play progresses until one of three things happen. The result could be that all players have folded, surrendered all their chips or a player goes all in. When there are two players remaining after the pre-flop round, the dealer deals three community cards face up.
Then there is an additional round. A single card called the fourth street card or the tower card is played after the flop. Another round is then played.
This is followed by another betting round. Another community card is laid. It is called either the river card or the fifth street card.
Next, another betting round is played. Then, if needed, the showdown will occur. Traditionally, if you play this game in a casino, don't be surprised if the dealer burns a card before the flop.
This is done so that other players can't see the bottom card. In the event that a player does bet and the other player has the best hand, he does not have to reveal his hand. If two or more players remain post last bet then the remaining players will face what is called a showdown.
If a player bets and everyone else folds, then the last player wins the pot and does not have to show his hole cards. If there are a minimum of two or more players remaining after the final bet then there will be a showdown. Now each player will be playing from seven cards, the two in the hole and the five community cards.
Each player plays the best five-card poker hand possible from the seven cards. If the player uses just the community cards and not his hole cards then it is said that he is playing the board. The best result that can come from this is a spilt pot with those that stayed in.
Sometimes the round ends in a split by more than one player. Then the pot is split equally among them. Any extra chips belong to the first player following the button in clockwise rotation.
Topics: Gaming |
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