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Texas Holdem is the most popular version of poker on the planet. It’s a community cardboard game, with straightforward rules, where each participant is dealt two cards which can be used in connection with the 5 board cards on the table to hit the highest possible 5 card poker combination. This tutorial describes the general Texas Holdem Poker rules.
Similarly to offline Holdem poker games, in online poker the poker table can have up to 10 players. One of them will have a button in front of their position, a.k.a the dealer button. It indicates that the 2 players playing to the immediate left must post blind bets.
Although this button stems from the custom in offline game, but in online poker game the Dealer’s duty is carried out by a virtual dealer whose duty at the table is to deal cards.
Blind bets. Most hands of Holdem poker begin by some form of mandatory betting. This is to assure that there is activity with every hand. Holdem is played with 2 blinds (before the cards are dealt).
The first two players to the Button’s left side start with placing Small and Big Blinds. The SB is posted by the first and the big blind by the second. The value of the blinds bets is determined by the game’s betting structure. The Big blind is equal to full minimum bet at the table and the SB is equal to half of the BB.
Antes. An ante is another obligatory bet that all players must put in before the hands are dealt. It is typically approximately ten percent of the small bet.
First Round. Pre-Flop. Once the blinds are posted in the pot, the dealer gives out two hidden cards, referred to as pocket cards, to each person in a clockwise motion.
Thereafter the players choose if they would like to make a bet. The person to the left of the BB starts. In the first round the bettors hasn’t choice of checking, however they can do any of the following choices: Fold, Call, Bet or Raise. All persons have to put the same amount in the middle of the table in order to keep playing. So if one opponent raises, the opponents must either call or reraise, or fold (drop out of the hand).
The action in the initial betting ends when all persons have either folded or called the current bet.
Flop. When initial betting round concludes, it is time to move on to the next stage of the game - the Flop. Three of the five common cards are dealt exposed in the center of the table. These are communal cards accessible for use by anyone as part of the best five card poker combination. Now, the 2nd betting round starts with the first active person closest to the button’s left, who has the alternative to bet or check.
All Bets at this stage are of the lower betting limit, which is the same as the big blind (so $6 in the $6/$12 limits). A check is simply declining the opportunity to bet, and can only be done if there have been no bets so far.
Play proceeds to the left around the table until all persons have made the current bet or folded, and then we move to the Turn.
Third Round - The Turn. When betting is completed for the previous round the dealer flips up the fourth common card on the poker table, so all active players get 6 cards to act with. A betting round commences again.
Fourth Round - The River. Once turn round of betting is over, the final board card, referred to as the river, is dealt face-up on the board and the final series of betting starts with the active person left of the button.
This person has the option of folding, calling or raising within the bounds of the limits and stakes structure. Remaining opponents can then check, call, fold or raise (a player has the option of checking in the event that no bet has been made).
The Showdown. After the last series of betting is over, all persons still left in the game at this level reveal their pocket cards in a "showdown" and the player with highest card combination wins the pot.
In the event that you don't like to show your pocket cards you can choose to muck at this phase, which just means to fold the cards.
In order to win the game you must form the highest 5-card hand, which can be made up of your pocket cards and/or any of the communal cards. It is not required to use any of hole cards if you don't want to. This also happens if two or more opponents hold the same denomination combinations, the pot is split up into equal parts.