How To Play Texas Hold’em Poker?

by Ritwik Sharman Professional Poker Player

Many games have become popular since their introduction like housie, blackjack, Ludo, carrom, snooker, etc. They are played and loved by many people. Families can also play these games to have some enjoyment. After a stressful day at work, every person deserves to get some rest. And games are the best recreational activity to involve.

Technology has changed the whole routine of life. Right from manual labour to automated tasks, it has impacted our lives significantly. Many games are played online these days, including different variants of poker such as Texas Hold’em poker. It consists of two cards (also known as ‘hole cards’) that are dealt face down to each player and five community cards face up by the card dealer. The community cards consist of three flops, one turn and one river. All the players get the option to contribute, check, raise, or fold after each deal. The pattern of contribution may differ – before the flop, on the flop, on the turn, or the river.

The Texas Hold’em poker rules are as follows:

It is a card game played between two to 10 players
One of the players acts as the dealer. The position is called the button and rotates clockwise after every hand.
Two players placed left of the dealer are called the small blind and big blind, respectively
These two positions require predetermined contributions before dealing the cards to other players
Every player receives two-hole cards face down
The first round begins from the player sitting to the left of the big blind who can call, fold, or raise
The same round continues with the others following suit
After the first round, three community cards are flipped face-up on the table, called the flop
The speculation continues with players having an additional option to choose
After the second round ends, a fourth community card called the turn gets flipped on the table
The third round begins with the first player to the left of the button
After the round ends, a fifth community card is flipped face-up called the river
The fourth round of speculation starts with the first remaining player seated to the left of the button. The round continues to move clockwise.

The poker Texas rules do not end there. A Showdown is necessary, where if one player contributes and the rest fold, that person is awarded the pot without showing the hole cards. When there are two or more players left after the final round, each player plays the best poker hand they can make from the seven cards comprising two-hole cards and the five community cards. A player may use both, only one, none of the hole cards, to form the final five-card hand.

The hand rankings decide the probability of winning for the player. The one with the highest hand wins.