What are the Rules of Texas Hold 'em?

Texas hold 'em the most popular card game variant of poker. In this game, two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt face up in three stages.  The stages have a series of three cards "the flop", later an additional single card "the turn" or "fourth street", and a final card "the river" or "fifth street". Each player can seek the best five-card poker hand from the combination of the seven cards: the five community cards and their two hole cards. In this game, players also have betting options to check, call, raise, or fold. Rounds of betting happen before the flop is being dealt and even after every deal. The player with a beat hand or the one who has not folded by the end of all betting rounds wins all the money bet for the hand which is known as the pot.

The simplicity and popularity of Texas Hold 'em have inspired various strategy books that provide recommendations for a proper game. This game's popularity surged around the 2000s because it's on the TV, Internet, and in popular literature. Around this time, Hold ‘em replaced all other forms of poker as the most common game in the US casinos. The no-limit betting form widely televised the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the World Poker Tour (WPT).

Rules of Texas Hold ‘em

Before you start playing this game, you’ll need to learn the poker Texas Holdem rules. Here, every player is dealt with two cards, known as ‘whole cards’, belonging to the player alone. Apart from the hole cards, every player is also dealing with five community cards, face-up, to form the ‘board’. All the players in the game use these shared community cards in conjunction with their own hole cards to make their best possible five-card poker hand. In Hold ‘em, a player might use any combination of the seven cards available to make a five-card poker hand, using zero, one, or two of their private hole cards. There are four major variations of Hold ‘em which are distinguished from one other by their betting limits:

• Limit Texas Hold ‘em: In this game, there is a predetermined betting limit on every round of betting.

• No-Limit Texas Hold ‘em: Here, a player can bet any amount, and even till all of their chips are over.

• Pot Limit Texas Hold ‘em: In this game, a player can bet any amount, up to the size of the pot.

• Mixed Texas Hold ‘em: This game switches between rounds of Limit Texas Hold ‘em and No-Limit Texas Hold ‘em.

How to Play Texas Hold ‘em

However, if you’ve familiarized yourself with poker rules, then here are a few instructions that can help you play this game:

• The Blinds: In this game, a marker known as ‘the button’ or ‘the dealer button’ indicates who the nominal dealer for the current game is. Before the game begins, the player sitting next from the button posts the “small blind” and forces the first bet.

• Betting Options: In Texas Hold ‘em, along with the other forms of poker, the available actions are ‘fold’, ‘check’, ‘bet’, ‘call’ or ‘raise’.  Which options are exactly available depends on the action taken by the previous players. If no one has made a bet, then the player must either check or bet.

• Pre-Flop: After seeing the hole cards, each player must have the option to play their hand by calling or raising the big blind. The action starts from the left of the big blind which is known as the ‘live’ bet.

• The Flop: Here, three cards are dealt face-up on the board. It is known as ‘the flop’. In Hold 'em, three cards on the flop are community cards which are available to all the players. Betting on the flop starts with the active player who is immediately clockwise from the button.

• The Turn: When the betting action is completed for the flop round, then comes the ‘turn’ which is dealt face-up on the board. It is the fourth community card in Hold 'em.

• The River: When betting action is completed for the turn, the ‘river’ or the ‘Fifth Street’ is dealt face-up on the board. The fifth is the final community card in a Hold ‘em game. Here, the betting starts with the players immediately clockwise from the button.