A game of Texas Hold em poker may seem like a complex one from the perspective of a new casino player. Learn about the rules and how to play poker and you’ll realize that it’s easy to play Texas Hold em.
Objectives
In Texas Hold em poker, each player attempts to guess if their hand has a higher value than the others. Players are given two cards while up to five more cards are revealed throughout a game. The value of the player’s hand is the sum of the two cards they have and the other revealed cards. This hand value comes from a combination of certain cards. Two 5s, for example, create a pair, while three 4s and two 5s create a full house.
Player actions
There are four different options available to players during each turn of a round.
- Call – Players can choose to ‘call’ or to match their opponent’s bet if an opponent decides to ‘raise’ their bet.
- Fold – Players can surrender their cards and wait for the next round if the starting hand is weak.
- Raise – Players raise or increase the bet when they’re confident with the hand or when they want other players to bet more.
- Check – Players check during a turn if they don’t wish to raise their bets but still play the round. This happens if none of their opponents performs a ‘Raise’.
Blind bets
At the start of each turn, one of the players bets the big blind amount and another player bets the small blind. Blinds are obligatory where people need to pay it if they want to play the round. Fortunately, blind bets rotate around the table so all players get to pay the big blind. The blind amount increases after a certain number of games.
Round turns
There are five turns in a round of Texas Hold em poker.
- Pre-flop – This is the start of the round where players are given two cards. Players can choose to call the big blind bet made by the assigned one or choose to fold their hand. Players can also choose to raise their bets during this time.
- Flop – The dealer removes the top card of the deck and puts three cards face up in the middle of the table. The flop is when players can get a good grasp on the total value of their hand.
- Turn – Dealer removes another top card from the deck and places the fourth face up card on the table.
- River – Dealer removes top card of the deck and draw the last card. They place the fifth card next to the turn card.
- Showdown – Every player who didn’t fold from the previous turn reveals their hand. Everyone’s hand value is tallied to determine who has the winning cards.
Texas Hold em poker is one of the easiest poker rules to play. This is the reason many online casinos offer several games of poker, especially Texas Hold em.