The image of poker has changed rapidly through the years. It is no longer an exclusive game of tough cowboys or sneaky sharks. Nowadays, it seems like everyone is playing poker. Celebrities prefer the poker table to the red carpet and million of amateurs of all ages and genders from around the world are playing poker online.

Nowadays, poker is so popular that not knowing the basics of poker is almost the same as not knowing which Beatle is still alive. Of all the poker variations, Texas Holdem is the most popular one. Here you can find introduction to the basic of Texas Holdem poker including the game rules and terminology.

Texas Holdem is a community card poker game, in which all the players can share the face up cards dealt to the middle of the table. The object of Texas Holdem poker and any other poker variant is to win the pot by forming the highest possible poker hand according to the hand ranking detailed below. In Texas Holdem poker, each player has to form a five card poker hand of seven dealt cards: two private face down cards known as hole cards and five community cards.

Texas Holdem poker is played with a standard 52 card deck. Formally, up to 22 players can take part in a game, but you will not find a Holdem game with more than 10 players.

There are three betting structures: fixed limit, no limit and pot limit.

In fixed limit games, the maximum you can bet or raise in each betting round is fixed in advance.

In pot limit, the maximum amount of money you can either bet or raise is limited to the amount of money available at the pot during the betting round.

In no limit, the maximum you can bet or raise is the amount of chips available on your table. In other words, it is not limited.

Here we will refer to fixed limit Texas Holdem games.

How to Play Texas Holdem Poker

Prior to the dealing, the two players who are positioned at the dealers left put out blind bets. These are called blind bets, because they are put out before the players have seen their cards. The player to the dealers immediate left puts out the small blind, which is usually half the amount of the minimum bet and the players to his left puts out the big blind, which is the amount of the minimum bet. Then, the action begins.

The play begins with the dealer deals each of the players two face down cards. Afterwards, the betting round begins with player to the left of the player who put out the big blind and continues clockwise. Each player has to choose whether to call, raise of fold.

If he calls, he has to add the amount of the minimum bet to the pot.

If he raises, he has to double to the amount of the maximum bet.

If he folds, he has to forfeit his hand

The first betting round is followed by the flop, in which the dealer deals the three community cards and places them face up in the center of the table. Then, another betting round occurs, which is followed by the turn. In the turn, the dealer deals the fourth community card. In the betting round that follows the turn, the bet has to be the amount of the maximum table limit.

The dealing of the fifth and final community card is called the river and it is followed by a final betting round, which is followed by the showdown. In the showdown, each of the remaining players is exposing his five card poker hand formed by the two hole cards and the five community cards. The player who holds the highest hand, wins the pot.

Here are is a list of poker hands ranked from the highest to the lowest:

Royal Flush: A, K, Q, J, 10 of the same suit

Straight Flush: five cards in sequence of the same suit

Four of a Kind: four cards of the same value

Full House: three of a kind and a pair

Flush: five cards of the same suit

Straight: five cards in sequence of different suits

Three of a Kind: see: Four of a Kind

Two Pair: two pairs

Pair: one pair

As you can see, learning how to play Texas Holdem poker is not very complicated. However, there is a long way between knowing how to play poker and knowing how to win in poker. Learning how to win in Texas Holdem poker, or any other poker variation, is an art that requires much more attention and practice. In the meantime, you can at least understand what everyone is talking about when they are talking about no limit Holdem.