Texas Hold'em Poker is the most popular poker game in the world. In order to learn how to play by the Texas Hold'em poker rules, you need, first of all, to learn the Hold'em poker rules. These include: learning the goal of the poker game, the different roles, the betting rounds and the various bets.
Object of the game - According to Texas Hold'em poker rules, the winner of the game is the player with the best poker hand at the showdown. The final poker hand is created from two cards, that the player holds, and five community cards that all the players on the poker table share. With these cards, every player needs to form his best five card hand.
Placing the first bet - Texas Hold'em poker rules state, that before any cards are even dealt, two bets are made, one by the small blind bet and the other called the big blind bets. These bets are made by the two players, before they see any cards.
The Small blind sits left to the dealer and places a bet in the sum of the game's limit.
The big blind sits left of the small blind and places a bet, which is double what the small blind put.
The roles of the dealer and the blinds are switched to other players every time a Texas Hold'em poker game ends and another one begins.
Dealing the first two cards - After placing the blind bets, two cards, called hole cards, are given, face down, to each player. Texas Hold'em poker rules ascertain, that the players can only view their own cards. The first player to play is the one left of the big blind. This is one of the Texas Hold'em poker rules, that is set differently to other poker game such as five card draw. The first player to play can either calls the blind bet, raise it or fold. He can't check because an initial blind bet was made. After the players have all gotten their turn, the blinds also get to chance to call, raise or fold.
The flop - Three cards are now put, face up, on the table. These cards are called the flop, and are shared by all the Texas Hold'em poker players, meaning they are community cards. As in following bets, the player to the left of the dealer is the first to bet, and the bets are then made in a clockwise rotation.
The turn - This round is also called the forth street of Texas Hold'em poker, and it occurs after a forth community card is dealt, face up, on the poker table. Another betting round occurs.
The river - This round is also called the fifth street of Texas Hold'em poker , and in it another betting round is handled around the table.
The showdown - This is the final stage of poker you'll need to learn, in order to understand Texas Hold'em poker rules. Here all the players reveal their hands, and the winner is decided upon according to the poker hand ranking.
Tim Collins, Editor . September 26, 2005.