Texas Holdem has remained the most played poker game across the world and it doesn’t look like any other poker game is going to compete in numbers with Holdem for years to come. Whether you’re looking to learn how to play Holdem so you can play online or in the casino you’ll be able to play this game by the time you’re done reading this guide. Holdem is played with 2-10 players on a table and one full deck of cards without any jokers or wild cards.
Forced Bets
Before the cards are dealt out to the players the two players left of the dealer button need to put out forced bets known as the big blind and the small blind. The dealer button moves one spot clockwise every hand so that everyone needs to pay the blinds evenly throughout a session.
Pre-Flop
Once the two blinds are in the Poker Stars pot the dealer will deal out two cards to each player one at a time face down. After the cards have been dealt the player to the left of the big blind will need to act first and can call, raise or fold there hand. After every player has decided whether to call, raise or fold the dealer will move on with the hand.
Flop
The first three community cards are known as the flop and anyone can use these cards to make there hand better. Once the flop is out there is another round of betting with the players left in the pot. Everyone will have the chance to call, raise or fold and once everyone is done betting then the dealer will move on to the turn.
Turn
The turn is the fourth community card and again anyone will be able to use this card to make there hand better. The players left in the pot will go through another round of betting at this point in the hand and once it’s complete the dealer will show the river card.
River
The river is the fifth and final community card that the dealer will flip over for everyone to use. There is one last round of betting that takes place after the river as well and once everyone has either called the bets or folded the hand will go to a showdown. If there is more then one player left in the hand after the last round of betting then the players left in the pot will flip there cards over. This is known as the showdown and the goal is to see who won the pot.
In Holdem you need to make the best five card hand using any seven of the cards available to you including the PokerStars.com five community cards and the two cards dealt to you at the beginning of the hand. If the pot is tied at this point then the players who have tied will need to split the pot up evenly. When dealing with trips, two pairs and pairs the high card in the hand comes into play so if you have for example an A/K and your opponent has an A/J and the board is A-9-8-3-10 then the player with the A/K would win the hand.