Texas Holdem is one of the most popular variants of poker. As the name suggests, it was invented in Texas (in a small town called Robstown) during the early 1900s. In 1963, Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas started to offer it as a new casino game, and suddenly, Texas Holdem gained huge popularity. In fact, people from all around the world started to gather in Las Vegas every year just to play the game, and this convention started to be known as “World Series of Poker,” which is one of the largest poker organizations in the world today. If you also want to try this game, you can start playing Texas Holdem poker online at GGBet right now. But if you want to learn the rules first, keep reading: we explain everything you need to know below.
The Basics of Texas Holdem Poker
Texas Holdem is a “community” variant of poker, which means players try to create the best possible hand with the cards in their hands and the cards on the table. This is why it is called “community”: the cards on the table can be used by any player. The game can be played by 2 to 10 players, and there is a dealer too. Unlike other card games, the dealer must be one of the players, not a casino employee. Texas Holdem poker consists of several betting rounds, and it is possible to increase the pot (*) during these rounds/ Sometimes, the total pot can reach hundreds of thousands of dollars, especially during the tournaments. The general card hierarchy of poker still applies, and you can still bluff. (However, this is not recommended if you don’t know what you are doing.)
(*) Pot means the total sum of money or chips that players place on the table each betting round.
Let’s Start Playing Texas Holdem Poker
Like all other casino games online, learning how to play Texas Holdem is not hard. This is an easy-to-learn but hard-to-master game. We will explain the process step-by-step:
- Start by selecting the dealer. Every player gets a card and whoever gets the highest card becomes the dealer for that round. After each round, the person sitting on the left of the dealer becomes the next dealer.
- All players must place two kinds of bets before starting the game. These are called “small blind” and “big blind”. Their amounts are predetermined, and placing them is mandatory.
- After the small and big blinds are placed, each player gets 2 cards (face down). These are called “hole cards” or “pocket cards”. This is the start of the betting round 1 (PRE-FLOP). At this point, all players have the following options:
- Call: Match the bet (big blind).
- Fold: End the game and forfeit the current pot.
- Raise: Raise the size of the current bet.
Based on the variant you are playing (i.e., no limit Texas Holdem), there may be additional betting types such as re-raising, but these are your basic options after every betting round.
- After the first round ends, the dealer takes four cards from the pile, discards the top one (this is done to prevent cheating), and deals three cards face up on the table. These are the first community cards, and they represent the start of the second betting round (FLOP). Once again, the players choose one of the options listed above. However, this time they can also use the “Check” option, which simply means taking no betting action.
- After the second round ends, the dealer takes two more cards from the pile, discards the first one, and deals the second one face up on the table. This marks the start of the third betting round (TURN). At this point, there are four community cards on the table.
- After players make their selections, the fourth and the last betting round (RIVER) starts. The dealer deals the last community card face up on the table. Players make their selections, and after all betting actions are completed, the remaining players show their hole cards to determine the winner. This phase is called “showdown,” and it marks the end of the round. Usually, only two players remain in this phase, but this is not a rule. There can be more than two players in the showdown phase.
When the showdown phase ends, and the winner is determined, pick a new dealer and start all over again: Texas Holdem poker is a fun and fast-paced casino game.
