How to Play Texas Hold'em
Texas Hold'em can be played with 2 to 10 players at a table. Each player is dealt only 2 cards often referred to as the hole cards. Five additional cards are eventually dealt face up in the center of the table. These cards are called community cards because they are shared by all the players that decide to stay in the hand after the 1st round of betting occurs. After the first round of betting occurs, the dealer deals 3 cards face up to the center of the table. These 3 face up cards is known as the flop. The remaining players all share these cards as they try and improve their hands by making combinations.
Another round of betting occurs after the flop. All remaining players after the betting then await the fourth face up dealt card. This deal is known as the turn. Another round of betting occurs and then the final fifth card is dealt, known as the flop. This is when the final betting occurs and the player who ends up with the best card combination or who causes all other players to fold their hands by his betting wins the hand. In larger tournaments like the world series of poker, there can be 100's of tables all playing to make it to the final table. The winner of the tourney in the end ends up with all the chips and the 1st place finish.
Texas Hold'em can be played as a limit, no-limit and a pot-limit game. Limit Hold'em games have an arranged amount that may be used for raising the bet. In No Limit Hold'em the bets are unlimited and the players are free to bet any amount in their disposition. In Pot Limit Hold'em players cannot bet more than there is already in the pot.
Texas Hold'em is more of a strategy game than gambling. In most cases the strategy, the way of playing the cards matters more than the cards do. There are ten stages in a Texas Hold'em hand. The betting of the small and big blinds, the deal of the two face down cards to each player, round of betting, the flop, round of betting, the turn, round of betting, the river, final round of betting, and the winning of the pot.
Hands do not necessarily have to end in a showdown. If at any point all players but one decide to fold, the last person having his two cards still in wins the game. In some cases the player does not need to bet in order to stay in the game. If a person goes all-in in one of the betting rounds with at least one round yet to come, they stay in the game, although they cannot submit any additional bets. If the funds of the other remaining players allow them to make the bets and the players are willing to bet the game and the bets continue as usual. However at this point a second pot begins to hold all additional bets in excess of the ones made by the now all in player. The all in player can only win the original pot.
In Texas Hold'em poker there are small blind and big blind bets made by two players before the dealing of the cards. The rate of the blinds is determined before the game and constantly increase in Texas Hold'em tournaments. The small blind is posted by the player to the left of the person with the dealer button. The button might indicate the player actually dealing the cards, or just the one sitting on the right to the small blind in a casino with a dealer. The dealer button is always passed clockwise after every hand. The player on the left to the small blind posts the big blind. The small blind is always a half of a big blind. The big blind indicates the smallest possible bet by any player who wants to stay in the game. This means that everyone at the table has either bet the amount of the big blind if they want to continue playing, raise the bet or fold. Every player is always free to fold their hand, however with no chance of receiving their funds already submitted to the pot.
The Top 20 Starting Hands in Poker
1-AA- Wins 31% of the time 11-AK- Wins 16.67% of the time
2-KK- Wins 26.02% of the time 12-ATspade- Wins 16.63% of the time
3-QQ- Wins 22.03% of the time 13-QJspade- Wins 16.58% of the time
4-AKspade- Wins 20.19% of the time 14-KTspade- Wins 16.14% of the time
5-JJ- Wins 19.09% of the time 15-QTspade- Wins 15.84% of the time
6-AQspade- Wins 18.66% of the time 16-JTspade- Wins 15.78% of the time
7-KQspade- Wins 18.08% of the time 17-99- Wins 15.29% of the time
8-AJspade- Wins 17.47% of the time 18-AQ- Wins 14.87% of the time
9-KJspade- Wins 17.05% of the time 19-A9spade- Wins 14.60% of the time
10-TT- Wins 16.83% of the time 20- KQ- Wins 14.43% of the time
Best Possible Hands You Can Make in Poker
Texas Hold'em Strategy
There are various strategies of play in Texas Hold'em. The most common style of play is labeled tight but aggressive where one only plays a small number of hands but bets and raises a lot when in the hand. Some players choose instead to play a lot of hands and bluff a lot, or try and make a lot of hands by playing many of them.A player's position at the table is considered of high importance. The later a player has to act on a hand the better because it gives them a chance to see the moves of all the other players at the table. This gives that person more information on the other players at the table. For example if there has already been a raise and two re-raises if their hand is just a little strong it may be best just to fold and stay out of that hand without putting any chips at risk. Many players in early positions choose to fold sub par or semi strong hands because of the disadvantage of being in an early playing position.
Another strategic importance of the game is the relationship between the pot odds and the odds of winning. In order to expect a positive outcome of the game the player's odds of winning have to be higher than their pot odds. To observe the odds of winning, players usually use the poker odds calculator, whereas the pot odds are determined depending on the ratio between the size of the pot and the size of the bet required to stay in the game. Google Play free poker odds calculator app
Bluffing also plays an important role in poker strategy. A player can be bluffing in two different ways. They may have a very strong hand and bet as if they do not so as to lure more money into the pot. This lures other players into believing they have a stronger winning hand and more betting. On the other hand others bluff by betting as if their hand is the strongest one when in fact their hand is very mediocre. Hoping by such strong betting they can convince the other player(s) that they do indeed have the strongest hand and cause them to fold.
Before one decides to play real money poker, it would be wise to take some time playing on the play money sites that can be found online. Here are some of the most popular play money sites:
