Texas Holdem: The basic rules of the game

Texas Holdem was born in Texas in the very early 20th century and is considered to be the world’s most popular form of poker. In the 21st century, most traditional live poker tournaments are played in Texas Holdem No Limit, attracting huge crowds. It is a statistic that in the world of virtual gambling, 95% of all online tournaments are contests for high winnings and the title of top Texas Holdem player.

Texas Holdem Basic Rules

Texas Holdem game rules are simple. As a novice poker player, there are two main objectives:

• The first is to conscientiously learn the rules and memorize them;
• The second is to memorize the card combinations by heart.

A pack of cards

You play with a standard card deck (52 cards from deuce to Ace):

• A deuce is the card with the lowest face value;
• Ace – the highest face value card.

But Texas Holdem rules allow one exception: A-2-3-4-5, which is called the lowest straight, makes the Ace a low card.

Table classification

Texas Holdem game tables are classified into four categories:

• Long – collects 9-10 participants at a time;
• Short – for up to 6 people;
• Ultra-short – for up to 4 players;
• Heads-up table – allows 2 poker players (HU) to play.

For mini poker tournaments, tables designed for 3 players are used.

Dealer in Texas Holdem

The Dealer is a poker dealer in a traditional casino (he controls the rules of the game, dealt cards and monitored the course of the hand). In online casinos, the dealer is in the role of the software. If you are playing at home with your friends, the dealer’s job takes turns being the dealer.

What are Blinds

Blinds are the order in which bets are placed by the players who sit to the left of the dealer. A Small Blind is awarded to the player closest to the Dealer, while a Big Blind is awarded to the next player to his left (to the left of the Blind). A 1:2 ratio between the small and the big blind. 

Card combinations

When playing Texas Holdem there are ten combinations a poker player should know by heart:

• flush royal;
• straight flush;
• a square;
• full house;
• flush;
• straight;
• three pair;
• two pairs;
• a pair;
• high card.

Rounds in Texas Holdem

There are a total of four rounds (bidding streets in poker parlance), which make up the pot (the winning amount):

• Preflop – after pocket cards are dealt, players who have good pocket cards in their hands place their bets;
• Flop – this is the stage where three Community Cards are dealt, giving players more information, an opportunity to evaluate the prospect and try to put together a winning hand;
• Turn – a common fourth card is dealt and the remaining players at the table begin another round;
• River – the fifth card (joint) is dealt, at this stage the players know their own strength, try to calculate the value of their opponent’s pockets and pot one last time.

If there are at least two players left at the table, there is a showdown, which determines the winner, who takes the pot. There are three types of Hold’em Poker in terms of betting limits:

• Limit – limits bets and the ability to increase on a single ‘bidding street’, suitable for novice players;
• No Limit – does not limit the number and size of bets, so it is popular among professionals;
• Pot-limit – differs from no-limit in the ability to make bets that do not exceed the size of the pot.

It should be understood that success in Texas Hold’em depends on the player’s constant self-improvement. In order to move forward, one must study the experience of professionals, read professional literature, and improve one’s own skills.