Gain mastery in Texas Hold’em Poker game with this quick guide

1. Gain mastery in Texas Hold’em Poker game with this quick guide Mastering the art of Texas Hold’em Poker is easy, if you get the gist of it. A popular phrase used for Texas Hold’emPoker is “it takes a moment to learn, but a lifetime to master.” So here’s a quick guide on the rules of widely-popular community card game “Texas Holdem Poker” that you can refer in-between any Texas holdem tournament and ultimately, master this game. Before we move ahead with the holdem poker rules, take a quick look at the below terms, you’ll encounter while playing: Blinds: These are compulsory bets put by players on the left of the dealer. There are two types of blinds: small blind and big blind. Buy-in: The smallest amount of money required to join any poker game. Button: The person with the dealer button is nicknamed as Button. Dealer button: It is typically a white plastic disc with word “Dealer” on both sides. Small blind: It is placed by the player next to the left of the dealer button. Big blind: It is placed by the person next to the left of the person who placed the small blind. Call: Match the current amount of bet made by the previous player in betting round. Raise: Increase the size of an existing bet in the same betting round.

2. Fold: Throwing the cards away into the muck or pot. Check: It is when no money is bet and the person who placed the big blind can check, in case of no raise in pre-flop round of a Poker tournament. Flop: The primary three community cards are dealt in this round. Pre-flop: An action of betting that occurs before the three community cards are dealt. All-In: A player puts all of his leftover chips into the pot. Turn: The fourth community card is dealt in the Turn Round (fourth street) in a Texashold’em tournament. River: The final community card is dealt in this round, called the river round (fifth street). Muck: It is the pile of cards that are discarded after every betting round or where the players throw-in their folded cards. Showdown: When players reveal their hands to decide the winner of the Poker tournament. Texas Holdem Poker is a rich sport where players play the “game of the mind”. This game has risen to fame since its inception in the early 20th century. As the name suggests, this game has its origin in Texas. A typical Texas hold’em poker game is not as simple as it looks. Only those with a strong understanding of its rules, have been able to master it till now. The rules to play poker and game play are same. However, the end result differs in context of Texas hold’em cash game and Texas holdem tournament. The purpose of a Texas hold’em game is to enable the players to earn as many chips by putting forward the best hand or making all the other players fold their cards before showdown. A Texas holdem poker game is all about setup, betting actions and showdown. Setup of Texas Holdem Poker Once all the players are present, the first step is to pick the dealer that rotates to the left after every hand is completed. The player with the highest value card becomes the dealer. The game proceeds with calling out the blinds. The two blinds are placed, which define the stakes of the poker gamebeing played. Once the blinds are set, it’s time to decide the type of chips to be distributed among the players. A player is generally offered with 10% of the total chips (in smallest denomination). All the bettings are mostly with chips larger than that of the small blind. Betting rules of Hold’em Poker Now it’s time to make the first deal wherein the button deals to left and follows a clock-wise rotation (one card at a time). This goes on till each player possesses two cards – called the hole cards. Typically, there are one to four betting rounds in this game. If two players have the highest hand then the pot is divided equally.

3. Below are a few betting rules that are considered during the four rounds of holdem game: the pre-flop round, flop round, turn round and the final river round. Betting Rules at the Pre-Flop Round Once all the players have their hole cards, the pre-flop round begins. An action is taken by every player after having a look at their cards. The first bet is put by the player next to the big blind. At this point, the player making the bet can take any of the three actions: Call, Raise and Fold. Once the player takes an action, the rest of the players come into the picture and perform any of the same set of actions. This betting round comes to an end when the below conditions occur: 1. All players have got a chance to perform an action. 2. All players have put in the same amount of money. Betting rules at the Flop Round Once the pre-flop round finishes, the top card in the deck is dealt followed by three cards (face-up) at the center of the table. Next, the player on the left of the player with the dealer button is supposed to take the action. In this case, the player can check or bet as no betting has been done. The first bet in this round equals to the amount of the big blind. Betting rules at the Turn Round In this round, the dealer deals a single card (face-up) and the betting round commences. This betting round differs from the flop round as the size of the small blind is doubled. Betting rules at the River Round This is the final betting round in a Texas hold’em tournament and is similar to that of the turn round. SHOWDOWN – the end of the Poker game Once all the betting rounds come to a closure, the players enter the SHOWDOWN phase. The best hand wins the game. At this stage, the below rules shall be considered. 1. The player who made a bet in the river round is, by default, the first one to reveal their cards. In case of no bet taken in the turn round, the person nearest to the dealer opens their hand. 2. If a player has a losing hand then he has an option to either reveal his hands or throw his hands into the muck. Rules of Hands in a Texas Holdem Poker game In this game, a player makes the best hand by combining one, two or both hole cards with the five community cards. 1. Poker Hand Rankings: oROYAL FLUSH: Cards straight from a ten to an ace with all five cards of the same suit. All suits have an equal rank.

4. oSTRAIGHT FLUSH: Any straight with all five cards of the same suit. oFOUR OF A KIND: Any four cards of the same rank. oFULL HOUSE: Any three cards of the same rank together with any two cards of the same rank. oFLUSH: Any five non-consecutive cards of the same suit. oSTRAIGHT: Any five consecutive cards of different suits. oTHREE OF A KIND: Any three cards of the same rank. oTWO PAIR: A set of two cards of the same rank together with another set of two cards of the same rank. oONE PAIR: Any two cards of the same rank. oHIGH CARD: When none of the player gets any of the above hands then the player with the highest value card wins. In this case, a high card follows high to low sequence i.e. Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10 and so on. 2. No other hands should be used other to play poker than the ones mentioned above. 3. Poker hands must be five cards and the winning hand is decided on the basis of these five cards only. 4. Suits cannot be considered to evaluate the power of the hand. Simply put, the rules of Texas Hold’em game are easy to grasp but can be mastered only with time. Source View : http://poker-online-sites-in-india.bravesites.com/entries/general/a-quick-rule-guide-of- texas-hold-em-poker