Learn some basic skills for playing Texas Holdem.

Thanks to network television and the internet, Texas Hold’em has become the most popular poker game in America. Played in casinos, poker rooms, home games, and the internet all over the world, Texas Hold’em offers excitement and challenge for the skilled player.

For those new to poker games, the thought of playing “live” poker with little or no experience can be daunting. Fear not, with this guide you’ll be armed with enough knowledge to take on the best (or worse) players in any game. First, you should decide which game to play in; limit or no limit.

No limit Texas Hold’em is the variation most commonly found in tournaments, like those featured on television. Like limit hold’em, the pot is initially built by bets “in the blind”. There is no limit to the amount a player can raise, and at any time a player can go “all in”, risking all their available chips on one pot. No limit Hold’em stakes are often very large, and require a substantially larger bankroll. It is the choice for more advanced players; those new to the game should avoid this variation until they have more experience.

Limit Texas Hold’em has three betting levels-low, mid, and high. Low limit is typically any betting structure under $20; it is the preferred game for newcomers, and the $3-$6 betting structure (known as 3-6) is used in this guide. Mid limit is usually a betting range of $20-$40, and high limit would cover anything above that. Betting in Limit Texas Hold’em is done in increments. The most common is the 3-6, which means all bets and raises must be done in $3 increments before and after the flop, and in $6 increments for the last two rounds of play (after the turn and river cards.)

Example of how the game is played: You need at least two people, other than the dealer, to play Texas Hold’em. In this example, we will use 5 players. The players are listed by their seat number. The player to the immediate left of the dealer is referred to as “seat 1” or “player1”. To his left is “player 2”, and to his left is “player3”, etc., until you reach the last seat to the immediate right of the dealer.
In Texas Hold’em, the highest hand wins. The only time a hand is split is when two of the players remaining have the same hand. There are no wild cards. Players make the best five-card hand possible out of the seven cards available; the two pocket cards dealt to the player and the five community cards dealt by the dealer.
First, the dealer will place a round button, usually marked “Dealer”, in front of the person he is dealing for, because players do not actually deal the cards in a poker game.

Next, the pot is generated by two players that place bets “in the blind.” This means that they are betting on this round before they get to see their pocket cards. Blind bets are required of the first two players to the immediate left of the dealer button. The first player to the left of the dealer button places the Small blind, which is one-half of the small bet (In a 3-6 game, it would be $1.50, but some casinos round it down to $1). The person to his left places the Big Blind, which is one full small bet ($3, in a 3-6 game).
After the hand is completed, the dealer moves the button clockwise one seat to the left, enabling each player an equal chance to play in all positions, and ensuring that no one player is stuck “in the blind”, or forced to bet every hand.
The Dealer deals two cards face down to all the players, starting with the player in the small blind. The two cards are called Pocket cards. The first player to bet is the player to the immediate left of the big blind. He must decide whether to play the hand, or fold, “mucking his hand” by tossing the cards in the middle of the table and wagering nothing. If he chooses to play his hand, he must place a $3 bet in front of him to call the bet, or he may raise it to $6. After he acts, the player to his left acts, calling, raising, or folding, and so on, until all the players have acted in turn.

If there has been no raise by the time betting action gets back to the small blind player, he may either call the bet by adding another $2 to the pot, raise the bet to $6 by adding another $5 to the pot, or fold by forfeiting the $1 he already has in the pot.
If there has been no raise by the time betting action gets back to the big blind player, the big blind has the “option” to raise. Decline this option when you are new to the game unless you are holding a pair of aces, kings, ace/king suited, or queens.
Otherwise, you may find yourself in a betting war with a mediocre hand, as players with good starting hands tend to re-raise to the maximum allowed in an effort to eliminate weaker hands from the pot. Never fold in this position. If there’s been no raises until betting gets back to you in the big blind, simply “check” your bet. Since your bet is already in the pot, play the hand like it is and get to see more cards without risking more money.
The dealer “burns” or discards the top card, then deals three cards face-up in the middle of the table, called the “flop”. All players can use any or all of these face-up cards to make their five-card hand.
After the flop, a round of betting action takes place, starting with the first player to the left of the button still in the hand. The first player to act has the option of checking, betting or folding. Folding in first position rarely happens, since no one has yet made a bet to force him out of a bad hand. All other players will bet or check in turn until the betting round ends. Once a player bets, all other players must either call the bet, raise it, or fold.
After the betting round, the dealer burns the top card and deals one card face-up next to the flop cards. This fourth card is called the “turn” card, or fourth street. With this round of betting, the increments increase($6), after which, the dealer burns the top card again and deals one final card face-up next to the others. This final card is called the “river”, or fifth street. A final round of betting occurs, after which all players still in the hand turn over their cards and the highest hand takes the pot. In the case of a tie, the dealer will divide the chips into equal stacks and hand the winners their share.