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Texas Holdem
Poker
Learn the rules of Texas Holdem
Poker
Texas Hold 'em - or just Hold 'em, as most players know it - is probably the
best known and most popular form of poker today. The game is commonly
played at a nine- or 10-handed table, but tables can have fewer seats.
Hold 'em is probably the best known and most popular form of poker today.
Each player starts with two hole cards. There are three rounds of community
cards. These are dealt face up, for every player to use, with betting after each
round.
The best 5-card hand using any combination of the five community cards and
two hole cards wins.
Each new hand begins with a small blind, a big blind, and a round of betting.
The betting rules vary depending upon whether the game is Limit, Pot Limit or
No Limit.
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three community cards, or "the flop". There is a round of betting.
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All Hold 'em games include a small blind and big blind. These are forced
bets, and are determined by the position of the button. These bets are
considered live, and every player in the hand must either call the big
blind, raise, or fold. The button moves clockwise around the table, giving
each player a turn being the button, small blind, and big blind.
In Limit Hold 'em, each betting round has a fixed bet. In $5/$10, the small blind
is $2.50, the big blind is $5, and the first two rounds of betting are in
increments of $5. The last two rounds of betting are in increments of $10.
There is a maximum of three reraises per betting round.
In Pot Limit, a player can bet any amount from the minimum bet to the size of
the pot. In a $5/$10 pot-limit game, the small blind is $5 and the big blind is
$10. The first player can call the big blind (in this case, $10), or raise to any
amount up to the size of the pot. A raise must either equal or exceed the
previous bet or raise. In this case, a pot-sized raise would be $25 ($5 small
blind + $10 big blind + $10 call), meaning that, in total, player three can bet
up $35. Supposing player three makes a pot-sized raise, the total pot is now
$50.
If the next player wants into the hand, they must call $35, which is the size of
player three's bet. If they want to raise the maximum, they would bet $120,
which equals the size of the pot ($50) plus a $70 raise ($35 call + $35 raise).
In No Limit, a player can bet any amount from the minimum bet to the
maximum number of chips they have in front of them. As in pot limit, a $5/$10
No Limit game means blinds of $5 and $10.
In Tournament Hold 'em, the blinds will increase after timed intervals. And
while Hold 'em generally does not have antes, in tournaments, the later
rounds will include antes based upon the escalating betting limits.
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