Texas Hold’em Poker is one of the most widely-played variants of the popular poker game. Texas Hold’em, or holdem as it is commonly referred to, grew popular primarily due to its simplicity in terms of rules, gameplay, and hand-ranking. Nevertheless, the game can get quite complex at high levels due to the high number of possible combinations.
When playing Texas Hold’em poker, the goal of the game is to make the best possible poker hand of five cards by combining your hole cards with community cards.
When the game starts, each player is dealt two cards facing down, these are called the “hole cards”. The dealer spreads five cards on the table, three at once, followed by one then another. These are “community cards” that players can use to make their best possible poker hand.
Players take turn to bet before and after each card is revealed. At each round, players can check, bet, or fold. The player with the best poker hand wins at the end of each game.
If you enjoy casino card games, you can also check out our tips and strategies for Blackjack Online Game.
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How to play Texas Hold’em poker
Tips and Tricks for Texas hold’em
Game features
- Texas Hold’em uses the standard 52 card pack
- The goal is to make the best 5-card poker hand
- The table typically has 2 to 10 players
- Each player is dealt 2 cards at the beginning of the game
- There are five community cards to be used by all players to make their 5-card hand
- Any combination of the 7 cards available can be used to make a poker hand
- Each game’s dealer is indicated by a marker called the dealer button
- There are Limit, Pot Limit, and No Limit versions of Texas holdem
- Players bet in turns following clockwise direction round the table
- Player actions include ‘fold’, ‘check’, ‘bet’, ‘call’ or ‘raise’.
- The player with the best 5-card poker hand wins the pot
How it works
Here is a summary of the steps followed when playing Texas holdem poker:
The pre-flop
This is the first betting round. Once every player has been dealt 2 hole cards face down, the player to the left of the big blind has to act first. They have 3 options:
- Call – bet the same amount as the big blind
- Raise – increase the bet within the specified limits of the game
- Fold – abandon the hand
If a player decides to fold, they are out of the game and cannot win the current pot.
After the first player acts, the game moves in a clockwise direction and each player gets a chance to act on the 3 options.
The pre-flop round ends after the last bet is called and the action is closed. The game moves to the next round called the flop.
The Flop
This is the second betting round. The first 3 community cards are dealt on the table and players who are still in the game proceed with the second round of betting.
Starting from this round going forward, players can take the extra action to “check” in addition to bet, call, raise or fold. A check simply involves passing the action to the next player in line.
The betting continues until each player has had their turn and then this betting round comes to an end.
The Turn
This is the third betting round. At this stage, the fourth community card, called the ‘Turn’, is dealt facing up. This marks another round of betting similar to the previous round.
Players have the option to check, bet, call, fold, or raise until the round comes to an end.
The River
This marks the fourth and final betting round. The fifth community card, called the ‘River’ is dealt face-up on the table.
Another round of betting occurs. The remaining players have the option to check, bet, call, fold, or raise.
After all betting action is completed, the remaining players expose their hole cards to determine the winner. This part is called the “Showdown”.
The Showdown
At this stage, the remaining players in the game show their hole cards and the dealer helps to determine the winner.
The winner of the pot is the player with the best combination of 5 cards. This follows official poker hand rankings.
How to play Texas Hold’em poker
Follow these simple steps to play Texas Holdem poker:
- Log into your betting account and go to Casino section. You can sign up for a new account and enjoy the welcome bonus for registration from various bookmakers
- Find Texas Hold’em and click on the game
- Choose real money or demo version
- You will be dealt 2 hole cards to start with. Wait your turn and play accordingly
- Decide on the amount to bet on each round
- Use the community cards plus your hole cards to create a winning poker hand
- The player with the best 5-card hand wins the pot after the showdown stage
Tips and Tricks for Texas Hold’em
These strategies can help you win at Texas Hold’em:
- Know your position – the best position is ‘on the button’ as you are the last player to act in the last 3 betting rounds so you know about how other players have played
- Monitor other players – you should know roughly how may chips they have, and the cards they could have, and their best possible combinations based on the community cards dealt
- Opening hand – choose an opening hand that can help you win in any situation. This is dependent on your hand strength and the amount of players in a hand
- Bet sizing – You should size your bets correctly by following what is happening at the table. For example, when you have strong hand, you can bet a bigger value and vice versa
- Using bluffs – Make your bluffs look just like legitimate bets. It should be similar to how you play when you have good cards. This will confuse your opponents
Check out our Online Casino Games overview page for descriptions of other online casino games you can play and win.
Where to play Texas Hold’em
You can play Texas Hold’em with the following bookmakers:
Final Verdict
Texas Hold’em poker is a simplified version of poker that you can learn quickly and enjoy playing. The rules and steps are simple and clear. You have the option of playing the demo versions to perfect your skills before trying out for real money.
