The rules of Texas Holdem

The Game

Texas Holdem, or simply holdem, is the most played poker variant in the world. It is played either with blinds, sometimes antes are added (especially in tournaments), and it is played with Limit, Pot Limit or No Limit structures. If you watched poker on TV, chances are that they played Holdem, more precisely, some No Limit holdem tournament.

Holdem is a poker variant with communty cards, shared by all players. This contrasts with draw poker, where no card is visible, or stud, where each player get his own cards (some visible, some not).

A holdem hand is comprised of four betting rounds. First, the blinds are posted. Then, each player is dealt two cards face down. The first betting round takes place. Let’s see an example.

The dealer distributes:

You have been dealt AJ, face down

The players bet:

First betting round

Then three cards are turned face up on the table. These cards are called the flop, and can be used by everybody to make their hand. They are common, or shared, so that everybody can use the same card for instance in his final combination. Once the flop is dealt, another betting round takes place (remember, the first player to act is the one to the left of the dealer; blinds are posted only before the first betting round).

The dealer:

The flop. You have two overcards and a flush draw.

The betting:

Second betting round

Another community card is then turned face up at the center of the table. It is called the turn. It is followed by another betting round.

The dealer:

The turn. No help, but you still have outs.

The betting:

Third betting round

And finally, a last card is turned face up, called the river. The final betting round occurs, and the players still in the hand must show their cards: this is the showdown.

The dealer:

The river. You completed your flush

The betting:

Fourth and last betting round

The showdown:

The showdown. You win the pot!

In this example, you used the three hearts on the board (the common cards) to make a flush, and your opponent used the 8, the T and the K, to make a pair of 8 with a king kicker. The board is shared, and you both used the eight of hearts in your final five-card hand.

As we saw in the “poker basics” section, the hands do not necessarily go to the showdown, since a player can win the pot during any betting round, if all his opponents folded. Sometimes, the pot is won even before the flop is dealt. This is very frequent in tournaments, notably.

Limit Holdem Structures

At Limit, the stakes are noted with the small bet/big bet notation eg. $5-$10. The small bet is the amount of the bets and raises during the two first betting rounds - that is, before the flop (preflop) and on the flop. Then, the big bet is used for the two last betting rounds (turn and river). Most often the big bet is worth two times the small bet.

Regarding the blinds, the small blind is usually worth half a small bet, and the big blind a full small bet. Sometimes, the small blind is worth two thirds of a small bet, or can even be equal to the big blind.

Pot Limit and No Limit Holdem Structures

As we previously saw, there are no small bets or big bets at Pot Limit and No Limit. The two figures indicates the small blind and big blind amounts. Eg. in a $1-$2 No Limit Holdem game, the small blind is worth $1 and the big blind $2.

Related Items:

• Holdem Frequent Match-ups Odds