Texas Hold'em Rules for Play
The game Texas Hold'em is one of the most popular versions of poker. Although most are familiar with five card draw as the classic poker game, texas hold'em is considered one step up in both competitiveness and strategy. In this game, each player can take bluffing and deception to a much deeper level then they ever could in the simple five card draw.
Texas Hold'em starts with each player being dealt two cards face down. After looking at their cards the players are then allowed one round of betting. Following the betting phase the dealer deals three cards onto the table face up. These cards serve as a community pot to each player still in the round. In other words, each player can use any of the cards in the community pot along with their own two cards to make the best possible poker hand that they can. This phase is known as the flop. After the flop each player is again given the opportunity for a round of betting.
Once the bets are completed the play moves on to what is known as the turn. Here the dealer adds one more card to the community pot and then allows each player another round of betting. The last phase, the river, is when the dealer places the last card face up for anyone to use. Then there is one last round of betting and then every remaining player shows their hand with the highest hand winning.
Besides the basic rules just mentioned, there are several guidelines one usually adheres to when playing texas hold'em. It is advisable to always be courteous when playing with a full table. Everyone hates a hotshot with no sense of decency. Many times a player will be winning a hand, but due to an unlikely card falling out on the river, will end up losing a big pot. If you are the player that just rivered another player then the decent thing to do is to apologize to him. Of course you are happy you won the hand, but there will come a time that you lose to an unfortunate river in texas hold'em and it always hurts much more when the jerk who beat you gloats in your face. It is acceptable to gloat however, if you rivered a guy who rivered you.
Your best bet to learning the ins and outs of texas hold'em is through experience. Try starting off at a table with low betting just to get the hang of it before you start in with the better hold'em players. Just always remember, the hand is not over until the river falls, and sometimes the river will not be on your side.
