Texas Hold'em

Introduction Dealer Button Blinds Pocket Cards 1st round of betting Here comes the flop! 2nd round of betting Here comes the Turn Card 3rd round of betting Here comes the River Card Showdown - 4th round of betting Ladies and Gentlemen - we have a winner! Deal 'em up again! Introduction

Whether you're a novice poker player or a hardened card shark, Texas Hold'em is a truly thrilling form of poker. This fast-flowing 7-card game is easy to understand, yet provides a whole world of excitement for beginner and expert alike! Made famous around the world as being the game of choice for many top pros, and played at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, Texas Hold 'em has rapidly become the most played form of poker the world over. Every game has an aim and, with Texas Hold'Em, you have to make the best 5-card hand possible with the cards at your disposal. Familiarise yourself with the hand rankings. These comprise of two 'pocket' cards that each player is dealt as well as the five community cards which everyone can use.

Dealer Button

In front of a selected player is a disc called the Dealer button. This disc displays which order the cards are to be dealt (moving clockwise) and rotates around the table moving one player to the left after each hand. Before the first cards are dealt, the player immediately to the left of the dealer button must post a 'small blind'. The player to his/her left must post a 'big blind'.

Blinds

The 'small blind' player must post an amount equal to half the minimum bet, e.g. $0.50 for a $1/$2 game. Likewise, the 'big blind' player must equal the minimum bet, e.g. $1 for a $1 game. Blinds are placed in the pot to trigger the betting and give all players an incentive to enter the hand. It also means that the winner of the hand will always collect a pot rather than nothing at all!

Pocket Cards

Now it's time to deal some cards! To begin with, you'll receive two pocket cards - also called "hole cards" - which are dealt face down on the table (which only you will be able to see).

1st round of betting

Once everyone playing has received their pocket cards, the first round of betting can begin! This begins with the player to the left of the big blind and moves round the table in a clockwise direction. Naturally, you bet according to how well you think your hand will fare against your opponents. You have three choices in the 1st round:

Fold - decide that your cards aren't good enough to win the hand.

Call - match the big blind stake and stay in the betting.

Raise - up the stakes, meaning your opponents will have to match your amount or fold.

If you have staked the big blind you can "check", i.e. you remain in the hand for free. But if another player bets, you will have to match his stake to stay in. Please note, the stakes can only be raised three times during each round of betting. This (and the next) round of betting is set at the lower level of table stakes. For example, in a $1/$2 game, all raises are increments of $1.

Here comes the flop!

It's time for the flop and the game is about to get interesting! Three cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table. These are communal cards, i.e. every player can use them to try and make the best hand possible.

2nd round of betting

Now it's time to get back to some betting! With 5 of your 7 cards now in view, you will now have a much better idea of what your best hand is likely to be. In this and the following rounds of betting, the first player to act is directly to the left of the dealer button. Again the options are to Call, Fold or Raise. Alternatively, if no-one has yet contributed to the pot, you can "check". You remain in the hand for free, but if another player bets, you will have to match his stake to stay in. Again initial bets are in increments of the lower table stakes.

Here comes the Turn Card

We've had the excitement of the flop - so what now? A fourth communal card is dealt face up in the middle of the table which is called the 'Turn' card. Again, this can be used by every player to make their hand as good as possible.

3rd round of betting

The only difference between this round of betting and the previous two is that this (and the next) round of betting is set at the higher level of table stakes. For example, in a $1/$2 game, all raises are increments of $2 instead of the previous $1.

Here comes the River Card

Now it's time for the last card of the round, the all-important River card! This is the fifth communal card and, like the Flop cards & Turn card, is dealt face up in the middle of the table.

You now have seven cards from which to choose:

2 Pocket Cards (closed)

3 Flop Cards (open)

1 Turn Card (open)

1 River Card (open)

You must now select the best possible five-card hand from the above.

Showdown! - 4th round betting

This is your last chance to bet. Now that you can see all 5 community cards, you will be able to work out what the best possible hand could be. How will your hand hold up? The betting follows the same pattern and stakes as the 3rd round. After the betting has ended, we now have a final pot.

Ladies and Gentlemen - we have a winner!

The player with the best five cards is the winner of the round and subsequently takes the pot. If there are multiple winners with the same hand, the pot is split between these players.

Deal 'em up again!

Ready for some more cards? After the pot has been handed to the winner(s), the dealer button moves left one player and a new hand begins. Are you up to the challenge?

THE POKER HANDS

Specific combinations of cards are given a value so that you can measure one hand against another and tell which is the winner. All poker hands have five cards. Here is the list in ranking order from the worst hand down to the best hand.

HIGH If the cards in a hand are not linked in any way so as to qualify as any other ranked hand, then the highest card in the hand becomes the value of the hand. If that card is a KING then the hand is KING HIGH.

K Q 7 5 2

ONE PAIR If only two cards are matched such that they are equal, like 10 and 10, then this hand is ONE PAIR of TENS.

10 10 A K 2

TWO PAIR If there are two seperate pairs of matched cards, then this is known as TWO PAIR.

A A 10 10 2

THREE OF A KIND If three cards are matched so that they have the same value then this is called THREE OF A KIND

7 7 7 6 3

STRAIGHT If the cards are not all of the same suit but sequencial in their value, like 3,4,5,6,7, then this is called a STRAIGHT. This example is a SEVEN HIGH STRAIGHT.

7 6 5 4 3

FLUSH If the cards are not in sequence but are all of the same suit, then this is called a FLUSH. This example is a JACK HIGH CLUB FLUSH.

J 10 7 5 3

FULL HOUSE If the hand combines THREE OF A KIND with ONE PAIR then it is called a FULL HOUSE. This example is KINGS OVER THREES.

K K K 3 3

FOUR OF A KIND If four cards have the same value then the hand is called FOUR OF A KIND

A A A A 7

STRAIGHT FLUSH If all the cards are of the same suit and are in sequencial order, this is called a STRAIGHT FLUSH. This example is a NINE HIGH STRAIGHT FLUSH.

9 8 7 6 5

ROYAL FLUSH The top hand in poker is a Straight Flush that is Ace High.

A K Q J 10

Draw Poker

To Begin With Draw Poker is the basic game from which many new games have been created. What you need for this game is between 2 and 7 players, a standard 52-card pack of playing cards, a decent table and some playing chips.

In many ways this is the simplest poker game played in the world but that doesn't mean it is easy to be good at it, just easy to know how to play it.

The Object is to make the best hand you can and win the pot of money, either by skill or strength. [Remember : You may sit down with friends but they are just faces when you are in a hand]

The Play The game can be broken down into three, The Deal, The Draw and The Showdown.

The Deal Elect a dealer by cutting cards. All players put a small amount of money into the middle of the table to create a pot. These are called Antes and the amount is agreed prior to the start.

The dealer shuffles, the player to their right cuts the pack and then the dealer deals five cards face down to each player, one at a time in clockwise rotation round the table.

The player on the dealer's left has the immediate choice of opening the betting by placing money into the pot or passing that choice to the next player by saying "check". That player then has the same option.

If a player opens by putting money into the pot (makes a bet), then the next player must either;

Call Exactly equal the bet put into the pot and say "call".

Raise At least double the bet put into pot and say "raise".

Pass Place your cards with the discards and say "pass".

The betting round continues until all players wishing to continue to play have placed an equal amount into the pot. There can be several raises or re-raises in the round which may reduce the number of players. If only one is left then they win the hand and the pot. If more than one is left then they move onto the draw round.

If no player opens, then all cards are thrown in and the dealer shuffles and deals again with a further ante added to the pot.

The Draw Again starting from the left of the dealer, players discard from their hand somewhere from 0-5 cards. pat. [the point of the draw is to try and improve your hand]

Discarding none (0) is called staying

When all draws have been completed a new betting round starts with the player who opened in the first round. (if they have passed due to a raise then the next person is first to speak)

If one player drives away all the others by their bet then they win the pot and a new hand starts.

The Showdown If two people are left after the final round of betting then they must show their hands to see who wins. The player who last increased the betting has to show first and if the caller of their bet wishes to fold without showing they can (therefore losing).

The exception to the rule about discarding hands is where the variation of Draw being played requires openers. So in 'Jacks or better', where to open the betting a player must have at least a pair of Jacks, they must be shown to all players after the hand is completed, regardless of what happened to the hand during the play.

The Betting The way in which players bet is agreed prior to the start of the game (refer to the main Poker page for help) but it will almost always be Table Stakes. This means players put an amount of money on the table in front of them and it is only with this that they can bet. If they run out of money in a hand then they are said to be 'going all in'.

Special Rules It is usual and generally best to have some rules for special occasions where people act improperly or you want limit the time of playing or a minimum amount of money to start with, etc.

These are agreed before a game starts by all players.