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In Texas Hold em, each player is given 2 pocket cards. The game continues with a total of 5 community cards face up, first 3, then 1 after the other. Between each deal there is a round of betting.

Hold em is played with two blinds (a bet before the pocket cards are received). The first two players after the dealer pay the blinds. The small blind is posted by the first player and the big blind by the second. In heads-up games, the player seated after the dealer pays the big blind. The first two betting rounds are played with the lower limit while the last two rounds of betting are played with the higher limit.

More Basics: Texas Hold Em is the focus of pro Poker players, spectators, and the media. It's an aggressive, flashy, intense and unpredictable game that gets the dollars on the table and changing hands like no other modern form of Poker. It even looks deceptively simple to play. The old-timers may prefer 7-Card Stud, but everyone else loves Hold em.

Hold em is the game that players at the World Series of Poker play to determine who takes home $1,000,000 and more. Hold em is a descendant of 7-Stud in that players form a five-card hand from seven available cards, but that's where the similarity ends. In fact, only two cards are actually held by the player as pocket cards. The other five are open, dealt to the middle of the table and shared by all players. Of course, this means there are less cards in play, which is why Texas Hold em typically seats nine or more players at the table.

The dealer is marked by a disk called the button. According to the rules, for each hand the button rotates to the left. Players are identified by their seat position. The dealer is seat one, the player to the dealer's left is seat two and so on, clockwise around the table to the player on the dealer's right which is typically seat nine. In practice, there is a fixed (house) dealer and the button rotates around the table simply to mark the rotation of theoretical dealer.

Betting position significantly affects a player's opportunities so the button's position in not simply symbolic. Hold'Em comes in many low-limit/high-limit forms. Beginner games are typically $1-$2 or $2-$5, but the high end can be as much as $300-$600, $500-$1000 or more. Regardless of the limits, this card game is designed to be a money game. Instead of a small ante in 7-Stud, Hold'Em uses two forced bets, the blinds, to get Bets on the table right from the beginning of the game.

Texas Holdem Procedure

1. There is a marker (a small plastic disc) called the dealer button that indicates which player is the dealer. Action is always initiated to the left of the dealer and continues in a clockwise manner. At the end of each hand the button is moved clockwise to the next player, who then becomes the dealer.

2. Before the cards are dealt the two players to the left of the dealer place initial bets called the small blind and the big blind in order to create a pot to play for. The small blind (to the dealers left) places a bet equal to half the smallest structured bet, and the big blind (to the small blinds left) places a bet equal to the smallest structured bet.

3. Each player is dealt two cards called pocket cards which should not be revealed to other players. Later on five community cards will be dealt face up in the center of the table - each player must make their best possible 5 card poker hand using any 5 of the 7 cards they can see (their 2 pocket cards and the 5 community cards).

4. Because the small and big blinds have already started the pot, the player to the left of the big blind is the first to bet. Each player has the following options: FOLD - Throw in their hand and forfeit the game. CALL - Make a bet equivalent to the last bet - at the start of the game the 'last' bet placed was by the big blind. RAISE - Make a bet equivalent to the last bet plus an additional bet. Betting continues in a clockwise manner until all players remaining in the hand have an equivalent stake in the pot

5. After the initial betting round three community cards are dealt face up in the center of the table This is called the flop and can be used by all players to make up their hand. The second betting round is started by the player to the dealer's left. Players now have another betting option called check. CHECK - If no bets have been made then the player can opt to make no bet and control is then passed onto the player to their left.

6. At the end of the second betting round the fourth community card is dealt which is called the turn. The third betting round is now started by the player to the dealer's left.

7. After the third betting round is finished the fifth and final community card is dealt, this is called the river or fifth street. A final betting round is now initiated by the player to the dealer's left.

8. After the final betting round is complete, the remaining players must show their cards to see who wins the pot. The player to the dealer's left must first show their cards and then the remaining players, in order, can opt to fold or show their cards. The player with the highest 5 card poker hand made up from their 2 pocket cards and the 5 community cards wins the pot. In the event of 2 or more players having equivalent high hands the pot is split equally.

Click here to continue on to Texas Hold'em Rules Lesson 2 for some basic definitions, order of seats & position.

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