Texas Hold'em Rules

The Dealer

Each hand begins with the dealer – the player with the dealer’s button in front of him.  The button is a small disc that says “dealer” and it is used to represent, you guessed it, the dealer.  This player doesn’t actually have to deal the cards; the button is just used to mark position.

The Blinds

The player who is directly to the left of the dealer is the small blind and the player directly to the left of the small blind is the big blind.  The blinds must ante up a little bit of money to get a pot started each hand.  The small blind usually antes up half the minimum bet and the big blind a single minimum bet.

Preflop

Now that everything is set up, the dealer will deal two cards face down to each player, beginning with the player to his left (the small blind).  After all the cards are dealt, the action is on the player directly to the left of the big blind.  He may fold, call the minimum bet (one big blind) or raise to any amount he chooses.   The action then continues around the table.

If any player raises, that amount becomes the new minimum amount required to see the flop.  The rest of the players may call that amount, fold or re-raise.  The action then continues until all players are even.

*Note – If there is no raise, the big blind has already paid to see the flop and he may check.  The small blind only has to pay the other half of the minimum bet to see the flop.

The Flop

The dealer then burns the top card of the deck (sets it aside and out of play to help guard against accidental showings) and deals three cards face up in the middle of the table. 

These cards make up the flop and are the first of the five community cards that all players may use in combination with their hole cards to make poker hands.

Next begins another betting round.  This time the betting begins with the dealer directly to the left of the dealer.  This is the same person who was the small blind preflop.

He may either check or bet.  If he bets, all other players must match that bet, raise it to continue or fold their hands.  This continues until all players have either called the last raise or folded their hands.

The Turn

The dealer burns another card and deals one more card face up next to the flop.  There is another round of betting exactly the same as the last round.

The River

The dealer burns another card and deals the final community card face up next to the turn.  There is one last round of betting exactly the same as the last round.

The players that are left after this round of betting then have a showdown.  The player with the best five-card poker hand wins.  They may use any number of the community cards and/or their hole cards to create the best hand.

For example, if the five community cards were to be TJQKA all of the same suit, then all players still in the pot on the river would have a royal flush and not use any of their hole cards.  The pot would then be split equally among the remaining players.

The End

The cards are shuffled, the dealer’s button moves one spot to the left and the next hand begins in the exact same manner as this one did.

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