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Poker Rules

Poker is the most dramatic and popular card game in the world.
Here we will explain how to play Texas Hold'em poker from start to finish, you will learn Texas Hold'em poker rules, and by the end you will be ready to play at land based casino, with your friends or online.

A full poker table typically has 8 to 10 players, any less and the game may be referred to as "short handed" game. To determine which player begins the game a single card is dealt to each player, the highest card will be the first dealer. The dealer position is indicated by green or white plastic chip referred to as the button, which is also what the dealer position is called. After each round of play, the dealer button rotates to the left, ensuring that everyone gets to play in with the button and all other positions.

Pre flop:
Before the playing cards are dealt, forced bets must be maid, which are called the big blind and the small blind. The small blind is sometimes called the little blind as well. A bet is when money is put into the pot for the 1st time in a round. The amounts of the bets and the blinds and are pre-determined, the small blind is always a half of the big blind. The small blind position is always on the seat left of the dealer, and the big blind is the seat to the left of the small blind.

The dealer then deals two cards (referred to as "pocket cards" or "hole cards") face down to each player, starting with the player on his left. Once the cards are dealt, each player can now look at their cards and now they need to decide if to call the current bet "big blind", fold their cards or raise the betting amount. Each player, starting with the seat to the left of the big blind, makes their choice and acts accordingly. If a player raises the bet, all remaining players must now call the new amount. The round of betting ends when all players have either folded or called the last raise.

Flop:
The dealer now turns thee cards on the table, face up; this is called the Flop. These are the first of 5 community cards that all players can use, along with their pocket cards, to make their best possible poker hand. The player in the small blind position is the first to act now and on every subsequent round of betting. He must make a decision as in pre-flop play, with only one change: he can choose to check if he doesn't want to bet or fold. And again, the betting round ends only when all players have folded or called the last bet or raise.

Turn:
The dealer then deals a fourth community card, called the Turn, face up. There is another round of betting, exactly as the earlier rounds, with the small blind seat being the first.

River:
The dealer turns over the 5th and last community card, called the River. There is one final round of betting. At this point if all but one player folds, the last player who didn't fold wins the pot. This player may muck his hand, which means to move it into the discard pile by the dealer without showing anyone what it was.

The Showdown:
A show-down occurs when a player is called after the River, and could involve anywhere from two players to the entire poker table, depending on how many players stayed in to this point. All players still in the hand show their cards, starting with the last person to bet. At any point after this player showed his cards other players in the showdown can muck their hand, essentially loosing the pot; mucking will be just like folding. They are admitting they have lost the current hand without having to show their cards. This mucking strategy helps keeping the other players from learning your playing style.

The best five card poker hand wins the round!