Learning Texas Hold'em Poker

Texas Holdem is a poker version which initially deals two cards to each player. A betting round follows this first deal. The "flop" follows, where they turn in unison three board cards, and these cards become available now to the players. Another round of betting follows the flop. A single card is then turned, followed by another round of betting. A final single card is turned, closed out by the last round of betting. Once the last round of betting is completed, the player must complete his best hand using a combination of his initial two cards and the five community cards available on the board. The player may also opt to "play the board", meaning use all the five community cards without his initial hand of two cards.

The game employs a Dealer Button, a flat disc used that indicates the player who theoretically deals cards for that particular pot. The player that has the Dealer Button is called the Button. He is the last one to receive the cards on the first deal, and has final action on all the betting rounds, excluding the first one which comes right after the initial deal.

To initiate the play on the first round of Texas Holdem, one blind bet or possibly more is used. Players post blinds even before they look at their cards. Blinds may be counted as a part of the player's bet. This is unless the rules specify that all of part of the blind are considered dead, in which case they do not form part of the bet.

Players post blinds consecutively in clockwise order beginning at the button. This is initiated by the player on the immediate left of the player from the first betting round who posted the furthest blind. Blinds act last in the initial betting round. They are "live", meaning a player may raise his own blind bet.

In Texas Holdem, a player with less than half of a blind may still receive a hand, as long as he has the smallest chip that was used in the limit game. The next player will then take the blind. However, the player with less than half a blind may not be the Button. He must complete all his blind obligations to be able to continue playing. Half a blind and more is considered a full blind.