Texas Hold ‘em, currently the most popular poker game both online and live, is played with a standard 52-card deck. In Hold ‘em, each player is dealt two cards face-down (known as the “pocket” or “hole” cards), and then five “community” cards (which are used by all players) are dealt face-up in the middle of the table. Each player uses any combination of his pocket cards and the community cards to make the best possible 5-card hand.

In Texas Hold ‘em, the dealer button indicates the position of the theoretical “dealer” of each hand. After each hand, it moves clockwise by one position. The player with the dealer button is referred to as being “on the button,” and is the last to act in all three betting rounds after the flop. The player to the immediate left of the dealer posts the “small blind” (see below), is the first to be dealt cards, and is the first to act in all three betting rounds after the flop.

The “blinds” are mandatory bets posted by the two players to the immediate left of the dealer at the start of each hand, prior to the cards being dealt. The player directly to the left of the dealer posts the “small” blind, and the player directly to the left of the small blind posts the “big” blind. The big blind is generally twice the small blind. In Hold ‘em cash games, the big blind is equal to the smallest allowable bet, and the small blind is equal to half the smallest allowable bet. When entering a cash game, you must post the equivalent of the big blind in your first hand. You have the option of waiting to enter the game until you are actually in the big blind.

There are four rounds of betting in Texas Hold ‘em:

• After the hole cards are dealt, the first round of betting occurs.
• This is followed by the “flop,” in which the first three community cards are dealt; the second round of betting then occurs.
• Following the second round of betting is the “turn” (or “fourth street”), in which the fourth community card is dealt; the third round of betting then occurs.
• Following the third round of betting is the “river” (or “fifth street”), in which the fifth and final community card is dealt; the fourth and final round of betting then occurs.

In no-limit Hold ‘em, players may bet up to all their chips in any round of betting. In limit Hold ‘em tournaments, bets and raises can only be made in prescribed amounts, which escalate as the game progresses. In the cash-game version of Hold ‘em, the bet limit in the first and second rounds is set at the low limit of the table’s stakes structure, and the bet limit in the final two rounds is set at the high limit of the structure. For example, if the stakes structure at a table is $5/$10, the bets and raises would be set at $5 for the first two rounds and $10 for the final two rounds. In each round of betting in limit and cash games, a bet and up to three raises are allowed. After the third raise, the betting is said to be “capped,” and no more raises are allowed.

In any round of betting, if only one player remains because all other players have folded, the remaining player wins the hand. However, in cases in which two or more players are still in the hand after the fourth and final round of betting, the hand goes to a “showdown.” In a showdown, all remaining players reveal their hands, beginning with the last player to bet or raise during the final round of betting. If all players checked during the final round of betting (no bets were made), the first player to the left of the dealer will show first. The remaining players' hands will be automatically revealed moving clockwise, unless a hand is weaker than the winning hand shown. In this case, the player has the option of showing or mucking (folding without showing) his cards. The player with the highest-ranking five-card hand wins the pot. For a complete list of hand rankings, click here. A player has the option of “playing the board,” or using only the five community cards to make his hand (as in cases in which there is a flush, straight, or full house on the board). Since all players may use the board cards, if no remaining player has a higher-ranking hand than that shown on the board, the pot would be split between the remaining players. In any case in which two or more players have the same winning hand, the pot is divided evenly between those players.