Texas hold’em is considered by many to be the variant of poker which it easiest for the novice card player to learn. This is largely because other types of poker – for instance 7-card stud or Omaha – require much greater understand of subjects like card counting and calculating of odds.
Firstly, once the betting limits and structure have been decided, the players put initial amounts of money in the pot (blinds and antes) to get the game started. Each of the players receives two ‘hole’ cards from a standard 52-card deck. At this point the initial round of betting begins, leading from the player located left from the blinds; as in most other variants of poker, the players have the option of calling, raising or folding.
After the first round of betting – referred to as the ‘preflop’ round, the dealer removes the top card to guard against cheating. They then turn the following three cards, a practice called ‘the flop’; these three cards can be utilised by any of the players together with their ‘hole’ cards to create their hand. Following the next round of betting the dealer puts a third communal card onto the table – described as the ‘turn’ – and another round of betting follows. This point in the game is often where the size of the bets increases dramatically – often doubling. Following this, another communal card is put on the table by the dealer, known as the ‘river’, leaving players the option of utilising any of either their own two cards, or the five on the table, to create the best five card hand they can.
At this point there is the last round of bets, again leading from the player placed to the dealer’s left, before the ‘showdown’. This involves any player who has not folded up to this point, and thus remains in the game, revealing their cards, with the layer holding the best hand winning. Now you have the knowledge you can play for real and test out your newly found skills on betfair.