This is just a short overview of the game.   The game is full of details and look for other articles in the furture.

Name of the Game:
Texas Hold ’Em

Number of players:
2-10 ( But statistically speaking there are enough cards for 22 players)

The Shuffle
A standard 52 card deck.  Jokers are never used.

The Blinds:
In order to guarantee that there is some money in the pot, players post blinds.  The two players to the immediate left of the dealer (the next two people rotating clockwise from the dealer) will ante up money to get things going.   The player next to the dealer is called the small blind, and the one seating two away is referred to the big blind.  The big blind usually posts the minimum table wager allowed and the small blind will commit half that amount.  For example if you are sitting at a 2-4 table, the minimum bets are $2 to start, so the big blind will be $2 and the small blind will be $1.   To keep things fair to all, when a player enters a Texas Hold Em game, they usually enter on the dealer button, or they can post to get playing immediately, this is usually sum of both the blinds.   Further, if a player is idle from the table for a period of time, and they miss their blinds, they need to buy back in by posting the same fee to the table.   This is to keep people from skipping out of their fair share of the blinds.

What’s The Deal:
Two cards are dealt out clockwise starting with the small blind, or the person sitting to the left of the dealer.   There are two “dealers” in this game.   At a card house or casino, the proprietors provide a professional dealer to physically deal out the cards.  At home the deal shifts among guests.  In order to keep this same rotation going at the card houses, the person dealing will move a dealer button in a clockwise fashion around the table so players take turns acting in the dealer position.

Betting:
Once the first two cards have been dealt out to the players, then there is a betting round.   Starting with the player to the left of the big blind.  This player is allow to either fold, call, or raise.  If they call, they must match the amount of the big blind.   At this point of raising, limit and no limit poker become different.   In no limit poker, a player may bet as much as they have on the table in front of them at the beginning of the hand.  In limit Texas Hold Em, they can only raise the amount of the big blind.  So in the example of a 2-4 game, if the current big blind is $2, then players can only raise in increments of $2.  Most games also put a cap on the number of raises, typically 4 times.  Some casinos will allow people to go head to head and bet as much as they like if there are only two people left in the hand.

More Dealing:
After the first round of betting, there is the flop.  The flop is when the dealer, after burning a card, will deal three community cards face up on the top of the table.  These cards can be used by all player.   Once the dealer finishes with the flop there is another round of betting.

 

Bet on it:
After the flop, the second round of betting begins with the player to the immediate left of the dealer, the former small blind.  This player in limit games is limited to either checking, or betting the minimum wager.  In our 2-4 game example, this will be two dollars.  Players are allow to raise and the betting continues until either the pot is capped or the table checks around.

The Turn:
The Hold’Em dealer will now burn another card and turn over one card face up.   This card is then the fourth community card.  Because it is the 4th card it is sometimes referred to as Fourth Street.

Bet spelled backwards is Teb:
Players will now begin another round of betting.  This time the minimum amount to bet is the maximum amount on a limit table.  In our example of a 2-4 game, that would be $4.  If a play wishes to raise this amount it will be $4 as well.   If there are three bets this round, then all players in at the end of the round will have committed $12.  Now before you post comments, that does not include players that might be “all in”.

Up the river:
The last card dealt will be river card.  The dealer will burn yet another card, and then deal the last face up community card.   That card will be there for all to use, and now players, using the 5 on the table, and the 2 in their hand will have a 7 card hand to play from.  

Final betting round:
Players are again betting an amount that is the maximum for the table or just checking around.

Showdown:
After betting is over, people start staring at each other waiting for others to show their hand first.   It is possible to let another player show their hand first, you can see that you might lose to them, and just toss your cards into the dealer.  This is in poor taste, and other players can ask to see your hand or have it uncovered.   The person with the best poker hand will be considered the winner.  If there are two or more people with the same strength hand, the pot will be split equally between those players.   If for some reason the pot does not split exactly in two, and there is a chip left over, it is in good taste to give it to the dealer as a tip.