poker student : poker rules : texas holdem

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Poker rules and how the game works
You are at the right place for the "minute to learn" section, and it's really this easy to understand the structure of the game and the way that it works. Welcome, this is the very famous "Texas Hold'em" the cadillac of poker. After reading this you begin a lifetime of mastering the wonderful game, That is, until you reach the final table at the world series of poker, then we have acheived our goal.

Firstly the player to the left of the dealer must put in the small blind, and the player to their left must put in the big blind. The play begins by the dealer, dealing clockwise one at a time, two cards each (hole cards).
These cards are for you only, then a round of betting starts with 1st position and continues in turn clockwise, the options are to call or bet, if a player bets, remaining players in turn have the option to fold, call or raise, if a player raises, the remaining players in turn have the option to fold, call or re-raise. The betting round is over when all bets or raises are called or hands are folded.
If no bets were made during the round it ends with big blind having the option to check or bet. Three cards are then laid face up on the table, this is called the flop, there is then another round of betting starting at the player to the left of the dealer.
There is then laid face up on the table a fourth card, this is called the turn or fourth street, there is another round of betting and a fifth card is laid face up on the table, this is called the river or fifth street.
These five cards known are community cards or board cards and can be used by all. There is then a final round of betting then players must turn over there cards to decide the winner. The winning hand is made up of five cards, the best five cards using your hole cards and the community cards, of which none, one or two of your hole cards can be used. Check out the hand rankings page via the link above.

Limit:   betting is limited to a certain amount.
Pot Limit:   maximum bet is the size of the pot.
No Limit:   you can bet as much as you have at the table.