Texas Holdem

Texas hold 'em is a style of poker game where the player is dealt two cards and can use five more community cards. It is also the most popular poker variant at most casinos. Its no-limit betting format is used in many major World Series of Poker events.

4 ways to play poker

Poker is a very popular card game that is easy to learn, but it takes time to master. Although it's a card game, it's also about strategy, requiring constant reading from other players to know when to fold, bluff, call bluffs, etc. There are many variations of poker, but Texas Hold'em is the most famous. Even though each variation has its own rules, the basic rules are always the same. You have to learn the basics well and only then start building your winning strategy.

Method 1: Playing a round of Texas Hold'em

1º Learn the ten basic five-card hands and the order of importance. No matter which variation of poker you play, the basic hands will always be the same. The simplest way to familiarize yourself with these hands is to print out a “colinha” (a sheet of all ten hands), study it and memorize it so you can recognize them more quickly at game time. Below is the hierarchy of importance of hands, from strongest to weakest:

The strongest hand is the Royal Straight Flush, made up of the straight 10, J, Q, K and A of the same suit (all clubs, diamonds, hearts or spades). It cannot be beaten by another hand, only equated with a Royal Straight Flush of another suit.
The second strongest hand is the Straight Flush, made up of five straight cards of the same suit, excluding the Royal Straight Flush straight.
The third strongest hand is Four of a Kind, made up of four cards of the same rank and suit, with a fifth of any rank or suit (eg, 4 aces of hearts and a 9 of clubs). When you have four aces, no one will have a hand with an ace, meaning no player will be able to make a Royal Straight Flush.
The fourth hand is the Full House (three of a kind and pair), made up of three cards of the same level and two other cards of the same level (eg, three K and two J).
The fifth hand is the Flush (Suit), made up of five random cards of the same suit. It is the only hand that ignores both the sequential and same-level card rules.
The sixth hand is the Straight, made up of five cards in a row and of varying suits.
The seventh hand is Three of a Kind, made up of three cards of the same level and two different cards.
The eighth hand is Two Pairs, made up of two cards of the same rank, two of the same rank (eg, two 10s and two A's) and one card different from the pairs. The two pairs cannot be of the same level, as they would form a four-of-a-kind.
The ninth hand is One Pair, consisting of two cards of the same rank and three different cards of the pair.
The weakest hand is the High Card, made up of just one card that does not fit into any of the above hands (either in equal levels, straights or the same suit).

Tip: It is important to remember that if two players have the same hand, the hand with the highest card wins, but when the hands are of the same level (regardless of suit), a tie is declared and the pot (if there is one) is split evenly. among the players who played the showdown.

2º Place the blinds (“blind bets”, the initial bets) or the ante ups (pings). In poker, bets are placed at the beginning of the round in one of two ways. In the first form, in Texas Hold'em, the player to the immediate left of the dealer posts the small blind, which is half the common minimum bet. To the left of that player, another player posts the big blind, which has at least the minimum bet amount on the table at that time. In the second way, each player can ante up on top of the minimum initial bet, that is, place a minimum initial bet on the pool of chips bet.

Aside from Texas Hold'em, most poker variations use the antes system.

3º Look at the two cards the dealer has handed you. The dealer will “burn” the first card in the deck, that is, take it out of the game. Then he will deal two cards to each player at the table. Look at the cards to see what you have.

In poker, the dealer will discard a card at the beginning of each round. In this way, it becomes more difficult for players to anticipate the card that is coming, making the game more interesting, unpredictable.
The dealer will always deal the cards clockwise, starting from the left.

Tip: no player will show cards until they reach showdown. Even if other players are out of the hand, it is best not to reveal the cards so as not to hand over — whether accidentally or voluntarily — tactics, strategies or the value of your cards.

4º Bet, call or raise after each new deal. Every time the dealer deals new cards for the next round, you will be able to place a bet, based on just the two cards you have in your hand. The bets take place, as previously mentioned, in a clockwise direction and also in a circle rhythm. When it's your turn to bet, there will be a few options. You will be able to:

Place an initial bet if no one has done so yet.
Say “pass” or “check” if you don't want to bet and just see what the other players will do, checking.
Saying “call” to call the bet the previous player made.
Saying “raise” to increase the amount of the previous bet. If there is an increase in value, the other players, up to the last one to their right, will have to choose between calling the raised bet or folding the hand.
Or say “I fold” if someone has bet and you don't want to stay in the hand anymore (usually because the hand isn't good enough to support a bet). When folding the hand, return the cards to the dealer face down, preventing other players from taking advantage in any way (strategies, plays, thoughts, etc.).

5º Look at the flop and see if you have a good hand. Once the first round of betting is complete, the dealer will discard one card from the top of the deck and place three cards (flop) face up on the table. These are the first three community cards that all players can use to compose their respective hands. Compare these cards with the ones you have in your hand and make your decision (betting, calling a bet or folding the hand).

In all, the dealer will reveal five cards. You will have a maximum of seven cards to create the best possible combination of five cards: the two in your hand and the five community cards on the table. Even though your luck can change during the hand, do a post-flop analysis of the table and think, “Am I in a good position to end the round with a good hand?”.
Depending on the game location rules, you can also buy new cards to replace the ones in your hand (optional). This is usually done during or after the betting round.

6º Look at the turn card after the second betting round. The dealer will discard the top card of the deck and place a face-up card next to the flop cards, the fourth community card, the turn. Look at all the cards on the table, and those in your hand, to decide whether to bet, call the previous bet, raise or fold.

In the amateur or casual scenario, an exchange of cards may be allowed at this stage, which is quite unusual in professional games.
As you look at the cards, think about the possible hands of the other players. Example: if all four cards on the table are spades, any player who has a spade suit in hand will have a flush (five cards of the same suit).
Another possibility is if the cards on the table are 5, 6, 7 and 8: any player who has a 4, or a 9, will form a Straight.
When you don't have a decent hand, and the board is an easy win, it's best to fold, as the chance is high that another player will have the winning card.

7º Look at the river card and decide if this hand is worth playing. After the dealer has discarded the top card of the deck, he will place, next to the turn, the fifth and final community card face up, known as the river. Analyze the cards in your hand and those on the board to see if the play is good enough to try to win the pot. Once that's done, bet, call the bet, raise or fold the hand.

If the rules allow, you can change your final hand only once before, or after, betting. However, it is unusual in matches on the professional circuit.

8º Watch the final reveal of the players' cards, the showdown. When the remaining players have completed the final moves (betting, calling, raising or folding) after the river reveal, they will each participate in the showdown. At this point, clockwise from the dealer, everyone still in the round must reveal the cards in their hands. Players watch the reveal and see who has the strongest hand to win the entire pot.

In the event of a tie, the pot is split between those who tied.
Those who folded their hand on the river will not need to show their cards.
In Texas Hold'em, there will always be five cards on the table and two in your hand, and you can create any combination of five cards using these available seven. The remaining cards, which are outside this count, do not count.
When you just want to play using the cards on the board, this is a move known as playing the board. However, it is a valid option for all players at the table, that is, it may not be the best strategy.

How to Play Texas Hold’em Poker

Texas Hold’em, also known as No-Limit Hold’em, or just Hold’em, is the most popular out of all the poker games. Other poker games include Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or Better, 8 Card Stud, 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw, Razz, amongst others. In Texas Holde’em, your goal as a player is simple: win the pot by either making your opponents fold, or holding the best five-card poker hand according to traditional poker hand rankings. The player with the best hand, or who manages to get all other players to fold wins the pot!

Here’s a breakdown of a typical Hold’em poker game:

A typical Hold’em poker game at WSOP includes anywhere between 2-9 players. At the start of a hand, each player is dealt two cards face down, starting with the player on the dealers left; these are called the hole cards. The two players to the left of the dealer are forced to put chips into the pot, and are called the small blind and the big blind. The player to the left of the big blind is then first to act before the flop. They can either:

Fold (forfeit their hand)
Call (match the amount of the big blind)
Raise (make a bet larger than at least twice the big blind)

Once the first betting round is complete, the dealer turns three cards face up on the table. This is called the flop. These are three community cards, that all players can use them to make their best five card poker hand.

Another round of betting takes place involving the players that are still in the hand, (anyone who hasn’t folded). They get another chance to check or bet. If a player bets, the other players must decide if they’ll fold, call, or raise. Once the betting round is complete, the dealer places a fourth card on the table, which is called the turn

At this point, there is again another round of betting, where players can check or bet. Once the betting round is complete, the dealer places the fifth and final card on the table, which is called the river.

Finally, the last betting round takes place. If a player bets and gets everyone to fold, they will win the pot. If this player bets and gets called by one or more other players, their cards are revealed, in what is called a showdown. When all of the cards are placed face up on the table, tthe highest ranked hand wins the pot.

Who or what are the blinds?

Every Texas Hold’em game has forced antes, which are called blinds.

There are two kinds of blinds: small and bigblinds. Both are relatively small bets that the two players seated directly to the left of the dealer must put in the pot before the start of each hand. If you’re one of the blinds, you are required to put in your chips before seeing your cards. In other words, you are ‘blind’.

The small blind’s bet is mostly always half the big blind. The blinds are used to have chips in the pot at the start of every hand, and to avoid players from folding every hand with no consequences. If a player is in the small or big blind and decides to fold, they lose the chips they put into the pot.

Cash Games vs. Tournaments

Cash games have set minimum and maximum buy-in amounts for the table and set blinds that don’t change.

Ex: 2/4 blinds, 40 minimum and 400 maximum buy-ins.

Players can only play with the money on the table in front of them. If they run out of chips, they can buy back in as often as they’d like. Uniquely to a cash game, players can get up and leave the table anytime they’d like. If they win a big pot, they can get up and leave.

Tournaments have a set buy-in, which is the same for all players, where all players start with the same amount of chips. All of the buy-ins go into a prize pool, which is split amongst the tournament winners.

In a tournament, the blinds begin at small amounts but increase over the course of the tournament, by set time increments. The steady increase of the blinds forces players to try to accumulate more chips, or they risk running out of chips. As the tournament goes on and players get knocked out by losing their chips, players condense onto less and less tables, until they play down to 9 players. The final 9 players will make final table. They will play down to 1 winner, who will be the tournament champion.

Here’s a basic breakdown of tournament winners:

The last player standing at the end of the poker tournament will have won all the chips that had ever been introduced to the tournament. This player will usually earn 25-30% of the total prize pool
The rest of the prize pool is distributed to the top 10-15% of the tournament players. They are paid a percentage of the prize pool (the amount is usually pre-determined by the organizers of the tournament)

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