Rules For Texas Hold Em Poker

By: Rick Radcliff

Break Studios Contributing Writer

Texas hold 'em is the most popular form of poker around and the unique rules for Texas hold 'em poker are partly responsible for this. However, Texas hold 'em’s popularity surged when an internet amateur, Chris Moneymaker, won the World Series of Poker in 2003. Suddenly, everyone wanted to be a poker pro. If you happen to be one of the few people who are still new to this game, you need to learn the structure and rules of the game. The best way to do this is by learning what happens in Texas hold em’s four betting rounds: preflop, flop, turn and river. Here’s how it breaks down:

Preflop. The preflop is the first round of betting in hold 'em poker. Usually, there is an appointed dealer, so a dealer button is rotated around the table instead to make it fair. The two players to the left the button start the action by throwing in the initial bets, which is used instead of an ante. These bets are called the small blind and the big blind. The small blind is usually about half of the big blind. Once the blinds are in, everyone is dealt two cards. Then, the person to the left of the big blind can either fold, call or raise. You can’t check in the first round. The action moves to the left until it comes around to the small blind again; this person can either call the rest of the bet, raise or fold. The big blind has the choice to fold, raise or check because the big blind counts as a full bet. If there is a raise during the preflop round, the big blind can’t check. Once everyone is either in this hand or out, move onto the next round.
The Flop. Here the dealer burns, or discards, the top card from the deck and deals three cards face up in the middle of the table. Everyone can use these cards to make the best five-card hand. The betting starts with the person to the left of the dealer button, who was the small blind last round. Since no money has been committed to the pot, the small blind can either check, bet or fold. Unless everyone checks, the action goes around the table until all bets and raises have been called.
The Turn. The turn is also known as fourth street. The dealer burns the top card again and deals one more card face up. The person to the left of the dealer starts the betting again and it continues in the same way as the the flop.
The River. Naturally, the river is also known as fifth street and it’s the final betting round. Once again, the dealer burns the top card from the deck and places the last card in the center of the table. A final round of betting occurs. Unless everybody folds to one player, those still in the game have to show their hands. The person with the highest-ranking hand wins.

Now that you know the basic rules for Texas hold 'em poker, you can learn some strategies, upset some pros and become known as an arrogant, young upstart.

Posted on: Sep. 09, 2010