Nov 7, 2011
Texas holdem poker also known as Holdem is a favorite among online gamblers. People love to play this particular version of online poker because it is easy to learn and its rules and strategies are easily available on any well known egaming blog. Due to its huge popularity, it is a main event of the World Series of Poker. Played not only in casinos and at home, Texas holdem is also played over internet. In fact online casinos have ranked it the most liked and most played game.
Playing Texas holdem online is just as exciting and amusing as it is in Atlantic City and Las Vegas and definitely a lot more convenient.
Learn the basics of Texas holdem
If you want to become a professional Texas holdem poker player, or at least an intermediate player, then you must be fully aware of the general and basic Texas holdem rules and the Texas holdem hands to play. You can learn how to play Texas holdem poker within a day or so, but mastering the game of poker takes lots of patience and practice. General Texas holdem poker rules are:
The game of Texas holdem is played with a standard deck of 52 cards. Players are dealt with two “down” cards and five “up” cards. Five “up” cards are called community cards and are shared by all players on the table. Texas holdem can be played with a minimum of 2 players and at the most 11 players.
One person acts as a dealer. His duties include shuffling the cards, distributing the cards and controlling the flow of the game.
The two players on the left side of the dealer start the game by making the blind bets. Now each player is given 2 “down” cards. These are the “hole” cards of the players. This round is called “pre-flop” round.
Now dealer turns over the three cards in the middle of the table. Now the second betting round starts. This betting round starts to the player on the left of the dealer and continues to the left. In this round a player can call, raise or fold, if there is a bet on the table. If there is no bet on the table then a player can make the bet or check.
As the second betting round ends, the dealer distributes another “up” card. This card is called “turn”. Players can use this sixth card now to form a five card poker hand. The player to the left of the dealer starts the betting round. In this round the bet amount becomes equal to the maximum table bet.
Now the final betting round starts. Dealer distributes the final card which is called “river”. A player can use any combination of cards to make the hand. A hand may be one pocket card and four community card or 2 pocket cards and 3 community cards.
Now all the players which are in the hand show their cards. The best hand wins the pot. However, during the game a player can fold and can get out of the hand in any time.
Texas holdem poker is the glamorous face of the sport of poker, the variant that has allowed poker to come out of shady saloon backrooms and project itself as a legitimate sport that relies on strategy and skill, not just luck. There’s little surprise then, that it is the numero uno online poker variant. The reasons for that become more apparent when you take into account the simplicity of the game, as well as the scope for strategic planning and execution in Texas Holdem poker.