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Texas Hold’em is the most popular form of poker played in casinos worldwide and on the Internet.

» The game

Texas Hold’em poker games use a 52-card deck. You will notice a white round disk sitting in front of one of the players. This disk is known as the dealer button and will rotate to the next player on the left each hand. The “dealer” is important because it designates who must post the blinds and act first on each betting round.

The player immediately to the left of the dealer button must post the small blind which is somewhere between ½ and 2/3 the minimum bet. The player to the left of the small blind is the big blind and must post an amount equal to the minimum bet. Without blinds, players could simply wait for AA every hand since they would be losing nothing for their patience.

Each player is dealt two cards face down and the first betting round takes place. The first player to act is the player sitting to the left of the big blind.

In this first betting round, players have the option of calling, raising, or folding. If the pot is not raised, the big blind can raise or has the option of checking since he has already posted the minimum bet. In Limit games, each bet or raise is equal to the minimum bet. For example, in a $1-$2 Limit Texas Hold’em game, one player could bet $1 and another player could raise to $2.

Three cards will then be dealt face up in the middle of the table. These are community cards which every player can use to make their best poker hand. This betting round is known as the flop. The first player to the left of the button begins the betting on this round and all subsequent rounds. Players may bet, check, call, raise, or fold in turn. Once again, the bets are equal to the minimum bet which would be $1 in the example above.

A 4th card will then be dealt face up which is known as the turn card. The bets on this round are equal to the maximum bet. For example, in a $1-$2 Limit Texas Hold’em game, one player could bet $2 and another player could raise to $4.

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A 5th card is then dealt face up which is known as the river card.

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Again the bets on this round are equal to the maximum bet. The winner is the player who can make the best five-card poker hand using his two hole cards and five community cards. Players can use one, both, or none of their hole cards to make the best hand. If two players use the five community cards in the middle of the table they would split the pot regardless of what their two hole cards are.

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