A quick guide to Texas Hold 'em poker
It sounds a bit complicated but it's actually really simple. Watch this video for some extra clarification.
The aim of the game
Superficially, your aim is to make the best five card hand you can (check out the hand hierarchy) from a selection of seven cards that are available to you. Two of those seven cards belong to you and you alone while five of them can be used by all the players in the game.
However, your real aim is to win hands however good or bad your cards are!
It's important to realise that there are two ways to win; by having the best hand at the end of the betting; or by forcing everyone to fold, usually by making them think you have the best hand - the infamous act of "bluffing".
Cash games vs tournaments
It's worth noting that there are two forms of Texas Hold 'em; cash games and tournaments.
Cash games are played for real money and don't have a winner or loser as such. If you lose your cash you can always put more on the table.
Tournament poker, which is the most common form of poker seen on
TV, is more structured. A tournament has a certain number of
entrants who each pay an entry fee ("the buy in") which buys a
certain amount of chips. Once you lose your chips you're out of the
tournament. The winner is the last man standing, who ends up with
all the chips in the tournament.
The gameplay
Play follows a pattern where:
Each player gets dealt their two face down cards (hole cards).
A round of betting ensues where you can broadly fold (give up your hand), call (stay in the hand by putting in the same amount as the largest bet so far) or raise the stakes. At this point players are essentially betting on the potential of their two cards to make a good five card hand.
Three cards are then dealt face up on the board ("the flop").
Another round of betting ensues.
A fourth card is dealt face up ("the turn").
Another round of betting takes place.
A fifth card is dealt face up ("the river")
A final round of betting takes place.
Any remaining hands are shown down and the best one takes the pot.
I'm all in!
In the most popular "no-limit" version of the game you can go "all in" at any time. This simply means that you put all your chips in the middle. You can't bet any more because you've got no more chips to bet with. If someone calls your all in bet and you lose then you'll find yourself, well... all out.
