Texas Holdem Poker

Not much can be said about Texas Holdem poker that hasn’t been said yet. The game is forever growing and evolving and playing Texas Holdem has almost become as necessary a skill as reading or writing.

People play in home games, online, small tournaments, on professional poker tours and the ultimate World Series of Poker.

No matter what your hopes and dreams are regarding Texas Holdem poker, we think we will be able to give you a good idea of how the game is played. We have loads of information on strategy, tournaments happening at the top online poker rooms and tons of information on the pro’s you see on television.

It might be a good idea to bookmark this page and check back regularly. You would be able to then ensure that you stay up to date with the news on the pro’s, the tournaments and constantly learn new skills in this most intriguing of card games.

Contrary to all casino games, Texas Holdem poker is a game of skill. You play the game against other players and this enables you to beat them on skill.

There are however many different aspects to playing Texas Holdem poker well and we will teach all we know. If you apply this information to your poker play, you will make sure that you play winning poker. It is possible for anyone who follows the strategies set out throughout this site to win more games than what they lose.

How a game of Texas Holdem poker is played:
1. The betting structure can vary, but most games start with two players placing out a predetermined amount of money so there is an initial amount to play for. This is called posting the blinds. These players are the two to the left of the dealer.
2. The dealer shuffles up a complete deck of 52 playing cards.
3. Each player is dealt two cards face down. These are called your hole or pocket cards.
4. Then there is a round of betting starting with the guy to the left of the two who posted the blinds. This round is usually referred to by the term pre-flop.
5. The amount betted depends on what kind of game it is.
6. Much like most games of poker, players can check, raise, or fold.
7. After the betting round ends, the dealer discards the top card of the deck. This is called a burn card. This is done to prevent cheating.
8. The dealer then flips the next three cards face up on the table. These cards are called the flop. These are communal cards that anyone can use in combination with their two pocket cards to form a poker hand.
9. There is another round of betting starting with the player to the left of the dealer.
10. After the betting concludes, the dealer burns another card and flips one more onto the table. This is called the turn card. Players can use this sixth card now to form a five-card poker hand.
11. The player to the left of the dealer begins another round of betting. In many types of games, this is where the bet size doubles.
12. Finally, the dealer burns a card and places a final card face up on the table. This is called the river. Players can now use any of the five cards on the table or the two cards in their pocket to form a five-card poker hand.
13. There is one final round of betting starting with the player to the left of the dealer.
14. After that, all of the players remaining in the game begin to reveal their hands. This begins with the player to the left of the last player to call. It's called the showdown.
15. The player with the best hand is the winner (have a look at the poker winning hands). If there is no clear winner according these winning hands, the winner is the player who holds the highest pocket card.

This is the shortest and most basic of explanations of the game. Now dig into the rest of the pages to find out all you want to know about the game