Texas Holdem Rules:

Texas Holdem is one of the simplest poker games to learn and I'll have you feeling like a pro in no time. People from countries all over the world have learned how to play Texas Holdem and it has been the most popular poker game in the world for the past 10 years almost now. When you start a poker game you need to decide who's going to be the dealer for the 1st hand. In Texas Holdem players pass the dealer button one spot to the left every hand, which ensures players at the table take turns paying the small blind and the big blind.

» Texas Holdem Rules - Before the Deal

The only thing that players need to do before the deal is pay the two blinds. In Texas Holdem the two players that are sitting to the left of the dealer button need to pay the blinds. The player sitting to the immediate left of the button needs to pay the small blind and the player sitting on the left of the small blind will need to pay the big blind.

» Texas Holdem Rules - Preflop

The action starts with the player sitting to the left of the big blind. Each player gets to decide to call the big blind, raise the big blind or fold their hand without putting any money into the pot. Players continue betting until each player has called the current bet or folded their hand.

» Texas Holdem Rules - Flop

After the preflop action the dealer places the 1st three community cards out on the table, which are cards that every player in the hand can use to make their hand better. Once the cards are placed on the table there is a round of betting with the action starting with the player sitting to the left of the button. Players can check, bet, raise or fold during the betting round depending upon the action that's transpired.

» Texas Holdem Rules - Turn

On the turn the dealer needs to place one more community card on the table that players can use. The betting starts with the player sitting to the left of the button that's still in the hand. The betting is the same format as the betting on the flop and continues until everyone has checked, called the current bet or folded.

» Texas Holdem Rules - River

The last community card dealt by the dealer in Texas Holdem is the river. After the river card is dealt by the dealer the player sitting to the left of the dealer starts the final betting. The betting format is the same as the previous two betting rounds.

After the betting on the river is over the players still in the hand need to flip their hands over. This is known as the showdown in Texas Holdem and is the final stage of the hand. The player will the best hand at the showdown will take down the money that's in the pot. In Holdem players need to make the best 5-card hand using any of the community cards or the cards they were dealt. However, if two players have the same exact 5-card hand than the players tied with the best hand split the pot. Make sure you spend time reading over a hand ranking chart if you don't know the ranking of poker hands yet.

The rules of the game change slightly if you're playing fixed limit or pot limit Texas Holdem. Both of these formats are less popular than no limit Texas Holdem. In pot limit and fixed limit Holdem poker games the betting rounds are a bit different and don't allow as much flexibility as players have when playing no limit Holdem.