Texas Hold'em

Texas hold 'em is a community card game where cards are dealt face up in the center of the table, which is called the "board", and shared by the players. Each player is dealt two private cards face down ("hole cards"), which are then combined with the community cards to make a complete poker hand.

Texas hold'em is an exciting game because the "Pots" can grow quite large. However, Texas hold'em is also a very strategic game. A player should have a good understanding of the odds (statistics) of winning the hand he/she is dealt, know how much to wager per hand and understand the opponents style of play. Texas hold'em has a lot of terminology that you must be familiar with. So before we go any further let's go over some of the terms:

Antes: Before the deal each player places an equal agreed upon amount of money or chips into the pot before the deal begins. The purpose of an ante is to force each player to have an invested interest and to encourage them to play. It also ensures that a player who folds every round will eventually lose money.

Minimums: Texas hold'em has minimum bet as well as maximums, (betting units). Example; in games with $20 and $40 betting limits, normally require a minimum betting unit of $5, so that all bets must be in multiples of $5.

Limits:  Apply to the amount a player may open or raise. There are types of limits; no limit, pot limit, fixed limit and spread limit. 

Fixed limit: A fix limit game is usually played in a series of rounds. For example, a four-round game called " $20/$40" specify that each bet in the first two rounds is limited to $20 for each bet, and the third and fourth rounds is $40. This amount applies to each raise, so a player may bet $20, be raised up to$20, and then re-raise another $20, for a total bet of $60. Most fixed-limit games will not allow more than a predetermined number of raises in a betting round. The maximum number of raises depends on the casino rules.

Playing spread-limit requires some care to avoid giving easy tells with one's choice of bets. Beginners frequently give themselves away by betting high with strong hands and low with weak ones, for instance. It is also harder to force other players out with big bets. 

Pot limit: A game played with a pot-limit betting structure allows any player to raise up to an amount equal to the size of the whole pot before the raise. Basically a player limited to betting no higher than the amount in the "pot" per bet.

No limit: A game played with a no-limit betting structure allows each player to raise the bet by any amount up to the total amount of money or chips they have available (All-in). 
 

Each player is dealt two down cards (hold cards) in Texas hold 'em. The player in the small blind receiving the first card and the player in the button seat receiving the last card dealt.

The hand begins with a "pre-flop" betting round, beginning with the player to the left of the big blind (or the player to the left of the dealer, if no blinds are used) and continuing clockwise. A round of betting continues until every player has either folded, put in all of their chips, or matched the amount put in by all other active players.

After the pre-flop betting round, assuming there remain at least two players taking part in the hand, the dealer deals a flop, three face-up community cards. The flop is followed by a second betting round. This and all subsequent betting rounds begin with the player to the dealer's left and continue clockwise.

After the flop betting round ends, a single community card (called the turn or fourth street) is dealt, followed by a third betting round. A final single community card (called the river or fifth street) is then dealt, followed by a fourth betting round and the showdown, if necessary all casinos, the dealer will burn a card before the flop,turn, and river. Because of this burn, players who are betting cannot see the back of the next community card to come, which might be marked. Once the cards are dealt and play begins its poker time. Betting strategies, bluffing, figuring odds of winning all come into play. There are many different strategies available for playing Texas Hold'em.