How to Play Poker - Texas Hold ‘em - Poker Made Simple

A game of global popularity and cherished by millions, Poker has its roots in the early states of the USA in the 1800s. For those who don't know, poker can seem confusing and complex. Some see it as a random game of chance, similar to pure gambling. The reality is that it is neither of those things but a blend of the two.

At first, the rules may seem difficult to understand. However, anyone can learn to play poker. Soon, it will feel natural. As you improve at the game, it becomes increasingly complex and learning is continuous.

In a way, poker is both simple and incredibly complex.

Knowing the rules of poker is simple.

Playing poker by its fundamental rules is easy.

Playing strategic poker is difficult

Playing elite poker is a lifelong commitment to learning.

You cannot skip a step, so let's start at the beginning;

The rules of poker:

By far the most popular variant of poker is Texas Hold ‘em. So much so that it is mostly synonymous with the word poker. That is what we’ll cover today.

There are two types of cards in the game, hole cards and community cards.

HOLE CARDS

COMMUNITY CARDS

The goal of the game is to use seven cards to form the best hand( You have 2 hole cards and 5 community cards). Your aim is to make the best five-card hand possible. Or at least convey to other players that they have a higher ranking hand.

Below are the hand rankings, with rank number one being the strongest possible hand and ten being the weakest. Individual card strength begins with number two through till ten. After ten, the ranking are jack, queen, king, and ace. Uniquely, the Ace can act as a one or an ace in forming a straight.

Want a free PDF of the hand ranking chart? Click Here for poker cheat sheet (you’ll need to refer back to it for a while)

In each hand, the dealer button moves one person to the left. In your home games, this person will deal the cards for that round. In professional games, a dedicated dealer is provided. Before this, position 2 and 3 to the immediate left of the dealer must post a forced bet without seeing their cards.

They are blind to their cards, hence the name for the forced bet being called ‘the blinds’. This gives all players some incentive to play each hand. Otherwise, there would be no cost in waiting for the ‘perfect’ hand.

Once the blinds are posted and the hole cards are dealt, the first position to act is 4, which is why it is named under the gun(UTG).

The player in the UTG position has the following options:

Call: bet the same amount of money as the highest current bet, which in this case is the big blind. This is the price they must pay to remain in the hand.

Raise: a raise is when a player elects to bet more than the current highest bet. To make a legal raise it must be at least double the current highest bet, so in this case it must be double the big blind.

Fold: The final option available to UTG is to fold. Which means they forfeit their hole cards and elect to no longer participate in the current hand.

Following their decision, the next position will be faced with the exact same options. This will occur all the way around to the small blind. As the small blind has already posted a small bet prior it is slightly different for them.

If no other players had raised since the big blind was posted, they would have the option to ‘complete’ their bet. Where they would match the big blind, effectively making a call. Alternatively, they have the option to raise or fold.

At the end of each betting round, all the chips / bets are compiled into one collective ‘pot’. This is the prize for the winner of the hand.

Once every player has acted in response to the last bet/raise, the community cards may begin to be dealt.

Alternatively, if one player bets and then all the players that act after elect to fold, the bettor wins the hand.

The first community cards: The Flop

The flop consists of three community cards dealt by the dealer. Before the dealer deals the flop, they must burn a card by placing one card facedown. As mentioned before, all players utilize the community cards to make the best 5-card hand.

The first to act is to the immediate left of the dealer (the small blind), who has the following options:

Bet: They may bet any amount equal to or greater than the big blind

Fold: They may choose to fold their hand. However, it would not be make sense as they are currently not facing any opposing bet, so may get to see a ‘free card’.

Check: This is where the player elects to make no action, which then moves the action to the player to their left.

Each player will have these same options, unless someone elects to bet, then they will have the following options:

• Call their bet
• Raise
• Fold

What happens when someone raises?

Not much changes when someone raises, you have the option call their bet, fold or re-raise.

A re-raise must be at least twice the size of the previous raise. You may notice this is a common theme, like a minimum bet must be twice the size of the big blind.

For example:

If the small blind bets $30, then the big blind decides to raise to $60, the under the gun player must re-raise to at least $120.

Once players finish all betting for this round, the dealer reveals the next community card after burning another card.

The next community card is ‘The Turn’

Following the turn, the action starts to the left of the dealer, which is…. The small blind.

Action continues around the table as per usual with the option to check, bet or fold.

After all betting ceases on the turn, we move to the final community card, ‘The River’.

Action as you might suspect, begins to the left of the dealer in the small blind.

As with the previous round of betting on the turn, each player has a turn to act.

Once all betting on the river has been finalized and each player has either called or folded we reach a showdown.

This is when players reveal their hole cards, and the player with the strongest five-card hand wins. The winner naturally takes the entire pot.

All Ins

At any betting round, a player may elect to go ‘All In’, meaning they bet all their chips.

Equipment you will need to play

• Poker Chips
• Playing cards
• Dealer Button
• At least two people

Optional:

• Poker table or a poker table mat
• Poker Timer
• Shot Clock
• Cashbox

If you would like to explore the only poker set you will ever need, click here 

If you would like to learn the more granular aspects of texas hold em, such as side pots, hand ranking specifics, time limits.  click here