How to play Texas Holdem Poker

Texas Holdem is the most popular casino game on the Internet and in the world. It has gained momentum over the last couple of years and has started to attract even the most novice card players who enjoy a wager.

Holdem is very easy to learn with a basic rule format. The most enjoyable thing about Holdem is that there are a lot of different strategies involved, which makes playing this game very interesting. The good thing about Holdem is that you are not playing against the casino but other players all over the world.

To make a hand in Holdem check out the poker hands listed in the poker menu. You can use 1, 2 or none of your cards to make a hand. If you use the community cards you can only hope for a tie. This is pointless and very rarely happens. It's not worth risking your money.

First of all, the blind and big blind must be wagered by the players sat next to the player who is dealing the cards, the amount of the blind and big blind will depend on what the table limits are. Casino poker use the blind bets to basically start the ball rolling which means there is always money to be won even if everybody throws away their cards. Secondly, each player is dealt 2 cards. These are private cards for your eyes only. They are dealt face down on the table. After the first 2 cards are dealt and the players have looked at their cards they bet on those cards in the pre flop. Each player basically bets cash chips on the strength of those first 2 cards. If you don't think the cards are good enough, throw your cards, if you think you stand a chance, place a wager.

The player after the person who holds the big blind starts the betting. He will either check, which means he will stay in the game without betting, call the big blind, which means he will wager exactly what the big blind is, and raise to whatever amount he chooses after he has called the big blind. This applies to every round of betting. Once the first player has bet, then the remaining players must follow his lead or fold their cards. Also, if you decide to bluff, this is always a good strategy, but its risky if someone is holding a good hand, although, bluffing until the very end may force a player to fold even if they have a very good hand. In Poker you can win very big with absolutely nothing if you bluff intelligently.

Once each player has decided whether they want to bet on the strength of their cards, 3 cards are dealt in the middle of the table for the use of all the remaining players. This is called the flop. You then need to put together a poker hand with the 5 cards on the table, your 2 private cards, and the 3 community cards.

You now need to make a decision. Do you have a good hand? Is your hand strong enough to beat the remaining players? Or do you bluff on a bad hand? If you decide to go with cards for whatever reason, you bet in a second round of betting.

After the second round of betting a 4th card is dealt for all the remaining players. This is called the turn. You have your 2 private cards and 4th community card to make up your hand. The 4th card may have increased your hand, or it may not have made your hand any better. At this point many of the players may have thrown their cards because they didn't think that they stood a chance, you may be playing against a few players.

You now have to make another decision. Is your hand worth betting on further? If you decide it's not good enough, throw your cards. If you think your hand stands a chance, place a wager.

After the 3rd round of betting the final card is dealt for the remaining players. This is called the river card. You now have your 2 private cards and a 5th final community card. Does this card increase you chances of winning? Is the card of no relevance to your hand? Do you carry on bluffing? At this point you may start to feel a little intimidated. Try and stay cool, calm and collected. Don't give anything away to the remaining players. If you decide that your hand doesn't cut the mustard, throw your cards, if you think you stand a great chance, place a wager. This will be the final round of betting.

The person with the highest poker hand wins the pot.