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Texas Holdem Rules
Texas Holdem is normally played
using small and big blind bets – forced bets by two players. Antes (forced
contributions by all players) may be used in addition to blinds,
particularly in later stages of tournament play. A dealer button is used to
represent the player in the dealer position; the dealer button rotates
clockwise after each hand, changing the position of the dealer and blinds.
The small blind is posted by the player to the left of the dealer and is
usually equal to half of the big blind. The big blind, posted by the player
to the left of the small blind, is equal to the minimum bet. In tournament
poker, the blind/ante structure periodically increases as the tournament
progresses.
When only two players remain, special 'head-to-head' or 'heads up' rules are
enforced and the blinds are posted differently. In this case, the person
with the dealer button posts the small blind, while his/her opponent places
the big blind. The dealer acts first before the flop. After the flop, the
dealer acts last for the remainder of the hand.
The three most common variations of Texas Holdem are limit Texas Holdem,
no-limit Texas Holdem and pot-limit Texas Holdem. Limit Texas Holdem has
historically been the most popular form of Texas Holdem found in casino live
action games in the United States. In limit Texas Holdem, bets and raises
during the first two rounds of betting (pre-flop and flop) must be equal to
the big blind; this amount is called the small bet. In the next two rounds
of betting (turn and river), bets and raises must be equal to twice the big
blind; this amount is called the big bet. No-limit Texas Holdem is the form
most commonly found in televised tournament poker and is the game played in
the main event of the World Series of Poker. In no-limit Texas Holdem,
players may bet or raise any amount over the minimum raise up to all of the
chips the player has at the table (called an all-in bet). If someone wishes
to re-raise, they must raise at least the amount of the previous raise. For
example, if the big blind is $2 and there is a bet of $6 to a total of $8, a
raise must be at least $6 more for a total of $14. If a raise or re-raise is
all-in and does not equal the size of the previous raise, the initial raiser
can not re-raise again. This only matters of course if there was a call
before the re-raise. In pot-limit Texas Holdem, the maximum raise is the
current size of the pot.
Play of the hand
Play begins with each player being dealt two cards face down. These cards
are the player's hole or pocket cards. These are the only cards each player
will receive individually, and they will only (possibly) be revealed at the
showdown, making Texas Texas Holdem a closed poker game.
The hand begins with a "pre-flop" betting round, beginning with the player
to the left of the big blind 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. Note that the
blinds are considered "live" in the pre-flop betting round, meaning that
they contribute to the amount that the blind player must contribute, and
that, if all players call around to the player in the big blind position,
that player may either check or raise.
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.
In 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.
The Showdown
If a player bets and all other players fold, then the remaining player is
awarded the pot and is not required to show his hole cards. If two or more
players remain after the final betting round, a showdown occurs. On the
showdown, each player plays the best five-card poker hand he can make from
the seven cards comprising his two hole cards and the five community cards.
A player may use both of his own two hole cards, only one, or none at all,
to form his final five-card hand. If the five community cards form the
player's best hand, then the player is said to be playing the board and can
only hope to split the pot, since each other player can also use the same
five cards to construct the same hand.
If the best hand is shared by more than one player, then the pot is split
equally among them, with any extra chips going to the first players after
the button in clockwise order. It is common for players to have
closely-valued, but not identically ranked hands. Nevertheless, one must be
careful in determining the best hand; if the hand involves fewer than five
cards, (such as two pair or three of a kind), then kickers are used to
settle ties.
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