Texas Hold’em Poker

Texas Hold’em (namely No Limit Texas Hold’em) is widely considered the “Cadillac of Poker”. It’s the most popular poker game in the world because it’s simple to learn, but mastering it may take years of experience and study.

In this Texas Hold’em Poker guide, I’ll discuss all aspects of playing Texas Hold’em including terms you should know, rules, playing online, tips, and strategy. I’ve tried to make this a simple Texas Hold’em poker tutorial for beginners, but if you find that your question is not answered here, please contact me and I will be glad to help.

Texas Hold’em Poker Terms You Should Know

Buy-in – How much it costs to get into a tournament or cash game. For example you can play a tournament with a $55 buy-in, or play a No Limit Hold’em cash game with a $40 minimum / $200 maximum buy-in.
Blinds – Forced bets that rotate around the table with the dealer. Similar to antes in Stud games, these serve the purpose of having money in the pot before the cards are dealt to encourage action.
The Button – Refers to the “dealer button”, a small plastic puck with the word “dealer” on it. The purpose of the dealer button is to determine the order in which player acts first in the hand. After each hand , the dealer button moves one seat to the left. The button is considered to be the most powerful position at the table since that player gets to act last on each round.
Preflop – All the action that takes place after players receive their two cards face down and before the flop. (This is the first round of betting)
Flop – The first three cards that are dealt face up in the center of the table. (Second round of betting)
Turn – The fourth community card dealt face up in the center of the table. (Third round of betting)
River – The fifth and final community card dealt face up in the center of the table. (Fourth and final round of betting)
Showdown – This is when all the betting on the river is complete and players reveal their hands in order to claim the pot.
Bet – To put chips into the pot.
Raise – A raise is when someone else bets first, and you want to increase that amount.
Check – To pass the option to bet to the next person.
Fold – To discard your hand and relinquish the pot. Also called “muck”. as in “He mucked his hand after I raised him on the river”.
All-in – When you bet your last remaining chips, you are said to be “all in”. In No Limit Hold’em, you can go all in at any point in the hand.

Texas Hold’em Poker Rules – How to Play Texas Hold’em Poker

Like I previously mentioned, Hold’em is extremely simple to learn. Many players mistakenly believe that once you learn how to play Texas Hold’em poker, you are ready to compete at any level. This also tends to happen with new Hold’em players who learn by watching televised poker games.

I should know, since that’s exactly how I approached the game when I first started playing Texas Hold’em poker.

But don’t worry too much about that now, just focus on learning the rules of Texas Hold’em poker by reading the following Texas Hold’em poker instructions.

1. Number of players

In Texas Hold’em the number of players can range from 2 to 10 per table, with the most common games having 9 people at a full table. Playing one other player is called heads up Texas Hold’em and playing with 6 or fewer players is called shorthanded Texas Hold’em.

2. High carding for dealer

When a new game begins, someone (the dealer at the casino, host of the home game, or computer dealer online) gives each player one card face up. The highest card gets the dealer button.

3. Texas Hold’em poker blinds

To the immediate left of the dealer is the small blind, and the player to the left of that is the big blind. The blinds are determined by the game’s betting structure. In a $0.50/$1.00 No Limit Hold’em game, the small blind would be $0.50 and the big blind would be $1. Throughout the hand the minimum bet would be the same as the big blind – $1.

Limit Hold’em works a bit differently. In a $10/$20 Limit Hold’em game for example, the small blind is $5 and the big blind is $10. Player can bet a fixed amount of $10 on the flop. But in Limit, the bet doubles on the turn and river to $20.

In Texas Hold’em tournaments the blinds go up after so many minutes. This is to ensure the tournament moves at a steady pace by forcing players to play or be “blinded out”.

4. Dealing the cards

After posting the blinds the dealer deals each player two cards face down. These are known as “hole cards”.

5. Texas Hold’em poker betting

Since the blinds have already been forced to put money up, the preflop betting starts with the person to the immediate left of the big blind. This position is called “under the gun” and is abbreviated UTG. The betting continues around the table until it reaches the small blind. If no one has raised, the small blind can complete the blind. This is sometimes referred to as “playing for half price”.

Also, if no one has raised, the big blind gets the option to check or raise. If the big blind checks, the flop is dealt. This is often referred to as “seeing a free flop”. (NOTE: Many new players look at their hand in the big blind and try to fold it even when no one has raised. Even if your hand is terrible, and unless someone raises, you should never fold the big blind.)

Texas Hold’em Poker Online – List of the Best Online Texas Hold’em Poker Sites

Playing Texas Hold’em poker online is different than playing at a casino or home game in a couple of ways.

No tipping required – Unlike casinos where tipping at the poker table is consider good poker etiquette, you don’t have to tip the virtual Texas Hold’em dealer.
Hold’em stakes for any bankroll – At a brick-and-mortar casino or Texas Hold’em home game, you may not be able to play the stakes you want. Online Texas Hold’em poker sites have stakes ranging from $0.01/$0.02 to $500/$1000.
Play Hold’em anytime you want – One of the best benefits of having an online poker account, is the convenience of playing Texas Hold’em poker any time of the day or night.
See many many more hands – Playing Hold’em at a casino or at home, you may see 20-50 hands per hour. Playing online Texas Hold’em, you’ll see as many as 75-100 per hour (per table), with the option of playing as many as 16 to nearly 30 tables.

Different Texas Hold’em Poker Games

There are several different versions of Texas Hold’em poker games you can play. In all these games the same basic Texas Hold’em rules apply, but each has it’s own differences in betting rules. Each game also has different strategic considerations that you need to be aware of. The games are:

No Limit Texas Hold’em Poker Cash Games
Pot Limit Texas Hold’em Poker Cash Games
Fixed Limit Texas Hold’em Poker Cash Games
Texas Hold’em Poker Tournaments

No Limit Hold’em Tournaments vs Cash Games vs Pot Limit

No Limit Hold’em is the most popular version, mainly due to the excitement of being able to bet all your chips at any time. Both no limit cash game and poker tournament strategies require different approaches. In cash games, as a beginner you can stick to starting hand charts and win by playing tight, ABC poker. In tournaments however, you have to adjust your play throughout as the tournament progresses. That’s because in Hold’em tournaments, the blinds increase after so many minutes.

To illustrate these differences let’s take the hand 33 (pocket threes). In deep stack No Limit Hold’em cash games, if someone raises and you suspect a big hand like AK, AA, KK etc, it’s correct to call hoping to flop a set (three of a kind) because of the implied odds. If your opponent does have a big hand, you will likely win his entire stack.

Now, in tournaments the value of pocket threes will change dramatically depending on your stack size versus the blinds. In the beginning stages of the tournament, when your stack size versus the blinds is close to what you would have in a No Limit cash game, you may want to limp in with threes hoping to see a cheap flop. In the middle stages when you have a medium stack and want to be careful, you should usually just fold the threes (unless you’re trying to steal the blinds from late position). And in late stages when the blinds are huge compared to stack sizes, the best play may be to push all-in hoping to take down the pot, but still having an okay hand should you get called.

Other No Limit Texas Hold’em strategic considerations include whether you’re playing a full table of 9 players or shorthanded (6 Max online). Generally, the play is tighter and the pace slower at a full table, whereas shorthanded play is a faster and more aggressive game.

Pot limit Hold’em plays the same as No Limit except at any given point in the hand the maximum you can bet is the amount in the pot. For years Pot Limit Hold’em was more popular than No Limit. Veteran poker pros claim that Pot Limit requires more skill than other forms of Hold’em.

Fixed Limit Hold’em or No Fold’em Hold’em

Limit Hold’em, often jokingly referred to as “No Fold’em Hold’em” because of the large number of people who call too much, is the least popular form of the game. Since most hands have several players involved, and it only costs a couple of bets to get to showdown, many players mistakenly call too many bets. Many times, you’ll have a player calling your bets with nothing more than bottom pair, only to pair their other card on the river. This is especially true in low limit casino and online Texas Hold’em games. The good part of a loose fixed limit Hold’em game, is that most of the time you will get the proper pot odds to draw to straights and flushes, and then get paid off by several players on the end.

Texas Hold’em Poker Tips

Unfortunately, there are very few absolutes in Texas Hold’em. But there are some of my Texas Hold’em poker tips that apply no matter what.

Always play more hands in late position. Conversely, you should play less hands in early position. If you are the first to act after the flop, you are said to be “out of position”. This is always a disadvantage. You should open up your hand range the closer you get to the button. You should play your widest range on hands from the button.
An aggressive strategy is always better than a passive strategy. A player who checks and calls and doesn’t raise is called a calling station (passive). People, who consistently play Hold’em passively, will lose money to the more aggressive players over time. As a new player, your goal should be a tight-aggressive approach. This means that you carefully select which cards you play, and then you play aggressive throughout the hand.
Playing poker online will dramatically increase how quickly you learn Texas Hold’em. Because of the sheer volume of hands you get to play online, you will learn exponentially faster. That’s why you see so many young poker pros. If you’re not playing Texas Hold’em online, you’re costing yourself money.

Play Texas Hold’em online now at the largest poker site in the world!

Texas Hold’em Poker Strategy – How to Win at Texas Hold’em Poker

Winning at Texas Hold’em poker consistently will take time, patience, and careful study of the game. Texas Hold’em poker strategy is something you should never stop working on. Here are some of the poker skills you need to develop to become a winning Texas Hold’em player.

Texas Hold’em Poker Skills

Bluffing – Learning how to successfully pull off a good bluff, or how to call a bluff is something every good poker player should know. Be careful though, bluffing in Texas Hold’em is often overused, especially at lower limits. Make sure you have a good reason to bluff when you do it.

Playing Position – Using your position at the poker table to win more money is a skill that you must learn to become a winning Hold’em player.

Texas Hold’em Poker Books

The following are some of my favorite Hold’em books. If you have any suggestions that I haven’t read, feel free to let me know.

Beginner Texas Hold’em Books

Immediate/Novice/Advanced Texas Hold’em Books