Known as one of the most popular variants of poker, Texas Hold’em has attracted casino players from all over the world. With its competitive gameplay, straightforward rules and diverse strategies to choose from, the game offers an exciting and rewarding time for players looking for a challenge!
Aside from that, most gambling tournaments use this poker variant’s ruleset, making it the most popular. So, if you’re looking to learn more about this popular table game, you’ve come to the right place! Here at Casino Days, you can find out the different hands and how you can play Texas Hold’em in no time.
Basics of Texas Hold’em Poker
To play Texas Hold’em, you must have the following:
- A standard 52-card deck to be used throughout the game.
- Poker chips for the betting rounds
- Five or more players
- Dealer buttons.
Poker hands
When playing Texas Hold’em Poker, you first have to familiarize yourself with the poker hands to help your in-game decision making. You can easily strategize and know your next move once you know the value of the cards you hold.
Take a look at these hand rankings for your Texas Hold’em poker winning strategy:
Royal flush
In Texas Hold’em, this is the highest type of poker hand. It contains the five highest cards of the same suit in sequence such as 10♣, J♣, Q♣, K♣, and A♣.
Straight flush
A straight flush is a combination of five consecutive cards in the same suit. For instance, your hand is considered a straight flush if you have 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of clubs.
Four of a kind
Four of a kind consists of four cards of the same number. For example, if you have four aces, you have a quad!
Full house
If your hand has 3 cards of the same value in different suits and a pair in another suit, you have a full house. An example would be three 8s and two 4s.
Flush
Flush is a combination of 5 cards in the same suit, but they don’t have to be in sequence. For instance, your hand has an A, J, 9, 6 and 3 of hearts.
Straight
Straight refers to a combination of five consecutive cards with different suits. An example is 5 ♠, 6 ♦, 7 ♠, 8 ♦ and 9 ♣.
Three of a kind
Three of a kind is a hand that consists of three cards of the same suit, and two other cards of another suit.
Two pairs
A two pair refers to a hand that consists of a pair of one rank and another pair of a different rank.
One pair
A pair is a combination of two cards of the same number, and the other three cards of different ranks.
High card
The high card represents the highest card if no other hand rankings are applicable to a hand.
How to play Texas Hold’em
The objective of Texas Hold’em is straightforward. To win, you must have the best combination of cards among the participants to score the pot money.
The poker table must consist of five or more participants. If there are only two players at the table, the game is called a heads up. On the other hand, games with four players are called shorthands.
To get you started, here are the steps of a typical poker game:
Step 1: The Blinds
In every game, there will be a marker called the dealer button which will identify the dealer for the round. Before the cards are dealt, players are required to place bets called the ‘Big blinds’ and the ‘Small blinds’. The small blinds are for players sitting on the far left of the dealer, while the big blinds are the ones sitting on the right. These are mandatory bets made to ensure there is pot money to be won before the game officially begins.
Step 2: The Pre-flop
Each player is dealt two cards each face down. Afterwards, they will take turns to take action and make the next move. The first person to begin is the one sitting to the left of the big blind, which is called the ‘live’ betting for this round. As a player, you can choose any of the following actions:
- Call the bet amount.
- Fold without betting, meaning forfeiting your cards.
- Raise the bet amount.
The betting continues until all the players have placed the same bets on the pot money.
Step 3: The Flop
In this stage known as ‘the flop’, three cards facing up will be dealt on the table. These three cards are called the ‘community cards’. Next, another betting round starts with the small blinds after the players have assessed their hands along with the community cards.
Step 4: The Turn
After all bets have been placed in the flop round, the fourth community card called the ‘turn’ is dealt face-up on the table. The third betting round starts. Just like the previous rounds, the player sitting on the far left will be the first to take actions such as to bet, fold or raise.
Step 5: The River
When the betting action has been completed, the fifth and final community card called the ‘river’ is dealt face-up. This will be the final betting round of the game.
Step 6: The Showdown
The last stage of Texas Hold’em is called the showdown. If there is more than one active player after the final betting round has been completed, they must compare their cards to determine which has a better hand. Whoever has the best five-card poker hand takes home the pot money!
However, if there are two identical hands, the pot must be split between the players. This is called a tie.
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