Playing the hand
10 January 2008The play of the game starts with each player being dealt two cards each card is face down. These cars are called the hole or pocket cards. These two cards that are dealt will be they only two physical cards that a dealer will give to the player. At the showdown is the only time where these cards may be revealed. The showdown which we will discuss id the official end of the game. Now that each player has 2 pocket cards the hand will begin with a pre flop betting round, the round starts with the player to the left of the big blind which is the player to the left of the dealer if no blinds are used.
The round of betting runs clockwise. The round of betting ends when the players either bet or they fold. The blinds are considered to be live in the pre flop betting round. This means that they can contribute to the amount that the blind players have to contribute. After the pre flop round, it has to be assumed that there are at least 2 players participating in the hand. The dealer deals a flop and the three face cards from the dealers are called community cards. This means that the players can use these cards in conjunction with their pockets cards to form a 5 card poker hand. The players cannot physically take the cards but they can figure them into their hand.
The flop is followed by the second round of betting and a single community card is dealt and then a third and then another card are dealt. The last single community card or called a river or Fifth Street is dealt and then it is followed by one more betting round and then the showdown if necessary. A showdown may not be necessary if the players have all folded except for one. The player still left after everyone has folded before the showdown gets the pot.
The player who remains after all the others folded before the showdown is not required to show their cards and they automatically win. If there are two or more players in the end then a showdown will happen. On the showdown the remaining players formulate their hands from their pocket cards and the community cards. If you have a better hand using one pocket card and 4 of the community cards that is ok. The player must have 5 cards in their hand in order to play.
It is also possible that the pocket cards are useless and the community cards make up the winning hand that is called playing the board. This is a bit risky because the other players are using the same cards to form their hands, so at best you may have to share the pot. It now must be determined the best hand to win, the dealer will determine the best hand and will decide who wins and who shares the pot.
Texas holdem has become very popular in the US and there are plenty of poker sites to choose from.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
