So Are You New To Texas Holdem?
So you're new to Texas Hold'Em poker?
Not a problem. Holdem is fairly easy to pick up. Texas Hold 'Em poker is by far the best game for a beginner to learn. Only then does the skill begin & you find so many different ways to enjoy the game. Instead of other poker games like Omaha or 7 card stud which entail a masses of different odds and perhaps the possibility of counting cards, Hold'Em can be learned in a few minutes by anyone just by following a few basic rules, and you can be playing fairly well with a few hours practice. In order to learn the game, however, you must play and you must play fairly often.One poker room, Absolute Poker, offers a wide variety of play money tables for beginners to practice their skills until they're ready to move up to the fun at real money tables. I recommend this card room to new players, as this site is one of the fastest growing new card rooms and it was one of my 1st sites.
A Texas Hold em poker game starts like this.
1. The betting structure can vary. Sometimes antes are used, but most games start with two players to the left of the dealer placing out a predetermined amount of money so there is an initial amount to get things started. This is called posting the blinds . In our other sections we go into more detail but this is a good starting point.
2. The dealer shuffles up a standard deck of 52 playing cards.
3. Each player is dealt two cards face down. These are called your hole or pocket cards. These cards are yours and your alone.
4. Then there is a round of betting starting with the guy to the left of the two who posted the blinds. This round is usually referred to by the term pre-flop. i.e. everyone has 2 cards each & have to evaluate their chances of developing a hand before the shared cards come out. AA is the best 2-7 is the worst because it is least likely to catch a hand on the flop.
5. The amount a player can bet depends on what kind of game it is. Tournaments have a blind structure which increases as the game progresses. A ring game has different limits. You chose the table to suit your comfortable limit.
6. Much like most games of poker, players can call, raise, or fold.
7. After the betting round ends, the dealer discards the top card of the deck. This is called a burn card . This is done to prevent cheating. When playing online you do not need to worry much about the format as it is done for you which is ideal for the novice who wont have the issues of playing out of turn. That is one of many advantages to playing online.
8. The dealer then turns over the next three cards face up on the table. These cards are called the flop . These are communal cards that anyone can use in combination with their two pocket cards to form a poker hand. You now have 5 cards, 2 of your own & 3 shared with everyone else. This is when your poker hand begins to develop
9. There is another round of betting starting with the player to the left of the dealer.
10. After the betting concludes, the dealer burns another card and turns over one more onto the table. This is called the turn card. Players can use this sixth card now to form a five card poker hand. Often you already have a solid hand by this time but if this card improves your hand or gives you more options, all the better.
11. The player to the left of the dealer begins another round of betting. In many types of games, this is where the bet size doubles.
12. Finally, the dealer burns a card and places a final card face up on the table. This is called the river . Players can now use any of the five cards on the table or the two cards in their pocket to form a five card poker hand. So in essence you can use any 5 from the 7 cards on offer.
13. There is one final round of betting starting with the player to the left of the dealer.
14. After that, all of the players remaining in the game begin to reveal their hands. This begins with the player to the left of the last player to call. It's called the showdown . Players use a combination of their pocket cards and the community cards to form a poker hand. If you are a bit unsure of the rankings of poker hands check our Hand Ranks
15. The player who shows the best hand wins! There are cases where players with equal hands share the winnings. That is no problem, the players just receive their share of the pot. If both of you have AA-66 & you have a higher 5th card then you win the pot but if both have an equal card its a spit pot.
Once you understand this basic structure of the game, you can play holdem and even some of the many holdem variants out there. I like to mix my games for a little variety to spice it up but my advice to you is to learn one game before you move on. Holdem is an easy game to learn, just difficult to master. The mastering in the traditional setting of a casino poker room can be a long costly process. Thankfully, you can practice all you want for free in online poker rooms. Not only that you can play a lot more hands per hour so your learning curve is accelerated.
The only way to learn the game is to play. Check out Absolute Poker to get a feel for the action. Play all you want for free, and start playing for real money as soon as you feel ready. They have both low limits for newer players as well as high stakes tables. Infact they have regular freeroll and 10c tournaments to give you that added kick of playing for real money.
So that is the bare bones of Texas Holdem.
Are you ready to go all-in?
FURTHER READING : COMMUNITY CARD POKER
Omaha hold 'em - 2nd to Texas Holdem this is an exciting game, also with a Hi/Lo version
Pineapple - Another community Card game, occassionally played in casinos and online.
Join CHRIS "Jesus" FERGUSON at FT Poker
USE the FULLTILT POKER BONUS CODE - "PPABONUS" (Site Accepts USA Players)
I'm ready to improve my game - Take me to Full Tilt Poker now!!! |
