Can anyone tell me how to play the card game Texas Holdem?

Similar questions: play card game Texas Holdem.

It's pretty easy Texas Hold'em is a pretty easy game... you just have to know how you read the people you're playing against and keep a close eye on the cards. For the examples in the explanation we will say that the minimum bet is .50 cents and there is no limit. Most people play with blinds.

These are bets that you must put in a the start of each hand... they are usualy used to encourage betting. The small blind is usually 1/2 of the minimum bet and the big blind is normally the same as the minimum bet. For instance: Minimum bet equals .50 cents.

Small blind .25 cents big blind .50 cents. The person to the dealers immediate left is the small blind and the person that sits two chairs to the left of the dealer is the big blind. Each player is dealt two card face down.

All players look at their cards very carefully... you don't want the other player to see them. Once everyone has looked betting starts with the player to the immediate left of the big blind. Each player in turn must bet at least .50 cents to stay in the hand.(Because the big blind is .50 cents) Once all bets are square the dealer place three cards in the middle of the table face up.

This is called the "Flop". These cards are available for any player that is still in the hand to use to make the best 5 card hand. At this point everyone can look at their cards and add the flop to determine what they have.

A player can "check" if they are unsure of how to play. (Sometimes checking is a good way to gauage your opponents hand) If a player checks the next player can bet or check. The betting/checking continues around the table until all players have bet or check.

Then the dealer adds another card to the center of the table face up. This is called the "Turn". At this point there are four cards on the table for each player still in the hand to use to make the best 5 card hand.

Another round of betting/checking takes place at this point. After all bets and checks are square the dealer will will place a fifth card on the table face up, this is called the "River". Now each player still in the hand has a total of 7 cards to make the best 5 card hand.(The 2 that were dealt and the 5 on the table = 7) One final round of betting and/or checking will take place.

Once all bets/checks are even the players that still remain turn over the cards that were dealt to them. The person with the highest hand wins the pot. Here is the ranking of how strong each hand is: 1.

Royal Flush This is the highest poker hand. It consists of ace, king, queen, jack, ten, all in the same suit. As all suits are equal, all royal flushes are equal.2.

Straight Flush Five cards of the same suit in sequence - such as J-10-9-8-7. Between two straight flushes, the one containing the higher top card is higher.An ace can be counted as low, so 5-4-3-2-A is a straight flush, but its top card is the five, not the ace, so it is the lowest type of straight flush. The cards cannot "turn the corner": 4-3-2-A-K is not valid.3.

Four of a kind Four cards of the same rank - such as four queens. The fifth card can be anything. This combination is sometimes known as "quads", and in some parts of Europe it is called a "poker", though this term for it is unknown in English.

Between two fours of a kind, the one with the higher set of four cards is higher - so 3-3-3-3-A is beaten by 4-4-4-4-2.It can't happen in standard poker, but if in some other game you need to compare two fours of a kind where the sets of four cards are of the same rank, then the one with the higher fifth card is better.4. Full House This consists of three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank - for example three sevens and two tens (colloquially known as "sevens full" or more specifically "sevens on tens"). When comparing full houses, the rank of the three cards determines which is higher.

For example 9-9-9-4-4 beats 8-8-8-A-A. If the threes of a kind were equal, the rank of the pairs would decide.5. Flush Five cards of the same suit.

When comparing two flushes, the highest card determines which is higher. If the highest cards are equal then the second highest card is compared; if those are equal too, then the third highest card, and so on. For example K-J-9-3-2 beats K-J-7-6-5 because the nine beats the seven.6.

Straight Five cards of mixed suits in sequence - for example Q-J-10-9-8. When comparing two sequences, the one with the higher ranking top card is better. Ace can count high or low in a straight, but not both at once, so A-K-Q-J-10 and 5-4-3-2-A are valid straights, but 2-A-K-Q-J is not.5-4-3-2-A is the lowest kind of straight, the top card being the five.7.

Three of a Kind Three cards of the same rank plus two other cards. This combination is also known as Triplets or Trips. When comparing two threes of a kind the hand in which the three equal cards are of higher rank is better.

So for example 5-5-5-3-2 beats 4-4-4-K-Q. If you have to compare two threes of a kind where the sets of three are of equal rank, then the higher of the two remaining cards in each hand are compared, and if those are equal, the lower odd card is compared.8. Two Pairs A pair is two cards of equal rank.

In a hand with two pairs, the two pairs are of different ranks (otherwise you would have four of a kind), and there is an odd card to make the hand up to five cards. When comparing hands with two pairs, the hand with the highest pair wins, irrespective of the rank of the other cards - so J-J-2-2-4 beats 10-10-9-9-8 because the jacks beat the tens. If the higher pairs are equal, the lower pairs are compared, so that for example 8-8-6-6-3 beats 8-8-5-5-K.

Finally, if both pairs are the same, the odd cards are compared, so Q-Q-5-5-8 beats Q-Q-5-5-4.9. Pair A hand with two cards of equal rank and three other cards which do not match these or each other. When comparing two such hands, the hand with the higher pair is better - so for example 6-6-4-3-2 beats 5-5-A-K-Q. If the pairs are equal, compare the highest ranking odd cards from each hand; if these are equal compare the second highest odd card, and if these are equal too compare the lowest odd cards.

So J-J-A-9-3 beats J-J-A-8-7 because the 9 beats the 8.10. Gh Card Five cards which do not form any of the combinations listed above. When comparing two such hands, the one with the better highest card wins. If the highest cards are equal the second cards are compared; if they are equal too the third cards are compared, and so on.

So A-J-9-5-3 beats A-10-9-6-4 because the jack beats the ten. Sources: I've played a hand or two and http://www.pagat.com/vying/pokerrank.html#standard Talbot's Recommendations 52 Tips for Texas Hold 'em Poker Amazon List Price: $19.95 Used from: $10.49 Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 13 reviews) Poker Training: From Boot Camp to Elite Forces Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 2 reviews) .

A night to learn, a lifetime to master... (watch out, long answer) First, the players sit down and hole cards are dealt: Everyone sits in a circle. One player starts out as the "dealer", and this is usually indicated by a round "button" placed in front of him. This player doesn’t literally have to deal the cards himself: in a home game, he usually will, but at the casino or online, there’s a house dealer who shuffles and deals every hand.(From here on, I’ll use "dealer" to refer to the player who currently has the button.) The hand starts out with two cards dealt to every player (once around the table, then once around again), starting with the person to the dealer’s left - action always proceeds clockwise around the table.

These are dealt face down and called "hole" or "pocket" cards. Then the betting starts: There are four rounds of betting in each hand. The first one takes place as soon as the cards are dealt.

The minimum stakes in each hand are called "blinds", because the two players immediately after the dealer are required to bet ("post") a certain amount. The first player must bet a "small blind", which is usually 1/2 or 1/3 of the "big blind", which the next player is required to bet. Note that although the players posting blinds don’t get a choice about it--in fact, in serious games, you have to post your blinds before any cards are even dealt--they still get a turn to raise the bet, after everyone else has acted.

The purpose of blinds is sort of like the purpose of antes in other poker games: it starts the pot out with some money, which gives everyone an incentive to play. The big blind has a serious stake in the outcome of the hand, right from the start. The small blind has a slightly smaller stake, and everyone else is free to take or leave their hand.

After the blinds are posted, the player to the left of the big blind has a choice to make. He can "call", matching the big blind exactly; he can "raise", betting a larger amount and forcing everyone else to match it if they want to stay in; or he can "fold", forfeiting his cards for the rest of the hand without putting any money into the pot. Then the next player to the left has the same choice to make.

If the first bet was raised, this player now has to call the larger amount, or he can raise it again ("reraise") or fold. Action proceeds this way around the table (sometimes more than once), and each player has to either call the largest bet made so far, raise it, or fold his hand. Once you’ve put your money into the pot, the only way to get it back is to win the hand - if you call a bet of 20 but someone else raises to 80, you have to put in at least another 60 or you’ll lose the first 20.

Eventually everyone will be betting the same amount or will have folded. Pretty often, by the time action proceeds back around the table to the big blind, no one will have raised.In this case, the big blind is already the largest bet on the table, so the player has a different choice: he can raise the bet, or he can "check", signaling that he’s fine with the current bet. To check, you can just tap your hand on the table.

Now the first community cards are dealt: Three cards are dealt face-up into the center of the table. These cards are called the "flop", and anyone can use them to form the best five-card hand by combining them with one or both of their hole cards (or sometimes neither). At this point, you think about your hole cards, and the cards on the table, and figure out what your chances are of making a winning five-card hand.

You might have a "made hand", one that might already be a winner, or a "drawing hand", one that could become a winner if the right cards come.(By the end of the hand, there’ll be two more community cards that you can use.) You will use this knowledge to decide how much more money you’re willing to bet on the hand. As soon as the flop is dealt, betting starts. This time, no one has to post a blind, so betting starts immediately with the player to the dealer’s left.

He can check (leaving the bet at zero), or bet at least the amount of the big blind. If he checks, then the next player has the same options; otherwise the next player must call, raise, or fold. Again, the action proceeds around the table until everyone has either matched the highest bet or folded.

Two more rounds of one card each: After the flop betting is finished, one more card is dealt face-up in the center, called the "turn". Then there’s another round of betting, just like after the flop. Finally, one last card is dealt face-up, called the "river", and there’s one last round of betting.

If more than one player is still in the hand, there’s a "showdown" in which the hole cards are turned over, and whoever makes the best five-card hand wins all the money in the pot.(I’ll leave out the description of each hand type, because it’s the same in every other poker game. As a reminder, the hands from lowest to highest are no pair, one pair, two pair, three of a kind, straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, straight flush. ) Now the hand is over.

The button and blind positions move one seat to the left: the player who was small blind is now the dealer, the player who was big blind is now the small blind, and the player who was after the big blind is now the big blind. A few exceptions: There are actually two ways to win a hand: either stay in until the very end and show down a better hand than everyone else, or convince everyone else to fold before the end. If all but one player folds, the last player wins the pot immediately; no more cards are dealt, and the winner doesn’t have to show his hole cards.

If you’re low on chips, you might find that you don’t have enough to call a bet, but you still want to stay in the hand. In that case, you can declare yourself "all in": wager all your remaining chips, and you’re still qualified to win whatever’s in the current pot plus a matching amount from all the bets currently being made, but you can’t win any more than that. For example: say there’s 100 in the pot, the player before you bets another 100, but you only have 25 chips left.

If you go all in and end up winning the hand, you can only win the original 100, plus 25 from the player before you, plus the 25 you put in, plus 25 from anyone else who calls. There’s now a "side pot", which you are not eligible to win, containing all the bets you can’t match: 75 from the player before you and everyone else who calls him, plus any additional betting in that round and any future betting rounds. That side pot will go to whoever has the winning hand out of everyone else.(In some cases, where more than one player is all in during the same hand, there can be two or more side pots, and figuring out how much of each bet goes where can be tricky.) Sometimes, more than one player will have the same "best" hand.

In fact, sometimes everyone will have the same hand: if the community cards are A-A-A-A-K, the best possible hand is already face-up on the table, and it doesn’t matter what anyone’s hole cards are. In that case, everyone who shares the best hand will split the pot evenly. Tournaments vs. ring games: There are two kinds of games, "ring games" (or "cash games") and tournaments.

In a ring game... The chips are valuable in and of themselves. The blinds stay at the same level throughout the entire game. You can bring any amount of money to the table that you want (above a minimum level), and you can leave whenever you want, taking your chips with you.

If you run out of money, you can run to the ATM and rejoin the game. Your goal is simply to leave the table with as many chips as you can - hopefully more than you started with! In a tournament... The chips have no inherent value outside the tournament.

The blinds start out small, but grow higher periodically. For example, they might start out at 25/50, then raise to 50/100 fifteen minutes later, then 75/150, 100/200, 150/250, 300/600, 400/800, 500/1000, and so on. Everyone buys into the tournament for a certain amount of cash, starts with the same amount of chips, and you don’t leave until you run out of chips.

No chips ever leave the table; they just move around from one player to another. Sometimes there will be "rebuys" or "add-ons" which let you pay more to get more chips. Your goal is to stay in the game as long as possible.

Prizes are given out according to a predetermined schedule, based on how many players go out before you. For example, a 90 player tournament might pay the top 9 players: the last person remaining gets half the prize money, the second-to-last gets maybe half of that, and so on down to 9th place, and the first 81 players to leave get nothing. Limit vs. no-limit: This distinction has to do with the amount you can bet at a time.

Tournaments are usually played no-limit, and ring games in casinos are usually limit games. In no-limit games, you can bet as much as you want, from the minimum bet (the big blind) all the way up to everything you’ve got. When you raise a bet, you usually have to raise at least the amount of the previous bet or raise during that round: for example, if the player before you started the round of betting at 200, and you want to raise, you have to raise to at least 400.

If you raise it to 500 instead, the next person who wants to raise will have to go up to at least 800: you raised 300 (500 - 200) so that’s now the minimum raise. In limit games, the bet amounts are fixed. The first bet (big blind) might be $2, and then a raise would have to be $4, the next raise would be $6, and $8 after that.

(Usually you’re limited to four bets in each round of a limit game, so once the bet is $8 you can only call or fold. ) Also, the bet amount usually doubles for the last two rounds of betting, so after the turn and the river, the bets would go $4-$8-$12-$16.No-limit games are described by the blind amounts, so a "$0.50/$1" game means the small blind is 50 cents and the big blind is $1. Limit games, on the other hand, are described by the bet amounts before and after the turn, so a "$2/$4" game means betting happens in increments of $2 before and after the flop, and $4 after the turn and river.

Finally, there are also "pot limit" and "spread limit" games, which are kind of rare. Pot limit is mostly like no limit, but you can only bet up to the amount of money that’s already in the pot. Spread limit is mostly like limit, but instead of being fixed at $4, you might be able to bet any amount between $3 and $6.

Basic tips for beginners: You don’t have to play every hand. Most of the hole cards you get will be worthless, so don’t be afraid to fold before the flop. The more players are at the table, the more cautious you should be when deciding whether to play a hand: at a table of 10 players, a good player might only play 15% or less of his hands.

But on the flip side, don’t be afraid to raise before the flop if you have a great hand - you want other players to fold their weak hands before they have a chance to catch up. Think about the hands everyone else might have, not just your own cards. If the flop comes up K-9-6, and you have a nine in your hand (giving you a pair), realize that someone else might have the king if they’re calling or raising you - especially if they raised or called a raise before the flop.

There’s no prize for having the second-best hand. Leave bluffing to the pros. The point of bluffing is to make the other players think you have them beat, but it only works when it’s believable and when they have mediocre hands.

Before considering a bluff, think about what they’ve been doing so far (to get an idea of what hands they might have) but also about what you’ve been doing so far (to get an idea of what they might think you have). Consider the size of the pot. Poker is mostly about knowing when the odds are in your favor, and to know that, you have to know (1) how much you stand to win, (2) how much you have to pay to stay in, and (3) how likely you are to win.

If you’re being asked to call $1 for a chance to win $1000, even the slimmest chance is good enough to call.It works the other way too: if there’s $1000 in the pot and you want to make your opponent fold, you’re going to have to bet a lot more than $1. See also: Check out Wikipedia’s articles on Texas hold ’em for more, covering the rules and strategy. TaradinoC's Recommendations Small Stakes Hold 'em: Winning Big With Expert Play Amazon List Price: $24.95 Used from: $11.84 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 69 reviews) Phil Gordon's Poker Box Set: Phil Gordon's Little Black Book, Phil Gordon's Little Green Book, Phil Gordon's Little Blue Book Amazon List Price: $60.00 Used from: $33.81 Average Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5 (based on 8 reviews) Some good books on poker strategy.

SSH is mostly about limit games, but a good place to start no matter what; Phil Gordon's books are about no-limit and tournaments.

Poker Your best bet is to go to an online poker site they have tutorials and you can practice with the online games, the game is easy to play but strategy is tuff. Here are some basics to get you started by wikipedia. Www.Poker-online.com toppoker.org learn-texas-holdem.com/ texasholdem-poker.com/beginnersintro casinogambling.about.com/cs/poker/a/Texa... ownload-texas-holdem-poker.com Objective Like most variants of poker, the objective of Texas hold ’em is to win pots, where a pot is the sum of the money bet by oneself and other players in a hand.

A pot is won either at the showdown by forming the best five card poker hand out of the seven cards available, or by betting to cause other players to fold and abandon their claim to the pot. The objective of winning players is not winning individual pots, but rather making mathematically correct decisions.As a result of making such decisions, winning poker players are able to maximize their expected utility and win more money than they lose in the long run. Edit Betting structures See the article on betting for a detailed explanation of betting in these variations of hold ’em.

A standard hold ’em game with the blinds Hold ’em is normally played using small and big blind bets. Antes 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.

(In some cases, the small blind is some other fraction of a small bet, e.g. $10 is a common small blind when the big blind is $15. The double-blind structure described above is relatively recent; until the 1980s, a single-blind structure was most common. ) When only two players remain, special ’head-to-head’ or ’heads up’ rules are enforced and the blinds are posted differently than expected.In this case, the dealer posts the small blind, while his/her opponent places the big blind.

The three most common variations of hold ’em are limit hold ’em, no-limit hold ’em and pot-limit hold ’em. Limit hold ’em has historically been the most popular form of hold ’em found in casino live action games in the United States.In limit hold ’em, 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 hold ’em is the form most commonly found in televised tournament poker and is the game played in the main event of the World Series of Www. Poker-online. Com0 no-limit hold ’em, 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).

In pot-limit hold ’em, the maximum raise is the current size of the pot. Most casinos that offer hold ’em also allow the player to the left of the big blind to post an optional live straddle, usually double the amount of the big blind, which then acts as the big Www. Poker-online.

Com1-limit games may also allow multiple re-straddles, in any amount that would be a legal raise. Edit 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 hold ’em a closed poker game. The hand begins with a "pre-flop" betting round, beginning with the player to the left of the big blind (or the player to the left of the dealer, if no blinds are used) 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.

See betting for a detailed account. Note that the blinds are considered "live" in the pre-flop betting round. 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. Edit 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 hand he can make from the seven cards comprising his two hole cards and the board (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 the 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 (see the second example below).

Note that the card’s numerical rank is of sole importance; suit values are irrelevant in Hold’em. The best possible hand given the five community cards is referred to as the nuts. For example, on a board such as 2-3-7-8-Q, with no more than two cards of any one suit, the nuts is three queens.

With those community cards, a player holding two queens could not be beat at the showdown by any player. Alternatively, with the hand as 2-4-7-8-Q, the nuts would be a straight, or hole cards of 5-6. Edit Examples Sources: Www.

Poker-online. Com0'em ~XSpoonX~'s Recommendations Harrington on Hold 'em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments, Vol.1: Strategic Play Amazon List Price: $29.95 Used from: $16.50 Average Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5 (based on 186 reviews) Harrington on Hold 'em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments, Vol.2: Endgame Amazon List Price: $29.95 Used from: $16.00 Average Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5 (based on 59 reviews) .

. Said: 1 Talbot, regarding your answer "It's pretty easy": Great answer! I got alot out of it.

I am still a bit confused on how the blinds are used.

Talbot, regarding your answer "It's pretty easy": Great answer! I got alot out of it. I am still a bit confused on how the blinds are used.

. Said: 2 TaradinoC, regarding your answer "A night to learn, a lifetime to master... (watch out, long answer)": This explains it all! Thanks.

TaradinoC, regarding your answer "A night to learn, a lifetime to master... (watch out, long answer)": This explains it all! Thanks.

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Microsoft Spider Card Game. Are there games that cannot be won?

My video card, ati radeon x1900 won't play 3d games, when I do the textures like stretch across the screen...

THE CARD GAME BRIDGE....This subject seems tame after viewing the variety of "GAMES" some readers of interest to others.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.