How to Play No Limit Texas Hold’em
By Matt Gribbin
No Limit Texas Hold’em is one of the most popular variations of poker being
played today. The game saw a huge increase in popularity in the early 2000s due to
online poker websites allowing anyone to try their luck. Texas Hold’em is difficult to
master, but the basic game mechanics are simple.
This instruction set will teach you the essentials to playing a game of No
Limit Texas Hold’em, including hand rankings, betting procedures, and terminology.
It is highly recommended that you refer to the glossary before reading the
instructions if you are not familiar with poker terminology. You can expect a game
of 6-player No Limit Texas Hold’em to last 1 to 2 hours.
Required Items:
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Standard Deck of 52 Playing Cards
Poker Chip Set
2 to 9 players
Figure 1: A Texas Hold’em game in progress
https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.picatic.com/events/69893/One6NlJRBeI
gYlkvIqTf_Texas-holdem.jpg
Objective:
Texas Hold’em involves each player receiving two cards face down while five cards
are dealt face up on the table. The face down cards are called your “hole cards.” The
face up cards are called “community cards.” The object of the game is to create the
best hand of five cards using any combination of your hole cards and the community
cards. This means your hand may consist of two hole cards and three community
cards, one hole card and four community cards, or even all five community cards.
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Poker Hands (From Strongest to Weakest):
1. Royal Flush- 10 Jack Queen King
Ace of the same suit
2. Straight Flush- Five cards in
sequence and of the same suit
3. Four of a Kind- Four of any one
rank
4. Full House- Three of one rank, two
of another
5. Flush– Five cards, all of the same
suit, but not in sequence
6. Straight- Five cards in sequence, but
more than one suit
7. Three of a Kind- Three cards of one
rank
8. Two Pair- Two cards of one rank,
and two cards of another
9. One Pair- Two cards of one rank
10. High Card- If none of the above
hands are made, the highest card is
used to determine hand strength
Figure 2: A table of all poker hands
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a
1/PokerHandRankings.pdf/page1-593pxPokerHandRankings.pdf.jpg
The image above shows an example of each possible poker hand. Later in this guide,
you will learn how to break ties within each category. The next section will teach
you how to play a hand of Texas Hold’em.
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Playing Texas Hold’em
1. Decide who receives the dealer button first. Select the first dealer button by
dealing every player one card, and the player with the highest ranked card is
the first dealer.
Figure 3: An illustration of poker table positions
http://www.texasholdem-poker.com/images/content/position_table_a.jpg
2. Ensure that the big and small blinds place their bets before cards are dealt.
Once a player is designated as the dealer, the player directly to his left is the
“small blind,” and the player after the small blind is the “big blind.”
3. Deal two cards to each player starting with the small blind. Deal each player
their first card in clockwise order before dealing each player their second
card in the same order. When the dealer button receives his second card, all
players should have two cards facedown.
4. Begin the first round of betting. Choose to call, raise, check, or fold. As
evident in the name of the game, there is no maximum bet. Continue betting
in clockwise order until all players call the highest bet made.
5. Deal the flop and begin the
second round of betting starting
with the small blind. Conduct
betting in the same manner as
before the flop.
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Figure 4: An example of a completed Hold ‘Em Board
http://freshestreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/community.jpg
6. Deal the turn. Begin another round of betting beginning.
7. Deal the river. Begin the final round of betting.
8. Showdown the hands still remaining. Reveal the remaining hands to discover
who made the strongest hand of five cards. Push the entire pot to the winner.
If there is a tie, split the pot evenly between the winning players.
Figure 5: Two players reveal their hands at showdown. In this example, the 10 and Jack
of Spades creates a straight flush, defeating the four aces.
http://www.dwaynebaraka.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Poker-showdown-1024x682.jpg
In summary, there should be one round of betting whenever cards are dealt. This
equals four opportunities to bet. Players always act in counterclockwise order until
all players have either called the highest bet or folded their hand. Once the fourth
round of betting concludes, reveal the remaining hands and determine the winner.
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Comparing Hands Within Each Rank
If two players reveal a flush at showdown, who wins? This list shows how to
break ties within each type of hand.
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Royal Flush- This hand cannot be beaten. If two players have a royal flush, the pot
is always split
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Straight Flush- The highest card in the straight flush is used to determine strength.
Note that though an Ace can be used as a high or low card in a straight flush, an Ace
to 5 straight flush is defeated by a 2 to 6
straight flush, because the 5 is considered the
high card in the first situation.
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Four of a kind- The rank of the four of a kind is
used to determine the winner. For example four
queens is stronger than four jacks. If both
players have the same four of a kind, the
highest fifth card (the “kicker”) is used to
determine the winner.
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Full House- The rank of the three of a kind is
used to determine strength. If the three of a
kind is the same in both hands, the higher pair
determines the winner.
Figure 6: A 9-high Straight Flush
http://www.12betcasinoblog.com/wpcontent/uploads/2012/09/Poker-hand-straight-flush.jpg
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Flush- The highest ranked card in the flush
determines the winner. If both players have the same highest card in their flushes,
the second highest card determines the winner, and so on.
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Straight- Similar to the straight flush, the highest card in the straight is used to
determine strength.
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Three of a kind- The higher ranked three of a kind wins. If both players have the
same three of a kind, the highest kicker wins. For example, 3338A defeats 333QK.
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Two Pair- The highest pair is used to determine the winner. If both players share
the same high pair, the second pair is used to determine the winner. If both players
have identical two pairs, the strongest kicker wins.
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Pair- The highest pair is the winner. If both players have the same pair, the highest
kicker wins.
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High Card- The highest ranked card wins. If both players have the same highest
card, the second highest card is used to determine the winner. The third, fourth, or
fifth cards may also be compared if all the previous cards are identical.
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Glossary
Blind (small and big) – two small bets that certain players must place before any
cards are dealt. The purpose of the blinds is to ensure that there is an ongoing cost
of participation in the game. It encourages players to participate in more hands
because their stack will slowly diminish if they continually forfeit their hands when
putting in their blinds. The big blind is generally equal to the minimum bet, and the
small blind is half of the big blind.
Call – to match the current highest bet and continue playing in the hand
Check – to opt not to put any more chips into the pot unless another player bets
Community Cards- the cards dealt face up on the table that can be used by any
player to create a hand
Dealer Button – a small chip that designates
which player acts as the dealer for sake of position.
The player with the dealer button does not have to
physically deal the cards, but he will be used as a
reference for the order of play and the blinds.
Flop - the first three community cards dealt face
up in the middle of the playing field
Fold – to surrender your hand instead of paying
the current bet. You can fold your hand at any
time.
Hole Cards- the face down cards dealt to each
player
Raise – to bet more than the current bet
Figure 7: A Dealer button
http://www.playingcardsandmore.com/imag
es/products/detail/DealerButton.gif
River – the fifth and final community card dealt face up on the board
Showdown – to reveal the remaining hands after the final betting round
Turn - the fourth community card dealt face up on the board
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