Rules Of Play
Before starting out, it’s wise to have a firm grasp of the rules of play.
In No Limit Texas Hold’em, play starts with each player (between two and ten at a table) being dealt two “hole cards” face-down. There follows a series of four betting rounds during which up to five “community” cards are placed on the table face-up.
The aim is to construct the best five card poker hand from any combination of the two personal hole-cards and five community cards – or to win by betting other players out of the hand.
All bets are placed into a central pot – until finally two or more players show their hands down, and the best hand wins or just one player is left standing to collect the pot.
Pre-Flop Action
The initial “pre-flop” action starts with two forced bets, known as the small blind and the big blind. The player to the left of the dealer( or “the button”) posts the “small blind” whilst the player two to the button’s left posts the “big blind”.
The player to the left of the big blind (known as “under-the-gun”) is the first to act and he can choose to call the big blind amount, make a raise (in No Limit anything between double the big blind and all the chips at his disposal) or fold his hand.
The action now passes to the player on his left and similarly, he must call, raise or fold, based on the latest action(*). This continues round the table in a clock-wise fashion until the last player to make a bet/ raise sees his bet called. If it is not called, the player collects whatever money is currently in the pot and play moves to the next hand.
Flop And Beyond
If two or more players are left in, the action proceeds to “the flop.” Three cards are dealt face-up on the table and betting proceeds with the first active player from the left of the button. Once the betting is finished, if there are still two or more players, the action moves forward to the “turn.”
A further community card is dealt – again action proceeds clockwise from the left of the button and if any players are still left following completion of the betting, the “river” card is dealt. This is the final community card.
There is one more round of betting and finally the last player standing, or the player with the best hand collects the pot. The button now moves one position clock-wise and the next hand is dealt.
*If at any point a player moves all-in, and is called, any players left with chips remaining continue the action with all future bets being placed into a side-pot which just those players contest. The all-in player can only contest the main pot.