Why Learn How to Play Texas Holdem Poker:
If you’re going to learn one card game you should make it Texas No-Limit Hold’em poker.
No-Limit Hold’em is played by celebrities, blue-collar workers and billionaires alike.
What is No-Limit Hold’em?
No-Limit Hold’em, sometimes known as “Texas Hold’em,” is a poker game where players receive only two cards. That’s it.
Each player uses their two cards (or just one of their cards in some situation) in combination with a shared community group of cards to make their best-five card poker hand.
If you’re going to learn one poker game make it No-Limit Hold’em.
There are plenty of other great poker games but in terms of simplicity and sheer popularity No-Limit Hold’em reigns supreme.
Want a secret tip? There are three hand ranking mistakes that are very frequent among amateur players.
Here are the most common misconceptions:
Straight beats flush (NOPE, just remember that all one suit>sequence)
Two-pair beats three-of-a-kind (NO, in poker you’d rather have three aces than two aces and two kings)
Card strength doesn’t matter (An ace-high flush is better than a king-high flush)
Here’s how a basic game works.
The dealer deals everyone two cards starting with the player on his left and ending on himself/herself.
The player on the dealer’s left is the first player to act and they have a choice of:
- Betting (this is No-Limit Hold’em so they can bet ANY amount they want)
- Checking (doing nothing basically).
If anyone decides to bet than the rest of the players have the option of:
- Calling (Putting the amount of the raise into the pot)
- Folding (Giving up the hand and all the chips they’ve already committed to the pot)
- Raising (Putting even more chips into the pot)
This continues until everyone has called or all the chips are in the middle.
From there the dealer puts three cards face-up on the board. These are community cards that anyone can use. This is called the flop.
Once again everyone still in the hand gets a chance to bet and consequently raise or fold.
The dealer puts a fourth card on the table that anyone can use. This is called the turn.
Again everyone gets the chance to bet/check/raise/fold.
The dealer puts a fifth card on the board that anyone can use. This is called the river.
For the final time everyone gets a chance to bet/check/raise/fold.
But What About the Big Blind and Small Blind?
You may have heard these terms before and they are indeed a part of
No-Limit Hold’em.
It’s not as complicated as you might think, however.
The small blind and big blind are both relatively small bets that the two players on the direct left of the dealer are forced to put in the pot. You’re forced to put them in without seeing your cards meaning you are “blind.”
You can think of them as an ante if that makes it easier for you. No-Limit Hold’em features blinds to increase the action in otherwise boring hands. Otherwise players could fold every hand with no consequences, which would be a problem.
How does Bluffing work in poker?
Bluffing is an integral part of poker but as a beginner you don’t want to mess around too much with it unless you feel particularly confident.
How come? Well you’re still learning the relative hand strength, which means you might not even know if you’re actually making a bluff or not. That’s not great.
Some Basic Poker Strategy
It’s one thing to understand the basic rules of poker but to actually succeed at the game is another.
You don’t want to waste a bunch of time losing so we’ll give you a few tips that will hopefully give you an edge over the other players who are just learning the game.
We’ll cover three different levels of strategy below — beginner, intermediate and advanced — but all the tips are basic enough for starting players to understand.
Here’s the thing about poker, however: Betting is much stronger than calling.
How come?
You can win a pot without showing your cards by betting. You can’t do the same thing by calling. It’s that simple.
For all these reasons it’s worth putting in a bet or re-raise in even if you don’t feel completely comfortable doing it.
Poker has a way of making even the most experienced players look absolutely silly. It’s just the nature of the game.
Position is very important in poker
What’s position you ask? That’s the order in which players are forced to bet/check.
After the flop the order always starts with the player on the left of the dealer.
Generally it’s always best to go last because you get to see what everyone else in front of you is going to do.
Advanced Tips
Play the player.
Once you have the fundamentals down you should start to pay close attention to your opponents.
If a player is betting all the time then the chances are they are playing some pretty crappy cards. Similarly if a player folds all the time then you can make the assumption they are only playing fairly strong hands.
Learn some basic poker odds
Poker involves math. You don’t have to be a numbers genius to improve your game however.
Just understanding the basic odds behind hitting certain hands can be very beneficial for people just starting out.
If you’re going to learn one card game you should make it Texas No-Limit Hold’em poker.
No-Limit Hold’em is played by celebrities, blue-collar workers and billionaires alike.
What is No-Limit Hold’em?
No-Limit Hold’em, sometimes known as “Texas Hold’em,” is a poker game where players receive only two cards. That’s it.
Each player uses their two cards (or just one of their cards in some situation) in combination with a shared community group of cards to make their best-five card poker hand.
If you’re going to learn one poker game make it No-Limit Hold’em.
There are plenty of other great poker games but in terms of simplicity and sheer popularity No-Limit Hold’em reigns supreme.
Want a secret tip? There are three hand ranking mistakes that are very frequent among amateur players.
Here are the most common misconceptions:
Straight beats flush (NOPE, just remember that all one suit>sequence)
Two-pair beats three-of-a-kind (NO, in poker you’d rather have three aces than two aces and two kings)
Card strength doesn’t matter (An ace-high flush is better than a king-high flush)
Here’s how a basic game works.
The dealer deals everyone two cards starting with the player on his left and ending on himself/herself.
The player on the dealer’s left is the first player to act and they have a choice of:
- Betting (this is No-Limit Hold’em so they can bet ANY amount they want)
- Checking (doing nothing basically).
If anyone decides to bet than the rest of the players have the option of:
- Calling (Putting the amount of the raise into the pot)
- Folding (Giving up the hand and all the chips they’ve already committed to the pot)
- Raising (Putting even more chips into the pot)
This continues until everyone has called or all the chips are in the middle.
From there the dealer puts three cards face-up on the board. These are community cards that anyone can use. This is called the flop.
Once again everyone still in the hand gets a chance to bet and consequently raise or fold.
The dealer puts a fourth card on the table that anyone can use. This is called the turn.
Again everyone gets the chance to bet/check/raise/fold.
The dealer puts a fifth card on the board that anyone can use. This is called the river.
For the final time everyone gets a chance to bet/check/raise/fold.
But What About the Big Blind and Small Blind?
You may have heard these terms before and they are indeed a part of
No-Limit Hold’em.
It’s not as complicated as you might think, however.
The small blind and big blind are both relatively small bets that the two players on the direct left of the dealer are forced to put in the pot. You’re forced to put them in without seeing your cards meaning you are “blind.”
You can think of them as an ante if that makes it easier for you. No-Limit Hold’em features blinds to increase the action in otherwise boring hands. Otherwise players could fold every hand with no consequences, which would be a problem.
How does Bluffing work in poker?
Bluffing is an integral part of poker but as a beginner you don’t want to mess around too much with it unless you feel particularly confident.
How come? Well you’re still learning the relative hand strength, which means you might not even know if you’re actually making a bluff or not. That’s not great.
Some Basic Poker Strategy
It’s one thing to understand the basic rules of poker but to actually succeed at the game is another.
You don’t want to waste a bunch of time losing so we’ll give you a few tips that will hopefully give you an edge over the other players who are just learning the game.
We’ll cover three different levels of strategy below — beginner, intermediate and advanced — but all the tips are basic enough for starting players to understand.
Here’s the thing about poker, however: Betting is much stronger than calling.
How come?
You can win a pot without showing your cards by betting. You can’t do the same thing by calling. It’s that simple.
For all these reasons it’s worth putting in a bet or re-raise in even if you don’t feel completely comfortable doing it.
Poker has a way of making even the most experienced players look absolutely silly. It’s just the nature of the game.
Position is very important in poker
What’s position you ask? That’s the order in which players are forced to bet/check.
After the flop the order always starts with the player on the left of the dealer.
Generally it’s always best to go last because you get to see what everyone else in front of you is going to do.
Advanced Tips
Play the player.
Once you have the fundamentals down you should start to pay close attention to your opponents.
If a player is betting all the time then the chances are they are playing some pretty crappy cards. Similarly if a player folds all the time then you can make the assumption they are only playing fairly strong hands.
Learn some basic poker odds
Poker involves math. You don’t have to be a numbers genius to improve your game however.
Just understanding the basic odds behind hitting certain hands can be very beneficial for people just starting out.
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