PokerPower / How To Play

Texas hold'em poker is surely the most popular online poker. Texas hold'em is a form of poker called stud, which means there is no change of cards unlike 'draw' poker. Players receive two face-down cards with the rest face-up, across several betting rounds.

Play begins with each player being dealt two face down cards called the hole cards. These are the only cards each player will receive individually, which can only be revealed at the showdown, this is what makes Texas holdem a closed type of poker game.

After each player looks at their hole cards, play continues with a betting round, beginning with the player clockwise of the big blind (or the player clockwise of the dealer, if no blinds are being played). After this betting round, the dealer burns a card, followed by 3 face-up community cards called the flop. This is followed by a second betting round. This and following betting rounds begin with the player to the dealer's left and continue clockwise. When the flop round ends, another card is burned, and a single community card called the turn (or fourth street) is dealt, followed by another betting round. A final burn card is followed by the final community card named the river (or fifth street), followed by a fourth betting round and the showdown.

There are normally two betting structures that you can play, either limit or no-limit poker.

In a fixed limit game, a player chooses only whether to bet or not - the amount is fixed by rule. Usually later betting rounds specify higher bets than earlier rounds. E.g. a four-round game called "1 and 2 limit" (usually shown as $2/$4) may state that bets on the first two rounds are $1, and on the next two rounds $2. This amount applies to each raise, not the total amount bet in a round, so a player may bet $1, be raised $1, and re-raise another $1, for a total of $3.

A poker game played with a no limit structure enables players to raise any amount of their stake at any time (according to the table stakes and raising rules).

With either betting structure there is first a forced bet known as a blind. With texas holdem this is generally the first 2 players to the dealers left, known as a small blind and a big blind. The actual value depends on if limit or no-limit poker is being played. With limit poker the small blind is usually equal to half of a small bet, and the big blind is equal to a full small bet. With no limit poker, the blinds normally starts at a low value then increases during the game at a fixed time.