How to play Poker (Texas Hold Em)
Poker is one of the most popular card games in the world, with its origins tracing back to the American Deep South in the 1830s. Played by everyone from World War 2 GI’s to Doc Holiday, this is a real man's card game. There is a common myth that the actual game is called Poker, and that’s wrong, as the name Poker refers to the family of Card Games. The most popular form of Poker is called Texas Hold Em, and that’s what we will be learning today. Texas Hold Em is easy to understand but takes a lifetime to master. The aim of the game is to be the last man standing, either by having the best hand or by making everybody else fold by making them think you have the best hand. You’ll make your hand with the two cards that are private to you and the five community cards that are in the middle of the table.The Hands
There are ten hands in Texas Hold Em, and you want to have the highest hand possible. This is the very foundation of the game. To play any of the games in the Poker family, you need to know these ten hands. From best to worst, the hands are
Royal FlushStraight Flush4 of a kindFull houseFlushStraightThree of a kind Two Pair One PairAnd High card
Royal Flush is the best hand you can get. It is 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace, all in the same suit (for example, 10 through Ace of Spades). The likelihood of you ever actually getting a Royal Flush is incredibly slim, but just know that if you get it, you have won the game.
A straight flush is next, basically a royal flush, but it is lower. It consists of five sequential cards, all in the same suit. The only difference between this and a Royal Flush is that the cards don’t specifically have to be royal cards. Where a royal flush has to be 10 through ace, a straight flush can be 4 through 8, or 5 through 9, etc.
Four of a kind is next, and this is (surprise, surprise) 4 of a kind—so 4 3’s, or 4 Aces, or 4 9’s, etc. If more than one player has a 4 of a kind, then the player whose card has the highest value, with an ace being the highest and a two being the lowest. For example, if player A has 4 9’s and player B has 4 3’s, player A will win.
After that is a Full house, and that is basically 3 of one card and two of another (for example 3 3’s and 2 9’s). This one’s pretty simple.
Just below a Full house is a Flush, and a flush is 5 cards of the same suit. That’s it. They don’t have to be in the same order; they need to all be in the same suit. So you could have an ace, 3,4,7,10, and a Jack. So long as all five cards are the same suit.
Next is a Straight, which is literally just five sequential cards. They don’t have to be the same suit; they have to be sequential, e.g., 5,6,7,8,9.3 of a Kind comes after, and it is 3 of one number, e.g., 3 4’s, 3 Kings, 3 9’s, etc.
Then, it’s two pairs, which are two different pairs. So, for example, you could have two sevens and two Queens.
After that is One Pair, which I think is pretty self-explanatory. It’s a pair.
Then is ‘High’. When playing Poker, this is going to be the most common hand. If you cannot make a single hand, you have ‘High’, the highest value card. So if you have a King, you would say ‘King High’, which would beat a 7 High. As usual, Ace is the highest you can have.
Kickers
You'll have a spare card unless you’ve got a Royal Flush, Straight, or a Flush. That’s called your ‘Kicker’ and you’ll use that as spare in case someone has the same hand as you. Say for example, two players both have a pair of 8’s, whoever’s ‘kicker’ is higher will take the pot. So you would win if you have a Jack as a kicker and your opponent has a 6.
Play- Opening round
The play begins with a round of blind betting, to ensure theres at least a little bit of money in the pot. Players will agree beforehand what the minimum bet will be, and then the player to the dealers left will open betting by betting half of whatever that minimum is (Small Blind). So if Minimum bet is £5, Small blind will bet £2.50. The next player (Big Blind) will put into the pot the minimum bet (so £5). Small Blind and Big Blind must place bets, even if they don’t want to play this round. Only Small Blind and Big Blind are required to put money in the Pot at this stage.
Once Small Blind and Big Blind have been paid in, the Dealer will deal 2 cards to each player, one at a time. These are called the Hole Cards. These are private to you. You will use these cards and the 5 community cards to come up with the best Hand you can.
Round 2
After receiving your Hole Cards its time for another round of betting. Your choices are Call, Raise, Fold, Or Check (Only one player per round can Check). Call means you will match the bet, and as it is the first round of Open Betting, that will be whatever players decide the Minimum bet was (we’ll stick with £5 for this explanation). So, if you say Call, you are announcing you will match the bet and put £5 in. Raise means you will raise the Minimum bet. Usually, when you announce a raise, you will also announce the new Minimum bet (e.g., Raise. £7). Fold means that you do not want to play anymore and then pass the cards face down to the Dealer. Check means that you want to wait and see what others will do, and at the end of the round of betting it will come back to you to make your bet. Once all bets are made, the Dealer will deal the First 3 Community cards, and this is called the ‘Flop’. First, to prevent cheating, the Dealer will ‘Burn’ a Card by placing it off to one side Face Down. Then, Dealer will put down three cards face up. These are your first three community cards.
Round 3
After the Flop, there is another round of betting, the same as last time. Expect a few players to fold here.
Once the betting has finished, it’s the ‘Turn’. The Dealer burns another card, and then reveals a 4th community card.
Round 4
Now, another round of betting will commence, the same as last time. Expect even more peple to fold here. After betting, the dealer will burn one more card and then reveal the last community card (the River). Now you have all the information presented to you, it is time to make the best hand you can.
Round 5
The last round of betting before the Showdown is the last round of betting. Odds are that when you get to this stage, you’ll only have two or three players left, so this round won’t take too long after the final stage of betting comes the Showdown. This is when all remaining players show their hands, and the winner takes all.
Thousands of books have been written regarding technique and detecting bluffs, and no end of psychology is behind it. For a complete beginner, though, a good rule of thumb is ‘Weak is strong, Strong is weak,’ basically saying that the more confident a player is, the weaker his hand.
And there you have it—Texas Hold Em, one of the most popular card games in the world. As I said, it takes 10 minutes to learn and a lifetime to master, so get mastering! Onwards and Upwards Gents
There are ten hands in Texas Hold Em, and you want to have the highest hand possible. This is the very foundation of the game. To play any of the games in the Poker family, you need to know these ten hands. From best to worst, the hands are
Royal FlushStraight Flush4 of a kindFull houseFlushStraightThree of a kind Two Pair One PairAnd High card
Royal Flush is the best hand you can get. It is 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace, all in the same suit (for example, 10 through Ace of Spades). The likelihood of you ever actually getting a Royal Flush is incredibly slim, but just know that if you get it, you have won the game.
A straight flush is next, basically a royal flush, but it is lower. It consists of five sequential cards, all in the same suit. The only difference between this and a Royal Flush is that the cards don’t specifically have to be royal cards. Where a royal flush has to be 10 through ace, a straight flush can be 4 through 8, or 5 through 9, etc.
Four of a kind is next, and this is (surprise, surprise) 4 of a kind—so 4 3’s, or 4 Aces, or 4 9’s, etc. If more than one player has a 4 of a kind, then the player whose card has the highest value, with an ace being the highest and a two being the lowest. For example, if player A has 4 9’s and player B has 4 3’s, player A will win.
After that is a Full house, and that is basically 3 of one card and two of another (for example 3 3’s and 2 9’s). This one’s pretty simple.
Just below a Full house is a Flush, and a flush is 5 cards of the same suit. That’s it. They don’t have to be in the same order; they need to all be in the same suit. So you could have an ace, 3,4,7,10, and a Jack. So long as all five cards are the same suit.
Next is a Straight, which is literally just five sequential cards. They don’t have to be the same suit; they have to be sequential, e.g., 5,6,7,8,9.3 of a Kind comes after, and it is 3 of one number, e.g., 3 4’s, 3 Kings, 3 9’s, etc.
Then, it’s two pairs, which are two different pairs. So, for example, you could have two sevens and two Queens.
After that is One Pair, which I think is pretty self-explanatory. It’s a pair.
Then is ‘High’. When playing Poker, this is going to be the most common hand. If you cannot make a single hand, you have ‘High’, the highest value card. So if you have a King, you would say ‘King High’, which would beat a 7 High. As usual, Ace is the highest you can have.
Kickers
You'll have a spare card unless you’ve got a Royal Flush, Straight, or a Flush. That’s called your ‘Kicker’ and you’ll use that as spare in case someone has the same hand as you. Say for example, two players both have a pair of 8’s, whoever’s ‘kicker’ is higher will take the pot. So you would win if you have a Jack as a kicker and your opponent has a 6.
Play- Opening round
The play begins with a round of blind betting, to ensure theres at least a little bit of money in the pot. Players will agree beforehand what the minimum bet will be, and then the player to the dealers left will open betting by betting half of whatever that minimum is (Small Blind). So if Minimum bet is £5, Small blind will bet £2.50. The next player (Big Blind) will put into the pot the minimum bet (so £5). Small Blind and Big Blind must place bets, even if they don’t want to play this round. Only Small Blind and Big Blind are required to put money in the Pot at this stage.
Once Small Blind and Big Blind have been paid in, the Dealer will deal 2 cards to each player, one at a time. These are called the Hole Cards. These are private to you. You will use these cards and the 5 community cards to come up with the best Hand you can.
Round 2
After receiving your Hole Cards its time for another round of betting. Your choices are Call, Raise, Fold, Or Check (Only one player per round can Check). Call means you will match the bet, and as it is the first round of Open Betting, that will be whatever players decide the Minimum bet was (we’ll stick with £5 for this explanation). So, if you say Call, you are announcing you will match the bet and put £5 in. Raise means you will raise the Minimum bet. Usually, when you announce a raise, you will also announce the new Minimum bet (e.g., Raise. £7). Fold means that you do not want to play anymore and then pass the cards face down to the Dealer. Check means that you want to wait and see what others will do, and at the end of the round of betting it will come back to you to make your bet. Once all bets are made, the Dealer will deal the First 3 Community cards, and this is called the ‘Flop’. First, to prevent cheating, the Dealer will ‘Burn’ a Card by placing it off to one side Face Down. Then, Dealer will put down three cards face up. These are your first three community cards.
Round 3
After the Flop, there is another round of betting, the same as last time. Expect a few players to fold here.
Once the betting has finished, it’s the ‘Turn’. The Dealer burns another card, and then reveals a 4th community card.
Round 4
Now, another round of betting will commence, the same as last time. Expect even more peple to fold here. After betting, the dealer will burn one more card and then reveal the last community card (the River). Now you have all the information presented to you, it is time to make the best hand you can.
Round 5
The last round of betting before the Showdown is the last round of betting. Odds are that when you get to this stage, you’ll only have two or three players left, so this round won’t take too long after the final stage of betting comes the Showdown. This is when all remaining players show their hands, and the winner takes all.
Thousands of books have been written regarding technique and detecting bluffs, and no end of psychology is behind it. For a complete beginner, though, a good rule of thumb is ‘Weak is strong, Strong is weak,’ basically saying that the more confident a player is, the weaker his hand.
And there you have it—Texas Hold Em, one of the most popular card games in the world. As I said, it takes 10 minutes to learn and a lifetime to master, so get mastering! Onwards and Upwards Gents