Game Info

The object of Texas Hold’em is to create the best five-card hand using seven cards.

Before the deal:

• Players will buy-in for the posted amount.
• Selected players will post blinds.

The dealer button:

The button is a graphical representation (“D”) of which player is the “dealer.” When the cards are dealt to players, they are dealt in a manner as if the player was actually dealing in a live environment. The dealer will always start with the player sitting closest to his left.

Blinds:

When there is a player “on the button” two players will be asked to “post the large or Small Blinds please.” The blinds serve a purpose similar to antes, in that they put forced money into the pot that gives players an incentive to enter the hand. However, only two players will “post” or “put up” the blinds.

The first blind is called the “Small Blind.” This bet is usually half the minimum bet of the game, although in some games, the fraction is slightly different. In €15-30 games, the Small Blind is €7. In €5-10 games, the Small Blind is €2.

So in a €2-4 game the Small Blind will be €1. The second blind is called the “Big Blind.” It is always the same size as the game’s minimum bet, e.g., in a 5-10 game, the Big Blind is €5.

[R] The player directly left of the button will have the “Small Blind.” The player directly to the left of the Small Blind will have the “Large blind.”

Opening deal:

Once there is a button, a Small Blind and a Big Blind, the table is ready to deal. The dealer always deals from the player closest to the dealer’s left. Moving clockwise around the table, the game will “deal-in” each player. The players will be dealt one card face down, then a second card face down. The player seated to the left of the Big Blind will start the opening round.

Betting on opening deal:

The player seated to the left of the Big Blind will always have the action on the opening deal. This player may not check, but he can only pass, call, or raise the amount of the Big Blind.

The game will now advance to each player seated asking to fold, call, or raise until the round reaches the Big Blind. If no player has raised by the time the round returns to the Big Blind, the Big Blind has the option to check his own blind wager or raise. The Big Blind has this opportunity only in the opening round, and only once.

Once all players have completed the first round of wagering, they will proceed to the flop.

Flop:

Before the flop is dealt, one card from the deck must be “burned”, which the dealer will deal face down one card into the pot. The flop consists of the first three community cards. The dealer places them face up on the board (the centre of the table) and are available to all players for potential use to make a poker hand.

This is how the flop looks:

Now the Flop has landed on the board and all players have five cards available to make their hand, the two “hole” cards that were dealt on the opening round and three “community cards” that all players may use. The following rule determines which player will have the action:

[R] After the opening deal, the player who is seated closest to the left of the button shall have the initial action. If the player who has the button folds, the button is still active and will remain in front of that player’s seat for the rest of the game.

The player who has the action may check, pass, or bet the limit. As soon as one player chooses to bet, the other players in the hand can no longer check. They can only call or raise by the amount that is allowed for that round. In the Flop, as well as in the opening round, the bets and raises must follow the lower betting limit (in a 3/6 game that’s €3), and, in the following rounds (Turn and River) the higher betting (€8 in the example above).

The Turn:

The Turn is the fourth card to be dealt onto the board and the sixth card available to the player. Some players call this “fourth street.” However, the most common term used for this round is the Turn. As always, the dealer will burn a card and then deal one card face up onto the board to the right of the last flop card.

This is how the turn looks:

The 9 of spades is the “turn card.”

At this point the players have access to the four cards on the board and their two hole cards. As in the previous round, it begins with the player who is still remaining in the hand and who is closest to the left of the button.

The bet on the Turn is the higher level of the betting limit. In a €2-4 game, this would be €4. Each player has the right to the bet and a cap of three raises. If a player bets €4 and the other players only fold or call, he can raise again up to the total number of three raises. If there are just two players remaining, the number of raises is unlimited at our real money tables.

However, in tournaments, the three-raise limit applies even if there are only two players left in a hand.

The River:

The dealer will place the fifth and final card on the board.

The Flop cards turn River.

This is how the River looks: