Texas Hold’em Basics: How Hands Are Played

Being (arguably) the most popular form of poker in the world, Texas Hold’em is currently played by millions of people each day. You can find a lot of Texas Hold’em poker rooms online, from free poker rooms at social networking sites to high stakes exclusive rooms with a big blind of £100,000. If you haven’t played Texas Hold’em poker already, now is the best time to start. In this part, we are going to discuss about hands in this form of poker are played.

The game starts with hole cards, dealt face down, and the pre-flop betting session. The hole cards, two for each player, are what make Texas Hold’em very interesting to play. You will be guessing and assessing each other to determine if the hand you are holding is strong enough to win the round.

The dealer will then deal the flop, a series of three cards dealt face up. These cards are also called community cards. Every player on the table can use community cards to construct the strongest possible hand. At this point, betting can be quite aggressive depending on how relatively strong the hand each player holds.

The turn comes after the flop. The dealer will deal another card face up, and players can again place their bets. At this stage, strong competitions will arise as players with relatively strong hands will want to make sure they can eliminate their opponents.

Lastly, the dealer deal another face-up card; this is called the river. After another betting session, all remaining players will open their cards – the showdown – and the one with top hand wins the pot money.