How to Play Texas ****

Texas Hold 'Em has gained a lot of popularity over the last few years. It makes a great party game, as well as a popular gaming venture at casinos. We'll assume that you understand the ranking of poker hands, which is necessary to determine the winners of each hand. This article dow not deal with strategy, but merely the rules of the game.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Deck of 52 cards.
• poker chips.

1. The betting begins by the "posting of the blinds, " in which the two players to the left of the dealer put up a predetermined number of chips. The player two seats to the left of the dealer is the "Big Blind" and places the number of chips constituting the big blind. The player to the direct left of the dealer is the "Small Blind," and puts up the small blind, which is usually half of the big blind. These players are betting on the hand without seeing their cards (blind).

2. The dealer shuffles a deck of 52 cards and deals each player two cards, face down. These are called "pocket" or "hole" cards.

3. The betting begins with the player three seats to the left of the dealer ("under the gun"). He has three options: Fold, and quit the hand, returning his cards to the dealer, Call, by betting the same amount as the big blind, or Raise, by betting amount bigger than the big blind.
   Each player, in a clockwise rotaion, has a chance to call, raise, or fold. This round of betting called "Pre-Flop."

4. THe dealer then burns a card (puts the top card of the deck in the discard pile), and deals three cards into the middle of the table. This is called the flop. These three cards are community cards and may be used by all players to creat their best possible hand.

5. Another round of betting occurs, beginning with the first player to the dealer's left. AFter this, the dealer burns a card and deals the "Turn," a single community card.

6. Another round of betting occurs, beginning with the first player to the dealer's left. AFter this, the dealer burns a card and deals the "River," a single community card.

7. After one final round of betting, the players remaining in the game engage in a "show down," beginning with the player to the dealers left, showing their cards. The players may use their pocket cards and the five community cards to creat the best possible five card hand. The best hand wins. In the event of a tie, the dealer splits the pot with the winners.