How to Play Texas Hold Em

Texas Hold 'em has usurped regular five-card stud as THE way to play poker. It's fun, challenging, and allows you to use more skill than luck, unlike the latter. It's not difficult to learn and once you get started, the possibilities of winning seem endless.

For this learning guide, we'll create four players: YOU, Lefty, Righty, and Across. Imagine sitting at a square table with Lefty to your left, Righty to your right, and Across... well, figure it out.

If you're playing among four friends and you want to be somewhat official, step 1 would be to figure out who starts as dealer. You do this by panning out a deck of cards face-down(jokers removed), and by each of you picking a card to see who deals first. High card wins(if you don't know, Ace is the highest card).

Okay, so for the sake of this guide, let's say Across deals first. As Across shuffles across from you, the player to Across' left(which would be Righty on your right) puts in a small blind. That's an opening ante. Let's say the opening ante, or the cost to play, for small blind is 1 chip. This would be followed by a big blind of double that, or two chips. If Righty is the small blind(1 chip), you would be the following big blind(2 chips). Both of you have to pay this to play.

Across will now start dealing cards in a clockwise direction. First, Righty to your right gets one face-down card, then you, then Lefty, followed by Across. In the same clockwise direction, you each then get a second face-down card. Now all of you can look at your cards and try reading each others faces. A "tell" is a visible sign like a smirk or a tick that tells whether a player has picked up something they like/dislike.

At this point, if Lefty to your left likes his cards or just wants to play, he has to match the big blind, 2 chips. Let's say Lefty calls, or throws in 2 chips. Lefty also had the option to raise, if he really liked his cards' chances or wanted to bluff everyone out of betting. Raising would mean Lefty called the 2 chips, then raised any amount more, minimum raise being at least the big blind(2 chips).

But let's say Lefty didn't raise, only called. Now it falls on Across to either call, raise, or fold. Let's say Across took a look at his two cards and nearly vomited because they were so bad. Across folds. This means Across doesn't have to pay anything because he's neither small nor big blind, and he isn't playing. Moving on to Righty.

Righty on your right was small blind(1 chip), remember? So now Righty has to either call(1 more chip), raise(at least 2 chips, the big blind), or fold like Across did. At this point no one raised, so it would probably suit Righty to add one more chip to his blind and play. Let's say Righty does. Now the action has swung all around the table back onto you. You were the initial big blind(2 chips) so now you have the option to raise. Depending on what you saw of your cards, you can raise. You can also fold but that wouldn't make any sense since you were already obligated to bet the minimum 2. Might as well play.

You check, verbally, or tap on the table with your hand. This means let's play.

As the dealer, Across will burn the top card on the deck. This means before dealing, he takes the top card out of play. After laying aside the top card(face-down), Across counts out the next 3 cards and lays them out on the table, face-up. This is called the flop. Now you, Righty, and Lefty are competing to see who has the best hand among the five cards visible to you: the 3 on the flop, and your private two.

Right about now would be a good time to review what the best poker hands are:

High Card: there is nothing in your five card hand except a high card, like an ace or a king. Not a good hand.

One Pair: maybe one of your private cards has paired with a card on the flop. Depending on how high a pair it is, possibly a good hand.

Two Pair: maybe both of your private cards paired with two cards on the flop. Pretty good.

Three of a kind: maybe you started with a pair in your private cards and a third one came out with the flop. Nice.

Straight: if the flop, along with your 2 private cards gave you a straight, you're in great shape. A straight is consecutive number cards of different suits, like a 3 of hearts, a 4 of diamonds, a 5 of clubs, etc.,. all the way up to 3-4-5-6-7. Like pairs, the strength of straights depend on how high up they go.

Flush: if you "flopped" a flush, you're in even better shape. A flush is five cards of all the same suit, like 3 of hearts, 10 of hearts, King of hearts, etc.,. If two players both have the same suited flush, the winner will be determined by who has the highest card in that flush, like an Ace.

Full house: a full house is three-of-a-kind, with a pair. Let's say your two private cards were two Kings, and the flop came out to be three 7's, you just flopped yourself a full house.

Four of a kind: a four of kind is just that-- four of a kind. Extremely rare and even rarer to lose with this hand, unless someone has a higher four of a kind.

Straight flush: a straight flush is a combination straight(see above) and flush(see above). It is five consecutive numbers that are of the same suit. A nearly invincible hand.

Royal straight flush: A royal straight flush is like a straight flush, but is comprised of the five highest cards possible: 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace, all of the same suit. If you ever see this in your clutches, bet your house.

Okay, so let's say you have a King and a two in your private cards. On the flop, an Ace, King, and Nine-- all of different suits come out. The first thing you'll notice is that you flopped a pair. Try not to show a tell. The next thing you should scan for are the suits of the flop, and the suits of your cards. They are all unsuited, so you don't have a flush. Mathematically, you should calculate whether your opponents might have the possibility of a flush. Though you have a pair of Kings, you should take note that there is an Ace out there, and if one of your opponents is hiding an Ace, they'd immediately beat your hand.

Another round of betting begins. Small blind(Righty) goes first. He has the option of betting, checking or folding. To bet would be to place a bet(minimum 2 chips), checking would mean he defers betting over to you, and folding means he gives up, which would be kind of foolish at this point since no one has placed a bet yet. Let's say Righty checks over to you. All eyes are on you, now. What will you bet? What do you have? What will your bet say that you have?

Let's say you get all crazy and bet 10 chips. This isn't a bad bet since you have a high pair, and now with that bet you can see if anyone calls or raises. If anyone calls or raises, they either have that Ace or are trying to bluff you out of your chips.

Let's try two outcomes here.

Let's say, Lefty doesn't call, folds, as does Righty(Remember Across has already folded earlier). You just won the pot. You don't have to show your cards but no doubt your friends will be yelling to see them.

But let's say Lefty doesn't fold, thinks for a long while, then calls. You have to think about why he did what he did in what time it took him. It took him a long time, which means he was thinking or feigning thinking. He called but didn't raise. It could mean he has a pair, but not the Ace. It could mean he has the Ace pair, but thinks you do, too. In that case, it would come down to who has the next highest card, called the kicker. If the you both had an Ace pair, the next highest card would be your King, but if you didn't have that King, it would be the King on the board within those 3 community cards. If that were the case, you'd both split the pot.

But we're not even close to done. Lefty called so now it's back on Righty. Let's say Righty folds. He clearly didn't have anything so he ducked out. Since you started that bet and Lefty called, that round is done. Now, Across burns another card(away, face-down), and places the following card face up. This is called the turn. Let's say it's another Ace.

So now there is Ace, King, Nine, and Ace on the board. You have King, Two, which gives you a pair, but there is a pair of Aces on the board which gives you two pair. You're feeling a bit screwed here because you think Lefty has an Ace and has just "turned" a triple. Depending on what Lefty's second private card is, he may have turned a full house. Since Righty folded, the betting begins with you. You're feeling gutsy. You lay out another 10 chips. All eyes fall on Lefty now, who takes another eternity to think.

Lefty calls again, matching your 10 chips. Just calling? You have to wonder why Lefty isn't raising. Does he really have an Ace or is he just trying to milk chips out of me, knowing if he raises me I'd fold? This is hold 'em poker, where your skills determine your luck.

Across burns another card and deals out the last card, face-up. This is called the river. It is a King. Now, you are screwed. You have a full house: 3 Kings full of 2 Aces. But what does Lefty have? 3 Aces full of 2 Kings? There is only one way to find out, and that is with a well-placed bet. Let's say you decide to turn things over to Lefty. You tap the table and check.

Now Lefty is thinking again. What could he possibly have? After what seems an eternity again, Lefty goes all-in. This means whatever chips Lefty had left, he's betting them all. The pressure's on you now. Does Lefty have that Ace? The two rounds prior he took a long time thinking and only called. Maybe he has the fourth King, in which case you'd both have the same full house and split the pot. Decisions, decisions. This is what makes poker fun. This is why Hold 'em has usurped the outdated five-card stud.

When the round is over, the dealing and blinds shift counterclockwise. Righty to your right becomes dealer, you become small blind, and Lefty becomes big. After a few rounds, if the game starts to drag, you can raise the blinds from 1 chip/2 chips to 2 chips/4 chips.

But it is this moment that makes poker, poker. Lefty has called you all-in. You've already invested so many chips in this opening hand. If you lose, you can always re-buy in, which means you throw in some more money for some more chips to play with. But you aren't thinking re-buy, you're thinking showdown. You re-play each round of betting in your mind, starting with the opening round. You stare at Lefty hoping for any visual hint at what he may be hiding: a beam of sweat, a trembling brow, anything. You push the time limit beyond what's acceptable. Suddenly Across and Righty yell at you to make a move. Fine, you think, I'll just do what I've been thinking of doing-- but wait! Right before you moved, Lefty exhaled and gulped. You saw it! Just as he thought you were going to proceed, he exhaled and gulped. What does that mean? You think you know. You know exactly what to do.

You play poker.