Northern Colorado Poker Wiki

Texas Hold'em Rules

Texas Hold'em is one of the most popular poker games today. While the rules are fairly simple, the strategy changes with each player and each situation, making the game different every time you sit down at the table.

Before the cards are even dealt, the game begins with the posting of antes, blinds, or both. An ante is a small forced bet from each player at the table. With blinds, the player to the dealer's left posts the "small blind," and the player to their left posts the "big blind," which is double the small blind and the minimum bet for the rest of the hand. Both methods ensure action on any given hand. We generally use blinds in tournament games, and antes in the dealer's choice cash games.

Each player is then dealt two "hole cards," face down cards that only the player sees. This is followed by a round of betting, where players have to decide for the first time whether they want to "hold'em or fold'em."

Once the pot is good (every player still involved has put in the same amount of money), the dealer discards or "burns" one card from the deck, then deals three cards face up on the table. This is called the flop. It is followed by another round of betting.

The dealer then burns another card, and turns one more face up. This is the turn, or 4th street. Another round of betting.

Finally, the dealer burns one more card and turns up the final community card, called 5th street or the river. There is a final round of betting, then players turn up their cards. Each player makes their best 5-card hand from any combination of their two down cards and the five community cards, and the best hand wins!

In many cases, the game does not play all the way through, as players fold hands they do not think will win.