Texas Hold'Em for Beginning Card Players

Feeling lucky? Looking to expand your card skills? The game of Texas Hold'Em is an easy card game to pick up, but difficult to master. One of the most popular card/casino games in the world, it's hard to find someone who doesn't know what Texas Hold'Em is. However, despite the popularity, many people do not know how to play the game. This Instructable will take you through a hand of poker with each step being explained, with you (the reader) taking a position at the table and playing with cards that represent you.

Picture is from Texas Hold'em Bonus Poker. From RiversCasino.com.

• Poker chips
• Deck of cards (shuffled)
• Basic knowledge of card suits and rankings
• Common Poker terms (see below)

Common terms that are used in Texas Hold'Em (For definitions of Bolded words refer to "Knowing Common Terms"):

1. All In - Putting all your money you currently have as a bet; if someone else's call is more than a person's entire amount of chips, you'd have to go all-in with your chips.
2. Blind - Also known as a "blind bet", this is a designated amount of money to begin the money in the pot; these roles are assigned based on the position at the table.
3. Bet - An amount of money that a player can put into the pot in order to increase their winnings; they are placed based on the value of your hand.
4. Burn Card - "Burning" a card is the action of removing a card from play in order to ensure random card order and no cheating from the dealers.
5. Bust - Running out of chips, thus being unable to play.
6. Call - The player matches the amount of the previous bet.
7. Check - If a player has the highest bet or a call that matches the highest bet, they can check, which is just a sign to progress the hand.
8. Chips - Multicolored circles that represent monetary value, these are used for poker play and easy amount management.
9. Community Cards - The five face-up cards that are in-play for all players, these cards consist of the flop, the turn and the river.
10. Dealer - The "dealer" position is a role given to a player at the table; while this person may or may not actually deal the cards, the purpose is to decide the big and small blinds.
11. Fixed Limit Texas Hold'Em - A game in which players can only increase their bet by the amount of the small blind during the pre-flop and flop. During the turn and the river, a player can only bet in increments of the big blind. After a set number of raises a player will be capped from betting again.
12. Flop - The beginning of the community cards, this is done by burning a card and then placing three cards face-up in the middle; after the whole table has completed betting, we move onto the turn.
13. Fold - The action done to show a player is not going to participate in that hand; usually done if the dealt cards are not good or someone is suspected of having better cards.
14. Free Turn - If the whole table checks, meaning no one had to pay their chips for a bet in order to progress the game.
15. Hand - The five best cards from the community cards and the pocket cards.
16. Kicker - A card or set of cards that boost your hand; for example, a pair of twos and an ace would be called "two pair with an ace kicker".
17. No Limit Texas Hold'Em - A game in which players can make a minimum bet of the big blind and a maximum bet of all of their chips. Once a bet has been made the minimum that it can be raised is by the amount of the last bet with the maximum bet being all of the players chips.
18. Pocket Cards - The two cards that are initially dealt to the player face down.
19. Pot - The total amount of money that the players have bet.
20. Pot Limit Texas Hold'Em - A game in which you can raise the bet by the sum of the pot and the other players bets or a smaller amount.
21. Pre-Flop - A phase of a hand that allows players to bet on their initial deals; after the whole table has completed betting, we move onto the flop.
22. Raise - To bet more than the highest bet on the table, thus making all other players match that bet; usually done with good cards or in a bluff
23. River - The fifth and last card of the community cards, done by burning a card and placing a card face-up next to the turn; after the whole table has completed betting, the hand will end by comparing the final hands
24. Showdown - The final moments of a Texas Hold'Em game in which all players who have not folded show their cards to see who has the best hand. If nobody checks the final bet, then there is no reason to show the cards.
25. Split Pot - When or if a hand ends in a stalemate, the pot will be split between the two players of the stalemate.
26. Turn - The fourth card of the community cards, done by burning a card and placing a card face-up next to the flop; after the whole table has completed betting, we move onto the river.

The ranking of Texas Hold'Em hands goes as follows (top as the best, bottom as the worst):

1. Royal Flush - Five cards in a row of the same suit from the ace going down to the 10 (A, K, Q, J, 10)
2. Straight Flush - Five cards in a row of the same suit.
3. Four of a Kind - Four cards with the same number.
4. Full House - Three cards with the same number, and two cards with the same number.
5. Flush - Five cards of the same suit but not in a row.
6. Straight - Five cards in a row but not of the same suit.
7. Three of a Kind - Three cards with the same number.
8. Two Pair - Two sets of two cards with the same number.
9. Pair - One set of two cards with the same number.
10. High Card - The highest card in the hand (Ace is the highest).

Picture is from the World Series of Poker, the professional league of Poker that all professionals use in tournament and casinos. https://www.wsop.com/poker-hands/

Black Chips - $10

Blue Chips - $5

White Chips - $1

The dealer position is someone designated at the beginning of the hand. In this game, you will be the one in this position. This may or may not include actually dealing the cards, but it's mostly used to designate the small and big blinds. The person to the left of the dealer is the Small Blind, and the person to the left of the Small Blind is the Big Blind. The first card will be dealt to the person that is the left of the dealer position. After each hand, these roles rotate in a clockwise direction.

The Small Blind is half of the Big Blind which is determined by the place that you will be playing at. For the game shown in the steps the Small Blind will be $5 or one blue chip and the Big Blind will be $10 or one black chip.

The goal of Texas Hold'Em is to make the best hand possible using the pocket cards and the community cards. The person with the best hand at the end of all the bets wins all of the money in the pot.

Before dealing the cards, the players who are the Small Blind and big blind will put their amounts into the pot, beginning the money to be gambled for.

After the Small Blind and Big Blind are in, the card dealer will deal, starting with the left of the person with the "dealer" role (which is you).

If a player wants to remain in play, the player must call the highest bet. If they do not, they may do what is called folding. A player folds by pushing both cards facedown into the middle of the table. For example, if the Big Blind is 10 dollars, every other player still in play must bet 10 dollars. The Small Blind would bet five dollars, as they have previously bet half of the Big Blind. If the highest bet is raised, the other players must call that higher amount, or fold.

In this set of instructions, we will walk you through a typical hand of No Limit Texas Hold'Em, with an imaginary player that represents your position at the table. In this game, there are three players. This is done because it demonstrates the relationship between the dealer and the blinds. Furthermore, each player's cards will be face up to demonstrate the relationships of the cards and their suits. However, know that in an actual game or in a casino setting, there would be 6 to 8 people all sitting at a circular table, cards concealed, betting against each other. The fact you don't know the others' cards is what makes it a gamble. You're gambling that your cards are better than all of the others at the table.

There are three players at this table: you are the Dealer, the player to your left is the Small Blind, and the player across from him (the next player in sequence) is the Big Blind. You are dealt a Jack and a Six of Hearts. These are your pocket cards. The player to your left has a Jack and a Ten of Clubs. All players call the Big Blind to stay in play.

After completing the Pre-Flop bets, the next phase begins, the Flop.

The dealer will "burn" a card removing it from play, and place three cards. After the flop all other players who have not folded will have the options to call, raise, check, or fold. Once a bet has been made the minimum amount that the bet can be raised is the amount of the bet. The raising and calling will continue until all players who have not folded have checked or there is one player remaining.

One of our players has a Jack and a Ten of the same suit, two cards needed for the highest hand possible, the Royal Flush. So, this player will raise, causing one player to fold and one player to call that bet. The player who folded had a Queen of Spades and a Three of Diamonds. These cards are of opposing suit colors, and quite far apart from each other. Despite having a pair of threes, there is a high chance another player has a flush with the two Heart cards in the community cards. With the pocket cards not being favorable for each other, and the flop not giving this player any super valuable hands, they fold to avoid losing money. Your cards are a Jack and Six of the same suit, the Hearts. This is a good hand with the current flop also having two cards in that same suit. With this, you call his raise to stay in and try to get that flush.

After the raising, folding, and calling, we begin the next phase, the Turn.

The dealer burns another card, places a card next to the flop. The first player will be given the option to check, raise, or fold. After that the remaining players will be given the chance to check, raise, call, or fold depending on how they feel about their hand and the current bets. This will continue until the players who have not folded check, or one player is remaining, which will lead into the river.

In our game both players have money on the table and don't wish to bet more, so they check to progress to the river.

Finally, the river presents the last of the five community cards.

The dealer burns one final card and places a card after the turn, completing the five-card river. The first player will again be given the choice to check, raise, or fold. The other players will be allowed to check, raise, call, and fold. This will continue until all members have checked or until one player is remaining.

For our game, the players have checked in order to compare cards.

If there are multiple players that check after the river, then a showdown will commence. During the showdown the remaining players will show their cards to determine who has the better hand which is determined by the ranking of the hands (Step 2). However, there are times when this can get complicated. In our example, one player has a Jack which pairs with a Jack in the community cards and a Ten, while the second player has a Jack that also pairs with a Jack in the community cards and a Six. The first player will win because they have both the pair and a higher card than the second player. If all players' remaining tie, then there will be a split pot, where all remaining players will split the pot among themselves.

If there is only one player remaining, then the player does not need to show their cards. The player claims the pot and then the next round starts.

After a hand, all the cards are gathered, shuffled, and cut by the dealer. This is done to ensure the next hand will be completely randomized, by both the dealer and a player in the game. Randomizing the cards eliminates the possibility of unfair dealing and card ordering.

Video comes from Triple S Games, an instructional YouTube channel

Spread out the cards face down on the table and mix them up. Gather them together, with the cards facing away from you, towards the other players, then split the deck. When splitting the deck, be sure to keep the cards face down, close to the table. Perform a riffle shuffle by bending the corners up of each half of the deck and interlacing the cards. While keeping the cards face-down on the table, push them in together. Do 2 more riffle shuffles. Then box the cards by cutting it three times on top of itself. Do another riffle, then, using a card from another deck that has a different back, called the cut card, cut the deck on top of this card. Now you can deal. The cut card helps ensure no one sees the bottom card as well as helps prevent the dealer from cheating by dealing off the bottom.

As mentioned in Step 2, the positions of dealer, Small Blind, and Big Blind will rotate at the end of the hand. This ensures that no one player is contributing to the pot more than the other players at the table.

These steps explain one hand with one combination of cards, but there is over a thousand different possible hands, and even more possible flops. A major way to keep improving is to keep playing with these different combinations.

If you have followed these steps and you are starting to feel more confident in your game a few ways to improve are bluffing and having a "poker face". Bluffing is when a player has a bad hand, but they act like it is good to fool other players. One way that a player could bluff is by raising by a substantial amount. Always remember though that bluffing can help you win but it can also make you lose large amounts of chips if somebody calls your bluff. Another, way to improve is not having any tells or actions that show if you have a bad or good hand, this is considered a good "poker face". An example of a tell would be someone grinning when they have a good hand but rolling their eyes when they have a bad hand. The best way to improve your game is by playing and experiencing why you shouldn't do things in certain situations due to a loss.