Texas Holdem rules and guidelines are easy to understand with all the hype about Texas Holdem Poker today. It’s difficult not to know basic rules of the game when everybody is playing it. This Texas Holdem Poker rule guide will help you learn the basics of how to play Texas Holdem poker using basic rules.

Texas Holdem Betting

There are several rounds of betting in the Texas Holdem Poker rule book. The first round is called the preflop, the second is called the flop, the third is called the turn or fourth street, and the final round is called the river or fifth street. Players have the option to check, call, bet, raise, or fold, depending on the situation set forth.

Beginning a Texas Holdem Game

To begin a new game, the dealer begins by shuffling a 52 card deck and passing one card face up to each player. The player with the highest value card will be chosen to be the “dealer” and will be given a button called the dealer button. The Texas Holdem Poker rule is that if two people have a card of the same value the tie is split by the value of the suit by alphabetical order. The lowest value suit is a club and the highest value suit is a spade.

Once the dealer is determined the Texas Holdem Poker game may begin. The person directly to the left of the dealer button must place a forced bet which is called the small blind. The small blind is equal to one half of the lowest bet at the table. In addition to the posting of the small blind, the person directly to the left of the small blind must post the big blind. The big blind is equal to the smallest bet at the table. You are ready to begine when your table has a dealer button, a small blind, and a big blind.

The dealer can shuffle the deck several times and begin dealing cards in a clockwise manner, beginning with the small blind and ending at themselves. The dealer is either a dedicated dealer at a casino or the person who has the dealer button in front of them. The Texas Holdem Poker rule book states that each player should receive no more and no less than 2 cards face down and may not show them to other players at the table.

Texas Holdem Rules – Preflop

After each player has received their two “hole cards” the first round of betting (preflop) may begin. The first person to act is the person directly to the left of the big blind. This person has the option to fold, call, or raise. If the player just joined a game that had begun before they sat down they have the option to check rather than call, because they should have posted an amount equal to the big blind in order to join the hand.

Texas Holdem Rules – Turn Card

After the first round of betting ends, the dealer should “burn” the top card, by placing it aside of the deck, and take the next three cards and lay them face up in the center of the table. From the flop on the player (with cards) to the direct left of the dealer begins the round of betting. They have the option to check (make no bet), or bet. Once this round of betting is completed we move on to the next round, the turn (aka fourth street).

To begin the turn (fouth street), the dealer must burn one more card by moving it to the side and then placing on card face up to the right of the other cards at the table. Another round of betting occurs starting again with the player (with cards) to the direct left of the dealer.

Texas Holdem Rules – River Card

The river is the final card. Once again the dealer must burn a card and then lay the last (river) card to the right of the other cards. This begins the final round and players may make their final betting decisions. After the betting ends, players will enter into a showdown.

Texas Holdem Rules – Showdown

The showdown is where players display their cards, beginning with the player who made the last bet and moving clockwise from there. The player with the highest poker hand rank wins the pot. In the event of a tie, the pot is split amongst the players who have the equal hand.

Follow this guide and you will be a master of the Texas Holdem Poker Rules.