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The Basics Of Texas Hold'Em

When you arrive at a party and everyone there is playing poker, are you tired of feeling like an idiot when you’re the only one that doesn’t know how to play?   The game their playing is Texas Hold’em, which is known to be the “Cadillac of Poker” (Harrington 2). Hold’em has “exploded in popularity” the last few years with the increased television exposure, it has garnered from ESPN (Harrington 1).

Until you have become an experienced Hold’em player, you should adopt a conservative style of play.   “Playing conservatively has the great merit of keeping you out of a lot of trouble, and that’s very important” (Harrington 39).   Playing conservatively means that if you have a good hand then bet, and if you don’t have a good hand, then fold.

After you sit down, everyone will be dealt two cards face down.   You will use these two cards to make the best possible five-card hand.   At this time, everyone has to decide whether or not they want to continue playing with their two cards.   If you want to continue, then you have to call the bet, or raise the bet by putting more money in the pot.   If you have bad cards, then you want to fold the cards and wait until the next hand.

The following five cards the dealer lays down are called “community” cards, and may be used by anyone currently playing.   The dealer will first lay down three cards face-up, called the “flop”. You are going to have to analyze the flop, and decide what you’re going to do, to include: betting, calling, folding and raising (Harrington 264).   Being conservative, you want to bet if you have a good hand, call if it’s cheap and you need a card to have the winning hand, fold if you have nothing and raise if you have an awesome hand.

After everyone decides what they want to do after the flop, the dealer will lay down another card face-up, called the “turn”.   When it’s your turn to make a decision, you want to make sure you have a good hand to continue playing.   Be careful not to lose a lot of money...