Texas Hold’em Poker Basics

Basic Rules of Texas Holdem Poker

The best way to learn Texas Holdem is to play poker online at Adda52.com and simultaneously grasp the rules & regulations from the most comprehensive information on how to play as mentioned below. Mastering this game of skill requires a neat understanding of the basics of poker and regular game play. Whether you are a newbie or an experienced online poker player, going through this section will always refine your poker strategies. Ring, Sit and Go (SNG) and Multi Table Tournament (MTT) formats are available for this game variant.

Learn Texas Holdem

Texas Hold’em, the most popular variant of online poker can be played between 2 to 9 players online with a standard deck of 52 cards that are shuffled automatically before every deal. To start, each player is dealt 2 cards visible to them only which are called Hole Cards. A total of 5 community cards is dealt face-up on the table in three further rounds of gameplay – Flop, Turn and River. A player needs to form the best possible five-card poker hand using these community cards and the 2 hole cards in their hand. Any combination of 5 cards out of the total 7 cards could be used to form your winning poker hand. The player who forms the best hand in the game as per the poker hand rankings wins the money in the pot.

The game starts as soon as each player receives their 2 private cards and proceeds with every player taking action in a clockwise turn of events starting with the player sitting left to the Big Blind. Let’s go through the gameplay of the online Texas Hold'em poker which progresses in a series of 4 rounds.

Pre-Flop

Players have an option to play the game after seeing their hole cards. Only one player acting at a time to bet in the game takes one of the available options (call, raise, fold, check) based on the hole card strength. Player can also bet all his chips and go all-in at any point in a round of betting. Betting starts with the player left of the big blind and continues in a clockwise fashion until all players on the table have placed an equal bet.

Flop

Once the pre-flop betting round gets over in Texas Holdem, 3 cards are dealt face up on the table which is termed as Flop Cards. Action starts with that active player immediately left of the button. Players start their betting in the same pattern as pre-flop based on the strength of their combination of 3 flop cards and 2 hole cards as well as the probability of forming a better poker hand with 2 more cards yet to be dealt. The first player to act first in the Flop round may choose to Check as no bet has been made before him.

Turn

A single card is dealt face up on the table after the flop round of betting is completed. It initiates the betting similar to the previous two rounds based on the new strength of card combination and probabilities calculated by each player remaining on the table. Action starts with that active player immediately left of the button.

River

When the Turn round of betting gets over, the last community card in dealt face up on the table which is termed as River. Action starts with that active player immediately left of the button. Betting again progresses in a similar way till the remaining live players either have equal bet amount or gone all-in.

Showdown

All players left in the game show their card which marks the Showdown in Texas Hold’em. The player with the best 5-card combination is chosen the winner and his/her winning cards move upwards. 

The winner is awarded the money in the pot and the dealer button moves to the next player in a clockwise turn for the new game to start. If more than one winner emerges based on their poker hand, the pot is divided between them accordingly.

Now that you are clear on how to play Texas Hold’em online and the basic rules of online poker, hit the Play Now button to start the poker action.

Texas Holdem betting rules

The betting rules remain the same in online Texas Hold’em poker whether you play Cash games or Freeroll games. The button moves clockwise every time after a game and the immediate player left to the previous dealer becomes the new dealer. When the first game starts on a new table, that player becomes dealer who sits nearest to the left of dealer (girl image) in the game area and is not "sit-out" or disconnected. In a heads-up game dealer becomes small blind. Once the dealer is chosen and marked with a dealer button, betting round starts as per the rules of the game variant. The player sitting left to the dealer puts in the small blind and the one sitting next to him in a clockwise turn puts in the big blind before the hole cards are dealt. Although blind amounts are pre-decided for each game depending on the stakes, the Big Blind always remains twice the amount of the Small blind.

For betting in any round of Texas Hold'em poker, a player may take 4 actions:

1. Call: To match the amount of highest bet on the table in the ongoing round of play.

2. Raise: To increase the bet amount in the betting round.

3. Check: To continue in the game without betting any further. This action can be taken by any player only if he has already matched the biggest bet on the table or if no one has yet opened the betting round.

4. Fold: To leave the ongoing game by surrendering the hole cards to the dealer and wait for the next game.