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By far, the most common type of poker played today is Texas Hold'em. Around the world, high profile tournaments and online play have helped to grow the game to the popularity it enjoys today.
Here's how a game of Texas Hold'em is played:
Before any cards are dealt the two blinds must be posted. The player to the immediate left of the dealer puts in the 'Small Blind' and the next player the 'Big Blind'. The blinds are half the amount of the table limits (on a $.50/$1.00 table the blinds would be $.25 and $.50).
- Once the blinds are in the dealer deals two cards face down to each player (their 'hole' cards).
- Then a round of betting takes place.
- After the betting round is finished the dealer deals the 'flop'. The flop is three cards (community cards) placed face up on the table for all players see and to use.
- Then another round of betting takes place.
- After this round of betting is finished a fourth community card is placed face up in the middle of the table (the 'Turn').
- Then another round of betting takes place.
- The last community card is dealt face up (the 'River').
- Then the last round of betting takes place.
With the completion of the final betting round the showdown takes place. The players use any combination of hole cards and community cards to make their best five card hand, with the best five card hand winning the pot.
There are three different variations of betting in Texas Hold'em poker.
- Limit - This type of betting has a set betting limit for each round of betting. The table determines the limit, for example, a $.50/$1.00 table has a maximum bet limit for the first round of $.50, and a maximum bet limit of $1.00 for every round after that.
- Pot Limit - You can bet up to the total pot amount at the time you make your bet.
- No-Limit - This type of betting allows players to bet as much as they want, provided they have the chips at the table during their bet (bring extra money into play mid-round is not allowed).
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