How To Play Texas Holdem

Texas Holdem Basics Before we start going into the rules of how to play Texas Holdem, we need to get some common notation out of the way. Most poker writers use a very simple system to describe the cards of a hand. It goes as follows:

A - Ace
K - King
Q - Queen
J - Jack
T - Ten
9 - 9
8 - 8

And so on for the ranks, down to 2 - 2. For suits, a lowercase letter is used, following the rank: Kc, for instance, means the king of clubs. 2h refers to the 2 of hearts. (I'm assuming here that readers of this book are familiar with the standard 52-card deck.)

Very often cards are named by rank alone (such as describing the two pocket cards as T-3). This is because the only case in which the suits matter is in that of a flush--five cards of a matching suit. Thus if the player has T-3, and the writer describes the flop as 3-8-4, you can assume there's no possible flush going on. (A flop in which no two cards have the same suit is often described as rainbow; e.g. 3-8-4 rainbow.)

However, if the ten and three are of the same suit, they will be referred to as T3 ?suited.? In notation, especially with face cards, this often appears as T3s (ten and three of the same suit). It is important not to get this distinction mixed up with something like Tc-3s, which refers to a ten of clubs and a three of spades.

The notation becomes very easy, almost like a second language, as you progress.

Now, the goal of Texas holdem, like all poker games, is to win money. Players win the pot (the money in the middle of the table) in one of two ways:

a) Either by holding the highest poker hand after all the cards have been dealt, or

b) Betting into the pot, while the other plays give up (fold), thus oneby- one ceding what's already in the pot to him.

To learn how to play texas holdem first understand the:

Hands

Learn how to play texas holdem by first understanding Poker hands have the following rank, from strongest to weakest:

*Royal Flush -- Suited sequential cards T-A. Example: Th-Jh-Qh-Kh-Ah

*Straight Flush -- Any five sequential suited cards. Example: 4c-5c-6c-7c-8c

*Four of a Kind -- Any four cards of the same rank. Example: 5d-5c-5h-5s

* Full House -- Three cards of one rank, two of another. Example: 4d-4c-4s-Th-Tc

* Flush -- Any five non-sequential cards of the same suit. Example: 8d-3d-9d-Jd-Ad

* Straight -- Any five cards in order, unsuited. Example: 7d-8c-9c-Th-Jc

* Three of a Kind -- Any three cards of the same rank. Example: Ad-Ac-Ah-Jh-7d

* Two Pair -- Two pairs, each having cards of the same rank. Example: Th-Tc-4c-4d-3h

* Pair -- Two cards of the same rank. Example: Qh-Qd-2c-7s-8s

* High Card -- The hand's strength is measured by the rank of its highest card. Ace is highest, 2 the lowest. Example: 4c-8h-9d-Jh-Kd (King high)

There are several things to be aware of when looking at the relative strength of a hand. First, if two or more players have the same kind of hand at the end (such as a flush), the winner is the one with the highestranked card (which must be involved in his hand).

For instance, if the board looks like this: 4h-7h-9d-2c-Jh, and Eddie is holding Kh-3H, and Mike is holding Th-5h, then both players have flushes. However, Eddie wins because he has a ?king high,? while Mike only has a ?ten high.?

If two players both have three of a kind, the winner is obvious--it's whoever has the higher-ranked trio. Three sixes beats three twos. The same goes for four of a kind. When it comes to two pairs, the winner is the one with the highest-ranked pair. Pairs of kings and threes beats jacks and tens.

If players who have learned how to play texas holdem have the same high pair, then the decision goes to the highest secondary pair--if they happen to be the same, the winner is then decided by the kicker. The kicker is the unpaired card. Whichever is higher, wins.

The same hold true when two players have the same pair. Whoever holds the higher kicker wins. For instance: if the flop is 3d-5h-Th-Qd-Ks, and Eddie holds K4 and Mike holds KJ, Mike wins with his jack kicker. (On the other hand, if Eddie had K4 and Mike held K2, the two players would tie, and split the pot. Can you see why? Their kickers don't beat those of the ?board?--Q-T-5, in this case--so the extra card each of them holds doesn't come into play, is not included in their best hand.)

Following this logic, occasionally the board can beat all hands--consider a 5-3-5-5-3 board. A full house. If neither Mike nor Eddie has a five, then they would split the pot evenly in the end, both having a full house, fives full of threes. What happens if one of them has a three? Still a tie. Let's look at the reasoning:

The strength of a full house is decided in a semi-obvious way: the card rank considered is not the highest, but the one that is represented by three cards. Thus a 7-T-T-7-7 hand is called ?sevens full of tens? or ?seven over tens,? and the sevens assign its worth. Sevens full of tens beats A-A-2- 2-2, which is twos full of aces; on the other hand, it loses to 8-8-8-2-2, or eights full of twos. Many beginners make the mistake of thinking a full house that contains aces will automatically beat one made of 4's and 5's. Not true.

Of course, it is impossible for two players to tie on a full house, as there would need to be six cards of a rank for this to happen. Needless to say, there are only four of each.

Last to consider is the straight. Very simply, the highest card in the straight sequence determines its strength. A 4-5-6-7-8 non-flush straight beats a 2-3-4-5-6 non-flush straight, and the T-J-Q-K-A straight is the best one can have.

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