Quick Start Genie Tutorial - Texas Holdem Poker
- The First Step - Texas Holdem is played with a standard 52 card deck with each player receiving two face down cards at the start (hole or pocket cards). Over a series of rounds, five more "community" cards are dealt in the middle of table and it is up to each player to combine the community cards with their two pocket cards to try and make the best five card hand.
- Hand Rankings - The player who makes the highest ranked five card hand wins the pot. He can use any number of community cards or pocket cards as along as a five card hand is made from the seven available to them. The different hand rankings for Texas Holdem in best order are: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, striaght, three of a kind, two pair, pair. See a full explanation of each these in the pokergenie article poker hands.
- The Button - this decides the order of play and rotates clockwise to each player for each new hand. It is always an advantage to be on the button as you generally are the last person to act.
- The Blinds - these are forced bets that are placed by the two people to the left of the button on each round. The value depends on the game being played and how long it has been going for. It essentially gets the betting going and helps to eliminate poorly performing players by getting their money on the table.
- Betting Rounds - The first round is called pre-flop and is where each player gets two face down cards in their hands. The second round is the flop and the most important one in Texas Holdem Poker. This consists of three face up community cards in the middle of the table. The third round is called the river or turn and adds one more card to the community pot. Lastly, the river is the fifth and final card to be dealt onto the middle of the table.
- Actions - When a player gets to act, he or she has five options: bet, check, call, fold, or raise. All of these are explained in the genie guide to poker actions.