For more information about Texas Hold 'Em Poker and other variations, try the following links: To see all of our articles on poker rules and advice, go to our main article on How To Play Poker. Some Poker Basics are essential before you sit down at the card table. For a more complicated version of hold 'em, learn How to Play Omaha Poker. Deal Community Cards – this is the dealing of the flop, turn and river which are the face up community cards shared by all players. After the initial round of betting is over, it is time to deal the flop. Burn 1 card by placing it face down and then deal the next three cards face up on the table, this is the flop.
Texas Hold'em is usually played with nine or ten players at a full table with a rotating blind system. A blind system is designed to generate money to put into the pot and stimulate betting. There are two types of blinds, the big blind, which is equal to the minimum bet at the table you are playing at, and the small blind, which is half the amount of the big blind. For instance, if the table minimum is $10, then the big blind would be $10 and the small blind would be $5. The players who have to contribute these blinds rotates on position to the left after each hand. In tournament play, an additional forced bet, called an ante, is also sometimes used in addition to the rotating blind.
How To Poker Texas Holdem
After the blinds and antes (if applicable) are placed, each player is dealt two down cards (called hole cards). Then each player starting with the player to the left of the big blind has an opportunity to call (place an amount of money equal to the previous player's bet) the big blind, raise the bet (to place a bet higher than the previous player's), or fold (resign from the round of play). When the action (or betting) gets to the player in the small blind position, he/she can call the partial bet they initially placed, raise the bet, or fold. The player in the big blind has the option to raise or check (to decline to bet) if there are no raises as he/she already has a full bet in the pot. Any player who calls the big blind and has the pot raised behind him/her then has the option to call the raise or reraise the pot.Abbreviations A Ace K King Q Queen J Jack T Ten 9 Nine 8 Eight 7 Seven 6 Six 5 Five 4 Four 3 Three AA Pair of aces AK Ace and king Q9s Queen and nine, suited. (The 's' means suited, so if it were Q9 without the 's,' that indicates the cards are of different suits.) Ranking of hands Royal Flush Straight Flush Four of a Kind Full House Flush Straight Three of a Kind Two Pairs One Pair High Card |
Most limit Hold'em games have a three bet limit per round (hence the name limit), which means there can be only three raises per round of betting. In this case, 'round' refers to a series of checks, bets, calls, raises, and folds during a single session of betting or nonbetting. After the first round of betting, three community cards (called the flop) are placed face up in the center of the table. A second round of betting is now conducted starting with the player to the left of the button (dealer). Each player still active in the hand may check or bet. After a bet, each player may call the bet, raise, reraise if there was a raise, or fold.
The fourth community card (called the turn or fourth street) is then placed face up in the center of the table followed by another round of betting. In most limit games, the amount of a bet on the turn and river (last community card) is double the amount in the first two rounds.
Finally, the last community card (called the river or fifth street) is placed face up in the center of the table, and the last round of betting is conducted. After all bets have been placed, a showdown occurs, which simply means that players still in the hand show their hole cards to see who wins the pot.
Players can use any combination of their hole cards and the community cards to form the best five-card hand possible. Players can use both of their hole cards and three community cards, one hole card and four community cards, or all five community cards.
Players who use the five community cards to form their best hand can usually win only part of the pot or lose as everyone can use all five community cards. An example would be when the board shows AK-Q-J-T, then everyone left in the hand will split the pot as the board shows a royal flush, which is the best hand possible.
As we have already begun to mention in this section, there are different varieties of Hold'em games, depending on the amount the players are allowed to bet. In the next section, we will discuss these different games and the differences in play.
For more information about Texas Hold 'Em Poker and other variations, try the following links:
- To see all of our articles on poker rules and advice, go to our main article on How To Play Poker.
- Some Poker Basics are essential before you sit down at the card table.
- For a more complicated version of hold 'em, learn How to Play Omaha Poker.
- Get to know the previous 'most popular game in poker', in How to Play 7-Card Stud Poker.
If you’ve never dealt in a home poker game before, there are certain rules of etiquette that you should know about beforehand.
The first thing is that, unless you’re using plastic cards (like the expensive Kem cards I recommend buying), you should break out a new deck of cards to deal with. If you’re hosting, that’s up to you. If you’re not, you’re probably not going to deal first.
But either way, the first thing you do with that deck of cards is shuffle it. You need to shuffle it seven times to get it fully randomized.
There’s always a shuffled deck ready. Use one red deck and one blue deck so the cards never get mixed up.
Once you’ve shuffled that first deck of cards, you deal each player a card.
Just one at a time until the dealer is chosen.
This is to determine who gets to be the dealer first.
You get to decide what determines the dealer – you might decide that the first player to get an ace is the dealer. It could be the jack or any other card you like. Just make sure you announce it as you’re dealing the cards one by one, face-up.
Dealing continues from here as the game starts. The rest of this post will go into detail on how to be the dealer in your home poker game.
Dealer’s Choice
Youtube How To Deal Poker Texas Hold'em
It used to be common to have dealer’s choice as the presiding rule at a home poker game. This just means that the dealer gets to decide which game is going to be played.
It’s more common now to host a Texas holdem game or an Omaha game, but I still like to host a home game with dealer’s choice.
If you’re the dealer, don’t spend a lot of time agonizing over choosing the game you think will give you an edge over the other players. Just announce something basic and get on with it. The worst thing you can do at a home poker game is to slow down the game for any reason.
You’re in Charge
In most dealer’s choice games, the dealer’s in charge. In fact, for the most part, the dealer’s in charge of most games and makes most of the judgment calls about various things. Recently, I was dealing a game, and someone else decided to step in to tell another player something.
I corrected him plenty quick, by the way.
“I got this,” I told him.
You do need to pay attention to how many players are at the table before announcing the game.
If you have any special rules, you need to announce and explain those, too. You might have been playing baseball (a variant of 7-card stud) since you were ten years old, but you can’t assume the other players know how to play that game.
It’s your job to explain it if they don’t.
That’s one of the reasons I suggest sticking with the basic games. Poker’s plenty of fun without coming up with a dozen variant rules for everyone to keep up with.
Dealing Texas Holdem Videos
When you deal a poker game, you should always offer to let the player to your right (or your left, under some house rules) the opportunity to cut the cards. He should cut the deck toward you, although he can choose not to cut the deck if he wants to.
In the event of a misdeal, the dealer gets to make the judgment call, but you can expect input from the players. A lot of home poker games have specific rules in place for misdeals, too.
Dealing With Style
I suggest keeping it simple and just doing the basics – deal the cards one at a time to each player. Don’t turn them face-up unless they’re supposed to be face-up. Take your time to avoid a misdeal.
Some poker dealers love to spout off patter as they deal, and they have nicknames for all the face-up cards. Other dealers just blandly announce the cards as they’re dealt – ace of spades, queen of hearts, etc. Still, other dealers just keep their mouths shut.
It’s also customary to announce possible hands when you see face-up cards. “Possible flush” might be something you’d announce when dealing.
They’re also supposed to make sure that the players betting put their money in the pot, and they administer side pots when they come up. You also need to make sure that the discards get handled correctly. Remember, they go in the muck.
You can even learn sleight-of-hand tricks to deal with even more style. I know a card player who only uses one hand to deal. He uses the same hand he’s holding the deck with to distribute the cards.
That takes some practice.
The Final Deal
Eventually, someone – usually the host – will announce that you’re only going to play a certain number of more hands before calling it a night.
If you’re dealing the last hand, you should think about dealing a game that’s cool enough to make for a memorable final hand.
Often, this involves coming up with a game where you can get a lot of money into action. You might announce that the ante for the final hand is double, and bet sizes are double, too.
Or you might announce a game that just builds large pots by its very nature.
The Cards Talk
“Cards speak” is the standard rule in any home poker game. This just means that the cards are what determines who has the best hand, NOT what the player announces.
If a player has a straight flush, but he just announces a straight, his straight flush still plays.
It’s your job as the dealer to recognize the hands and point out who the actual winner is if someone is confused about the strength of his hand.
Some Hosting Advice
Being the host isn’t the same thing as being the dealer, but here are some tips for the host nonetheless:
You’re looking for five to seven players usually, and you should tell them in advance when the game starts, where you’re playing, and what the stakes are.
Traditionally, at my home game, I serve frozen pizza and little smokies sausages in barbecue sauce. I usually have some cheese cubes and crackers available, too. I’ve played in other games where beer was served and hot sandwiches in a crockpot, like meatballs or barbecue.
I usually tell people to buy in for at least $50 and bring an extra $5 to apply toward snacks. With seven players on hand, that’s $35 to budget for snacks. Heck, with that kind of money, you can even buy soda pop.
There’s no shame in asking people to bring a dish to share, either.
When Should Your Game Be?
The best night to host a home poker game is Thursday night. Here’s why:
On Monday, you’re recovering from both the first day of the workweek AND from the weekend. So are the other players.
If you play on Tuesday, you don’t have anything to look forward to later in the week.
Wednesday are reserved for church for some poker players – believe it or not.
Thursday is the best day. It’s late enough in the week for people to be ready to do something fun. Also, most people get paid on Friday. So, even if they lose money, they’ll get more money the next day.
Friday is okay, but a lot of people go out on dates on Friday night. This limits the number of players who will show up.
You should host your game at a regular time and a place every week if you want it to become successful.
Conclusion
Dealing and hosting a home poker game is more involved than some people think. I’ve covered what I think are the most important basics above.
But I also know that a lot of people do it differently.
What changes would you make to this guide to dealing a home poker game based on how you do it in your home game?
Let me know in the comments.