So you’ve been invited to play in a freeroll Texas hold’em, no limit satellite tournament! You’re keen but don’t have a clue what it means. As you would expect, at Poker-Shark.co.uk we do, so we hired Mr Tea. He doesn’t know what is going on and we devised our simple guide to bring him up to scratch with texas holdem poker rules!

SHARK INFO  – Poker reportedly derives from an ancient Chinese Game but the one that we play today in its various forms grew in popularity during the 19th Century. Its popularity stems from America where they started?????.............................. Poker hit its peak in the late 90’s, early 2000’s when on line poker came along. This allowed people from all walks of life to try it and move away from the seedy underground stereotype widely portrayed in the movies. Poker reached fever pitch when in 2003, an on line qualifier , Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas – the holy grail for all poker players!

 

Texas Hold’em Poker Rules 

Texas Holdem is the most commonly played variety of Poker both in casinos and online. For a new player to this globally popular card game, it can all get pretty daunting! Please don’t let this put you off – Despite all the terminology, this is a very simple game and one you will enjoy even if you don’t know your Velvet Hammer from your Pocket Rockets!
So where do we start with texas holdem poker rules?
For this guide we are going to put you in our Poker-Shark.co.uk No-limit Hold’em Tournament! There are four of us – You, me, Mr Shark and Mr Tea. We are sat around having a beer and some delicious Devon Biltong, and are ready for the game!
Why have we chosen this particular game? Simple, this is what they play on TV and is how you make your millions at the WSOP! Also Poker-Shark.co.uk believe this to be the purest and simplest form of the game. Basically in a tournament you buy your place at the table with a predetermined amount of money (lets say £5). This is all you can lose! When you hear of people losing their house, they have played a cash game. As a rule the more money you have, the more you can bully someone out of theirs.

 

SHARK TIP – Don’t Play Cash Games when starting out!!

 

The no limit form or Texas Holdem means that at each round of betting there is no limit on what you can bet. You can put all your chips in on the very first hand if you think you can win! The other option is pot limit – some prefer this but it can be a lot slower and in our opinion, not as fun. Each betting round is capped at a pot limit.
So the aim of our tournament is to be the last player standing having taken everyone else’s chips from around the table! Simple as that. You can take as many deals as it takes to achieve this . At this stage it is useful to understand the hand order (you can keep our handy hand guide on screen when playing! Just click here) . Each player will be dealt two cards that only they can see (hole or Pocket cards). By the end of the round there will be five cards visible to all on the table (community Cards). The winner of the round will have the best 5 cards (out of the 7 they can see in total). Best 5 out of 7 – EASY! Lets play!
 

Step 1 – Dealing
Determine dealer – When playing online or in a Casino, there will be a dealer not taking part in the game, so a button (dealer button) is passed around to show where the cards would be dealt from next. In our game, you will deal first. So the first card is dealt to the person on your left. This goes round the table until each player has 2 cards! WAIT…...before you start giving cards, we need to throw in a tricky part…....The blinds.

Step in middle of Step 1 – The Blinds
One of the most important texas holdem poker rules is the Blinds. The blinds are basically a forced bet. Blinds increase as the tournament progresses. These make sure there is always something to win on each round! Blinds will go up at a prearranged time for example, every 15 minutes. When we say go up – we mean the number of chips that constitutes each blind will increase and this generally means doubled. We’ll start with blinds of 10/20 so the small blind is 10 chips and big blind is 20 chips (15 minutes later the blinds would become 20/40). Remember that blinds must go in before the first card is dealt and after the dealer is decided.

SHARK INFO - IN ONLINE POKER, THIS IS WORKED OUT AUTOMATICALLY. YOU DONT NEED TO WORRY ABOUT IT BUT IT’S USEFUL TO KNOW WHY THEY ARE TAKING CHIPS OFF YOU WITHOUT SEEING A CARD!

Step 2 – Pre Flop
We all have 2 cards and these are known as Hole or Pocket cards. Mr Shark has been forced to bet 20 chips (big blind) and before we see more cards, everyone on the table needs to have bet an equal amount. So Mr Shark is in for 20 and next is Mr Tea. Does he like his cards? Lets see his thought process.
NO - Cards are rubbish, I’m not going to win a thing so Ill fold. This means he chucks in his cards without losing any chips. He would not take any further part in this hand.
YES - You can go on about tactics for years but we are keeping this example very simple. The best way to learn is through playing. Sure, you’ll lose a few times along the way but that’s life! So Mr Tea likes his cards he can either CALL so will match the 20 chips or RAISE. By raising, the bet he has to put in is at least 40 chips (matching the 20 chips in the blind plus his raise which has to be at least the same as the big blind). Wow There Breath!!!
 

OPTIONS AGAIN:
FOLD - Not putting in any more chips. Take no further part in hand.
CALL - Match the amount put in by the last person still playing on your right.
RAISE - Match the amount put in by the person on your right and increase the bet. Minimum increase is big blind and maximum is all your chips (we are playing no limit).
So Mr Tea is happy with his cards but they aren’t amazing so he has called – Shark and Tea have put in 20 each. Your turn. Do you like your cards? ........ I don’t know. OK. Here is a basic guide.

 

SHARK INFO - IMPORTANT TEXAS HOLDEM POKER RULES - Your Hole/Pocket Cards – 2 cards only you can see.

 
A pair e.g. 2×2’s or 2 x J’s would be considered a strong hand, the higher the pair, the stronger they are. Pocket Aces would mathematically be the best hand.
Suited Cards e.g. two hearts is a medium to good starting hand. The higher and closer together, the stronger e.g. Ace, Jack of hearts would be stronger than a 10, 3 of Hearts.
Off Suit Cards – The worst hand is mathematically 7 – 2 off suit (e.g. 7 clubs & 2 diamonds) as there is no possibility of a run or flush. Again, the higher the off suit cards you have been dealt the better so an Ace of Hearts and king of Clubs would still be considered a strong hand.
Want to see the odds of every pocket hand, click here…...

.... So your options again – fold, call or raise. For ease, lets call and put in 20 chips.
Next up is me. I’ve already put in 10 chips (small Blind) and need to take that up to at least 20 to carry on. I don’t think my cards are brilliant but they might do ok so lets say I call. I now need to put in another 10 chips taking my small blind up to 20.
At this stage – whoever is big blind (Mr Shark) has the option of raising or can check. So what would happen?
 

Big Blind raises 20 – carry on around the table giving all the option of fold, call or raise so the bets are equal. Check – Doesn’t increase the bet – everyone has bet equal chips So we move onto step 3.
Remember! Everyone must have put an equal amount of chips in the middle before you carry on.
Mr Shark does not want to raise so will check. To check means that I have to put as much as the last person on my right (20 chips) and don’t want to increase that.
 

Step 3 – The Flop
The flop is the first set of community cards. These are part of the 5 cards seen by all players around the table.
The dealer will burn a card (explain) then place the next 3 cards face up on the table.
Each player can now see 5 cards and will make their next betting move on the strength of that (see the Hand Guide again).
Betting will start with the person left of the dealer button…......Me! Here are my options:
 

1. Check – so essentially a free bet. No chips put in. If somebody thinks they have a good hand they may bet chips. It will come back round for me to fold, call, raise.
2. Bet – bet an amount minimum is the Big blind (20) and there is no maximum

Lets say that I have a good hand and bet 40 chips. We now go round the table.
Mr Shark – Options are fold, call (Put in 40 chips), raise (put in 40 to call and additional 20 minimum to raise). Shark doesn’t have a good hand so folds. He will take no further part until the next deal.
Mr T – Options are fold, call (40), raise 40+min20). Has a decent hand so calls 40. Now its your turn.
You – Options are fold, call, raise. Again lets say you have a decent enough hand but nothing special so you call.
Everybody still playing has put in 40 so all bets are equal. Lets move to the next step. The total pot is now 200 chips. (80 from the pre flop plus the 120 from the three players remaining after the flop)

Step 4 – The Turn
The Turn is the 4th community card and will be placed on the table next to the 3 flop cards (face up). The dealer will burn a card first.
Again we have a round of betting

 

SHARK INFO - IMPORTANT TEXAS HOLDEM RULE– The Betting Always starts with the first active player, left of the dealer. This is true on the pre flop as this player is forced to bet the small blind.

 

We now have three active players and I am the first to the left. Remember that the person leading the betting has two options: Bet or Check
Me: I now have 6 cards visible to me and I have to make the best 5 card hand possible. I will then make my decisions on this.

 

SHARK TIP – As a Beginner, It is easy to get carried away and think that the next card may give you a winning hand. In a Tournament you should never chase cards. Base your decision on what you have, not what you could get!

 

So at this stage I really like my cards and bet a further 60 chips.
Mr Shark: No longer active and will not need to bet
Mr Tea: As I have bet, the options are Fold, Call or Raise. Had I not bet, Mr Tea’s options would be Bet or Check.
He really likes his cards and has decided to raise. He puts in the 60 chips (that would call mine) plus an additional 60.
You: Fold, Call or Raise? If you want to call, its now 120 chips as Mr Tea doubled my initial bet. Basing your decision on the 6 cards available, lets say you call.
 

REMEMBER, EVERYBODY HAS TO BET EQUAL AMOUNTS (WHERE POSSIBLE), so it will come back round to me to continue as I only have 60 in whilst you and Mr Tea have 120 each
Me: again I could Fold, Call or Raise (I can’t check and you should know the reason for this by now!), I’m Still confident so I will Call. We now all have 120 chips in the pot.
Shark Info – A hand can be completed at any step. It will regularly happen that somebody bets large on the pre flop (say they had 2 xAces) If nobody calls, the hand will be over. The dealer button moves to the left and we start again on the pre flop. This can happen at any step of this guide!!
 

Step 5 – The River
Once again, the dealer will burn a card before turning over the final card to be shown. This is the 5th card to be face up on the table and is seen by all players. This card is Called the River.
As with every other stage, we have a round of betting but this will be the final one. Again we start with the first active player left of the dealer.
Me: I have 7 cards visible to me, I now need to make the best possible 5 card hand and base my betting on the strength of this! I believe that I have an ok hand. I am leading the betting so my options are Bet or Check. Looking at the community cards, there is a good chance somebody has a better hand so I check.
(No chips added to the pot but I am still in the hand)
Mr Tea: He thinks that is hand is very strong. I haven’t put anything in so Mr. Tea’s options are bet or check. He calls all in!! 

Shark Info  All In – you bet all your remaining chips. If one or more people call your bet and you lose, it is the end of the tournament. In our example you will have lost your chips and your £5 stake. 

 

Side Pot, If somebody wants to call a bet but does not have sufficient chips, e.g – I Put in 120 chips and you only have 80. 40 of mine will then go into a ‘side pot’ away from the main one. You can only win the main pot. I can win both. If there are others wanting to bet, the 80 chips put in the main pot must be matched and then they add 40 to the side pot. This can get complicated but as long us you get the general idea, it gets easier to work out with practice.

 

You: You are loving your first game of poker and don’t really know what your doing. You have what looks like a decent hand and call Mr Tea. As this is the fist had of the tournament, we all have equal chips, so there is no need for complicated maths (side pot) on this one!
Both you and Mr Tea are all in. There can only be one winner!!
Me: Remember that i had checked, so to carry on with this I need to call All in As well. If I were to do this, there is a good chance that two of us will be out of the tournament
As I said, I only had an ok hand so have decided to get out – I fold.

 

Shark Info Split pot – There are occasions when two or more players will have the same ‘best hand’, one example is when the best 5 cards are on the table. In this scenario all players that have the best hand, equally divide the pot between them. 

Heads up – When only two players remain in the game/tournament, this is considered heads up poker.

 

 

The Showdown

Both Me and Mr Shark are no longer playing. You have called Mr Teas, All in bet. Now its time to see the cards. As it was you that called, you do not have to show your two cards.
Essentially, you have paid to see Mr Tea’s cards. He will now turn them over and show the table what he has. If his best five cards are better than yours. Mr tea will win this hand, take all the chips from the pot and you will go out.
(Remember, this stage is not always an all in moment. You would simply lose what you had bet)
If your Cards are better than Mr Teas, you show your winning hand to the table, collect all the chips and watch as Mr Tea leaves the tournament (its a great feeling!!)
I guess we’ll never know who won that hand!!
What Happens Next???
The Dealer button will pass to the left and we start again! Remember that the blinds must go in before the first card is dealt!!
So here is a quick summary…....
Determine Dealer and put in blinds
Deal two hole Cards seen only by the player
 

 

Round of Betting

Dealer burns a card and deals the flop – three face up community cards
  

Round of Betting

Dealer burns a card and deals the turn – 1 face up community card

 

Round of Betting

Dealer burns a card and deals the River – 1 final face up community card
  

Final Round of Betting
All remaining players show their cards!!!

And that my Friend is how you play a tournament style game of No Limit Texas Hold’em
 

So as you can see texas holdem poker rules aren’t too difficult, get out there and learn your trade on the free money tables before betting your house though!