Texas Hold’Em is the most popular variation of Poker played by millions and millions in Casinos, Online or at home. If you are familiar with poker, it would be very easy for you to understand the few differences. If not, this step by step guide is helpful for you. It is important to know the basic rules, and then all you need is jump right away to that table with people willing to teach and help you through. Practice is the best teacher. If you do not have anyone to teach you, you could always play in dozens of online sites offering free practice plays and strategy tutorials. As for now, you need the basics. These will be your foundation to be the poker champion you could be!

The objective for Texas Hold’Em, like all other variants of poker, is to compete for the pot or the amount of money at stake. First off, you will need a standard 52-card deck, chips, and a dealer chip or button. Three to twenty people can play, but the ideal number is around four to six. Step one - The two players at the left side of the dealer put out blind bets. These are bets played to make sure the pot always contains money. The first player posts bet on the small blind and then the other player on the big blind. Step two - Every player is dealt two face-down cards called pocket cards. Step three - The player on the left of the big blind starts the betting. He can either call, raise or fold. The betting cycle then continues.

Step four - After one betting cycle, the dealer adds three face-up cards to the community table. This is called the Flop. The entire cycle before the flop is the pre-flop. Both these periods are very much critical. Community cards are cards available for everyone to use in combination with their pocket cards. After the flop, the betting cycle now start with the player at the left of the dealer. Basically, the cycle continues until such a time when the final card or the river is dealt face up. And the final round of betting occurs. The final step will basically determine who wins. If the final round is not yet finished but all the players have folded except for one, he is declared the winner. If at the end of the final round, there are still many players left, the players will reveal their hand, and the player with the best cards wins. In uncommon cases where there are ties, the pot money is split equally between the winners. Playing poker is relatively simple, now that you have an idea on the basic rules, I suggest further readings on strategies on how to improve your chances of winning.