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Want to learn to play Texas Hold Em poker? Think you can take on some of the most voracious and competitive card players in the world? Think you can beat em with those cards you hold?
You can’t. Not yet, anyway. But you’ll be able to compete with em once you learn the basics of Hold Em. And that’s what this article is here for, to teach you how to both hold and play your poker cards so you’ll have a chance of winning.
Gameplay is simple. Each player is dealt two cards, known as hole cards, at the beginning of the round. The players then each go through a round of bets. Once those bets are over and players have either folded or chipped in to the pot in the center of the table (or room if you’re playing online, which is where most people hold their games these days) three cards are played to the center as well. These are the community cards. You’ll base your hand on these three cards.
You go through another round of betting. Another card is played. One more round, then the last card is played. If you’re still in you’ll based your Hold Em hand on as few as one of these collective seven cards or as many as five. Once it’s established which players are still in you have a showdown. Whichever player holds the strongest hand wins the showdown, plus the pot that holds the money of all of em.
But it’s not just that simple. Want some tips? First, be conservative at first. Don’t dwell on weak hands. Fold quickly during betting rounds if you have a poor hand. That way you’ll stay in the game longer. Second, wait until there are less players to break out your skills, not to mention more ambitious bets. And, third, be aggressive near the end. Deprive the final players of their chips any way you can, whether you do it in one fell swoop or by gradually chipping away at their money. All these rules apply to both online and offline play.
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