Texas Holdem
Texas Holdem is one of the most popular kinds of poker. For this kind of poker the dealer uses a French card deck of 52 pieces. In casinos and poker rooms the dealer does not enter the game but when played at home or with just a few players than the dealer can play as well. The game starts when the two players to the left of the dealer put in a previously set amount of chips or money, called the posting of the Blinds. Than every player is dealt two cards face down. These are the hole or base cards. The cards can be seen only the player who gets them.
The aim of the game is to combine the base cards with those five of the Board, which will be set face up in front of the dealer. Each player will try to make the most valuable poker combination, as the player with the strongest hand will win the bank, or the total amount of the stakes. Sometimes the combination is done using the base cards but it is possible to use only one or none of the base cards.
There are four rounds in the game and after the first round three of the board cards are dealt face up. After the second and the third round one card is dealt to the Board. During the rounds there are several options for the players. They can either call (post the same amount as the pervious stake), raise the stake, check (means basically a pass) or fold (quit the game by throwing in their cards, face down, into the center of the table). After the fourth round, there is the Show Down when all the players still in the game have reveal their cards and the strongest hand is announced. If two players have the same hand than the base cards decide who is the winner and if they are identical, then the bank is split.
Texas Holdem is a game in traditional, online casinos and poker rooms as well.
