How To Play Texas hold em Poker

Short Description

Texas hold em Poker, a game for between 2-10 players, is today among the most popular versions of Poker. The game has gained popularity, both in the US and abroad, due to its fast paced play and simple game rules. Texas hold em Poker consists of 4 Betting Rounds. Throughout the game each player receives 2 facedown “Pocket Cards”. 5 face-up “Community Boardcards” are placed in the center of the Table, to be shared by all the players. Each player creates the highest valued Poker hand, using any combination of his/her 2 Pocket Cards and the 5 Community Boardcards.

Betting Limits
Pacific Poker offers a variety of Tables, designed for different numbers of Players, and offering various Table Betting Limits.

In the game of Texas hold em Poker each Table has both a Lower and Higher Limit Stake (Betting amount). A Table’s Lower Limit Stake is always half the Higher Limit Stake (i.e. a $1/$2 Table, or a $5/$10 Table).

In the first two Betting Rounds (see the Betting Rounds below), of a Texas hold em Poker game, Players Bet (wager) in multiples of that Table’s Lower Limit Stake.

In the final two Betting Rounds, of a Texas hold em Poker game, Players Bet in multiples of that Table’s Higher Limit Stake.

The Buy-in
In order to Sit-in (join) a Pacific Poker Texas hold em Poker Table, Players must purchase a minimum amount of Chips to play with (“Buy-in”). At Pacific Poker, the minimum Buy-in amount is 10 times the Lower Limit Stake of that particular table (i.e. at a $1/$2 Table the Player must Buy-in with a minimum of $10).

Posting
A Player entering a Pacific Poker Texas hold em Poker Table is required to pay an initial fee (“Post”), equal to that Table’s Lower Limit Stake. The Post follows the same rules as the Blind Bets (see The Blind Bets below) and allows the Player to Sit-in at the Table.

Players have the option of “Sitting Out”, and waiting for the Big Blind before beginning to play. Posting ensure fairness to all Players, by preventing players from entering a Poker game in a Late Position in order to avoid placing Blind Bets.

The Dealer (The “Button”)
In Pacific Poker’s Texas hold em Poker, the Players take turns acting as the Dealer. The Dealer is identified by the Button: .

After each hand, the Dealer Button moves left, in a clockwise fashion, to the next Player who is Sitting-in at the Table.
The Blind Bets
In Pacific Poker’s Texas hold em Poker, Antes do not “seed” the Pot. Instead, the Pot is formed, initially, through the use of “mandatory” bets, known as “Blind Bets”. .

The first Blind Bet, known as the Small Blind, is posted by the first Player Sitting-in to the left of the Dealer in a clockwise fashion. The amount of the Small Blind Bet is half of that Table’s Lower Limit Stake. On Tables with Lower Limits Stakes greater than $1, the Small Blind is rounded down to the nearest dollar.

The second Blind Bet, known as the “Big Blind”, is posted by the second Player Sitting-in to the left of the Dealer in a clockwise fashion. The amount of the Big Blind Bet is equal to that Table’s Lower Limit Stake.

Both the Big and Small Blinds, in Texas hold em Poker, are considered “Live” (active) Bets and therefore, according to Texas hold em Poker rules, can be Checked, Called, Raised or Folded.

Missing the Blind Bets
Occasionally, a Player may choose to temporarily Sit-out from a Table:

1. If, while Sitting-out, the Player misses his/her turn to place the Small Blind, upon re-Sitting-in that Player will be required to Post. This Post consists of a live Bet equal to the Big Blind.

2. If, while Sitting-out, the Player misses his/her turn to place either the Big Blind or both the Small Blind and the Big Blind, upon re-Sitting-in, that Player will be required to Post. This Post consists of a live Bet equal to the Big Blind, plus an additional “Dead” (non-active) Bet, equal to the Small Blind , which is donated by the Player directly to the Pot.

The Betting Round

Pacific Poker’s Texas hold em Poker follows the conventional Poker Betting Round Structure.

There are four possible hold em Poker. The first two Betting Rounds are set at that Table’s Lower Limit Stake. The last two Betting Rounds are set at that Table’s Higher Limit Stake.

After the Players’ Pocket Cards are dealt, the first Betting Round is initiated by the first Player Sitting-in, in a clockwise fashion to the left of the Big Blind. .

After each of the subsequent three deals (“The Flop”, “The Turn ” and “The River “), in which the Community Boardcards are dealt, the Betting Rounds are initiated by the first active (who has not Folded) Player, in a clockwise fashion, to the left of the Dealer.

Betting Rounds always proceed in a clockwise fashion, from one active Player to the next. Each Player must either:

a. Check – Pass the option to act to the next active Player.

b. Bet – Place a Betting Round’s initial increase to the amount that each of the following Players must place in the Pot, in order to remain in the game.

c. Raise – Place a Betting Round’s 2nd, 3rd or 4th increase to the amount that each of the following Players must place in the Pot, in order to remain in the game.

d. Call – Equal the previous active Player’s Betting amount in that Betting Round and remain in the game (In the first Betting Round each Player must at least equal the amount of the Big Blind).

e. Fold – Discard hand and no longer remain active to participate in that game. The Player forfeits the amount (if any) that he/she has previously Bet during that game.

In keeping with conventional Poker rules, within each Betting Round there can be no more than one Bet and three additional Raises (“Raise”, “Reraise” & “Cap”). Once a Cap occurs, the following Players will only be able to Call or Fold.

A Betting Round is concluded when:

a. All active Players have Checked in Turn. or .

b. All active Players have matched the last Player to increase the amount (Bet/Raise) to be placed in the Pot, during that Betting Round. or

c. All previous Players have chosen to Fold, leaving only one active Player. This last remaining player automatically receives the Pot. In this case both the Betting Round and game are automatically terminated.

The Showdown

Once the fourth Betting Round is completed, if more than one Player remains active in the game, there is a “Showdown”. In the Showdown, each active Player may utilize any combination of his/her 2 Pocket cards and the 5 Community Boardcards, to create the highest valued 5 card Poker hand (see Poker Hand Value Chart below).

For the Showdown, Players may use any of the following combinations, to create the highest valued Texas hold em Poker hand:

1. Both Pocket Cards & three Community Boardcards.

2. One Pocket Card & four Community Boardcards.

3. All five Community Boardcards (referred to as “Playing the Board”).

Pacific Poker follows Standard Texas hold em Poker Rules for determining Poker hand value (see Poker Hand Value Chart below). The active Player who creates the highest valued Texas hold em Poker hand wins the Pot, minus the Pot won by any Players holding higher valued All-in hands (see Pacific Poker’s All-in Policy below) and the “Rake” (see “Limits, Antes and Rake” section of this site).

If the active Player with the highest valued Texas hold em Poker hand is “All-in” (see All-in below), that Player receives the Pot total, up until the time that they were All-in. (A Texas hold em Poker game can have as many All-in Pots as there are active Players, minus one.) The remainder of the Pot goes to the active Player with the next highest valued Texas hold em Poker hand.

Tie Hands

In the event that 2 or more active Players participating in the Poker hand’s Showdown, hold equal ranking (by combination) hands, the winner is determined by the high card (i.e. a pair of Aces beats a pair of Kings).

Should the Poker hands remain tied (i.e. a pair of Kings vs. a pair of Kings), the highest valued card not held in common (the “Kicker”) determines the game’s winner.

In the event of exact ties in Texas hold em Poker hand value, between 2 or more active Players, the Table’s Pot will be split evenly between those Players. In the event of extra odd Chip(s) the first winning Player to the left of the Dealer, in a clockwise fashion, will receive the odd Chip(s).

Auto Muck Losing Hand

Players participating in the Showdown, whose hands are of a lower value than an already showing hand, are offered the option to not show (“Muck”) their losing hands to the other participants at the Table. The automatic Mucking of non-winning hands protects Players from unknowingly revealing his/her hand to the Table’s other participants.

If a Player checks the “Auto Muck Losing Hand” box, his/her non-winning hand will automatically be Mucked, if there are higher valued hands already showing. .

If a Player wins a hand by virtue of being the only remaining active Player, his/her winning hand will not be shown to the other Players participating at the Table by default. If this Player presses the “Show Hand” button, his/her winning hand will be shown to the other Players

Pacific Poker’s All-in Policy

Pacific Poker’s All-in Policy has been developed to protect Players in the following circumstances:

a. A Player wishes to continue playing his/her hand in the current game, but has run out of Chips. or

b. A Player has been disconnected from the Pacific Poker Server in the middle of a game.

1. If a Player finishes his/her Chips in the middle of a Poker game, but does not wish to Fold his/her hand, the hand will be automatically considered “All-in”:

a. The All-in hand will remain live for consideration during the Showdown, and the Player will no longer be required or able to take additional actions throughout the rest of the hand.

b. The Table’s Pot will be automatically split to visually demonstrate the All-in status.

i. A Texas hold em Poker game can have as many split All-in Pots as there are active Players, minus one.

ii. In the event of additional All-ins, the Pot will continue to be split accordingly.

iii. A maximum of 5 split All-in Pots are visible on the Pacific Poker Texas hold em Poker Table, but the Pot will continue to be split additionally as necessary.

c. All-in hands will be eligible for consideration during the game’s Showdown.

i. If the All-in Player’s hand is of the highest value, that Player will receive the total amount of the Table’s Pot, up until the time that he/she was All-in and the Pot was split.

ii. The remainder of the Table’s split Pot (after the time that the highest valued hand was All-in) will be presented to the Player holding the second highest valued Poker hand (if this Player is also All-in, return Pacific Poker’s All-in Policy section 1-c-i, above).

2. If a Player is disconnected from the Pacific Poker Server in the middle of a Poker game, they will be automatically considered All-in:

a. The Player’s hand will remain live for the rest of that game and its status will be that of All-in (see Pacific Poker’s All-in Policy section 1-a).

b. Players are permitted a total of no more than 2 All-ins due to disconnection within any 24-hour period.

c. If a Player has utilized all of his/her remaining All-ins and is disconnected from the Pacific Poker Server, his/her hand will be automatically Folded and they will forfeit the amount (if any) that he/she has previously placed in the Pot during that game.

d. Thereafter, Players will not be permitted to utilize either type of additional All-ins until this 24-hour period has expired.

Texas hold em Poker Step-by-Step

Step 1: Posting the Blind Bets
The first Member Sitting-in in a clockwise fashion to the left of the Dealer Posts the Small Blind Bet (half the Table’s Lower Limit Stake – on Tables with stakes higher than $1 the Small Blind is rounded down to the nearest dollar).
The second Member Sitting-in in a clockwise fashion to the left of the Dealer, Posts the Big Blind Bet (equal to the Table’s Lower Limit Stake).
Step 2: The Pocket Cards – The First Deal
The Dealer distributes two facedown Pocket Cards to each Member. The cards are dealt in a clockwise fashion, one at a time, starting with the Member to the left of the Big Blind.
Step 3: The First Betting Round

Betting Limit: Lower Limit Stake
The first Member Sitting-in to the left of the Big Blind begins the first Betting Round (see the Betting Rounds above). The Betting Round then proceeds, in a clockwise fashion, around the table, with each Member acting in Turn.
This Betting Round is set at the Table’s Lower Limit Stake (see Betting Limits above).

In this Betting Round, each Member is required to at least Call the Big Blind, in order to remain in the game.

Step 4: “The Flop” – The Second Deal
The Dealer places three Community Boardcards, face-up, in the center of the Table. These cards are shared by all the Members.
Step 5: The Second Betting Round

Betting Limit: Lower Limit Stake
The first active Member (who has not Folded) to the left of the Dealer begins the second Betting Round. The Betting Round then proceeds, in a clockwise fashion, around the table, with each active Member acting in turn.
This Betting Round is set at the Table’s Lower Limit Stake.

Step 6: “The Turn” – The Third Deal
The Dealer places a fourth Community Boardcard, face-up, in the center of the Table.
Step 7: The Third Betting Round

Betting Limit: Higher Limit Stake
The first active Member to the left of the Dealer begins the third Betting Round. The Betting Round then proceeds, in a clockwise fashion, around the table, with each active Member acting in turn.
This Betting Round is set at the Table’s Higher Limit Stake.

Step 8: “The River” – The Fourth & Final Deal
The Dealer places a fifth Community Boardcard, face-up, in the center of the Table.
Step 9: The Fourth Betting Round

Betting Limit: Higher Limit Stake
The first active Member to the left of the Dealer begins the fourth Betting Round. The Betting Round then proceeds, in a clockwise fashion, around the table, with each active Member acting in.
This Betting Round is set at the Table’s Higher Limit Stake.

Step 10: The Showdown
Once the fourth Betting Round is completed there is a Showdown (if more than one Member remains – see the Showdown above). In the Showdown, each active Member combines any combination of their two Pocket Cards, and the five Community Boardcards, to create the highest valued Poker hand possible (see Poker Hand Value Chart below).
The active Member who creates the highest valued Poker hand wins the Pot, minus the Rake (see Limits, Antes and Rake). All-in Policy Applies to all game Pots (see Pacific Poker’s All-in Policy above).

Texas hold em Poker Hand Value Chart

The Texas hold em Poker hands below are ranked in order of value, from the highest to the lowest:

Royal Flush
Straight Flush
4-of-a-Kind
Full House
Flush
Straight
3-of-a-Kind
Two Pair
One Pair
High Card