Texas Holdem Rules

General Background
Texas Hold’em is the most common form of poker played today. Its primary objective is to make the best five-card hand using any combination of five community cards and the two hole cards dealt to each player.
Blinds
Before each hand, the two players left of the button (used to represent the dealer) are forced to place a bet before any cards are dealt. The player immediately to the left of the button is referred to as the small blind, while the second player to the left is known as the big blind. The big blind is equal to the minimum bet and the small blind is generally half the big blind. The button is rotated clockwise at the completion of each hand. The blinds get raised over the span of the tournament on given intervals depending on the tournaments rules. Also, later in tournaments, a bet known as the ante is enforced. The ante is posted, before cards are dealt, by all players involved in the hand, as well as those in the blind.
Betting
Betting occurs four times in a full Texas Hold’em hand. Betting occurs in a clockwise pattern, and continues until everyone has folded, put in all their chips, or matched the amount bet by all players.
If a player is first to act, they can check. Checking is the act of passing on a bet, or a bet of 0. The next player can also check. If every player checks, then that betting round will conclude. Action will then proceed afterwards. Pre-flop, only the big blind will have the option to check, unless he faces a raise.
The act or wagering more chips than the current bet is known as a raise. A raise has to be at least two times the current bet.
In the event the player wishes to match the current bet, it is known as a call.

Hand Play
Pre Flop
First, the blind bets are placed to signify the start of the hand. Then, each player at the table is dealt two cards face down. These are the player’s hole or pocket cards. This is the first round of betting, beginning with the player to the left of the big blind. Betting continues clockwise until all players have called a raise, checked, or folded.
The Flop
The flop consists of four cards being dealt. The first card is dealt facedown into the muck, while the other three are placed faced up, making the first three community cards. A round of betting then happens. This time betting starts with the small blind, or the person to the left of the dealer button.
Fourth Street (“turn” card)
The next two cards off the top of the deck are dealt. Again, the first one goes facedown into the muck, and the other card is placed face up next to the other three up cards. Another round of betting happens, starting with the small blind.
Fifth Street (“river” card)
The next two cards are taken off the top of the deck. The first card gets placed face up, into the muck, while the other card is placed face up next to the four community cards. This is the last card to the community, which makes up the board. The final round of betting takes place and the hand is over. The pot, or the chips at stake, are then awarded to the player with the best hand (see hand ranks). In the event of a tie, or split pot, the chips are evenly distributed to the winning players.
End Hand Ranks
The quality of a players hand is determined by the best combination of five cards picked from the two in their hand and the five on the board. The following are the ranks of hands from best to worst.

The quality of a hand is determined by the size of the highest card. For example, a straight from 3 to 7 is weaker than a straight 5 to 9. Also, a pair of tens beats a pair of nines. But, the suit of a card has no influence on hand strength. 8♥ 8♣ and 8♦ 8♠ have the same exact strength.

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