How to play

So you're new to Texas Hold’em poker? Not a problem. Texas Hol’em poker is by far the best game for a beginner to learn. Texas Hold’em can be learned in a few minutes by anyone, and you can be playing fairly well with a few hours practice. Of course mastering it is another thing altogether.

Texas Hold’em is a community card game, meaning that some cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table and shared by all of the players. But each player is also dealt their own two pocket or hole cards to start with, which they keep to themselves.  The aim of the game is to consider the five community cards that are dealt on the table, together with the cards in your hand, to make the best possible overall five-card hand that beats all of your opponents!

At CPL (Ceska Pokerova Liga) events, every person on the table gets a chance to deal, which makes the game even more exciting!  Our dealer button indicates who is dealing and it moves around the table after each hand. At the end of the hand the button is passed clockwise to the next player.

The game begins with one player being marked as the dealer. The two players to the left of the dealer each post "blind" bets. They're called blind bets because the players make them before they get to see their cards. The small blind is posted by the first player and the big blind by the second. The big blind is always the minimum bet at the table and the small blind is half of the minimum bet. The rest of the players do not put in any chips to start the hand. Because the deal rotates around the table, each player will eventually act as the big blind, small blind and dealer.

Each player is dealt two cards face down with the player on the small blind receiving the first card and the player with the dealer button getting the last card. Once everyone has been dealt their 2 cards the rounds of betting begins.

During a betting round, each player takes it in turn to make one of the following actions (in each betting round you’ll need to make one of these choices)

Bet Put money in the pot – If you think you have a good chance of winning the round you can bet.   

Call To match/equal another player's bet – If another player has bet say 5 chips, by calling you would be meeting their bet and so would also put 5 chips in the pot.

Fold Forfeit cards and your chance of winning the pot –If you don’t think you have very good cards? Then you can fold them and sit out the rest of the betting rounds. 

Check Passing on making an action (if no bet is in play) – If nobody has yet made a bet in the round, you can chose to check.  Checking means that you still want to stay in the action but don’t want to commit any of your money.  

Raise To increase another player's bet – If any of the people in front of you has placed a bet you can raise their bet by betting even more money than them.  

The first round is just betting on the 2 cards you have in your hands. The first betting round begins with the player to the left of the big blind either matching the blind bet, or putting double the big blind to "raise" or folding their hand. The betting goes around the table in order until it reaches the player who posted the big blind who will be the last person to act. If no one has raised, the dealer will ask if they would like the option. This means the big blind has the option to raise or just "check."

After the first betting round is completed, the dealer will burn one card (placed face down) and three cards are dealt and turned face up in the middle of the table. This is known as the "Flop." These are community cards and are used by all players and can be used in combination with the two cards each player has in his/her hand. The remaining players now start the second round of bidding. This works in the same way as the first round. The first player to the left of the dealer starts the bidding round. Again the actions stated above can be taken by any player and all players must put the same amount into the pot, or fold before the round has ended.

The same rules apply for both the bidding and the raising in each round from now on.

Once everyone has the same amount in the pot and the players that wanted to fold have folded, the remaining players again move to the next round.

When the betting round after the flop is completed, the dealer burns another card and turns a fourth card face up in the middle of the table. This is referred to as the "Turn." Another round of betting then takes place until everyone is even.

Following the betting round for the turn, the dealer will burn one card and then turn a fifth and final card face up. This is called the "river," Now all of the possible cards are known to the player.  Based on this, another round of betting now takes in the same way as the last 2 rounds.

The remaining players now show their cards, and the winner is found. If everyone checks (or is all-in) on the final betting round, the player who acted first is the first to show their hand. If there is wagering on the final betting round, the last player to take aggressive action by a bet or raise is the first to show their hand. To determine the winner, the players may use any combination of their two hole cards and the five cards on the "Board" (Table) to form the highest five-card hand. A sixth card is never used to break a tie.