Read this article to learn Texas Hold Em Poker. I'm going to quickly explain how to play Texas Hold Em Poker in a basic way so anyone can learn it.

Texas Hold Em Poker takes a few minutes to learn but a lifetime to master. I'm going to go a tad further then the rules and explain the mechanics of the game.

The game begins when the deal deals two cards face down to each player at the table. These are called down cards or hole cards or pocket cards. No one else can see your cards and you don't know anyone else's cards on the table. The cards are delivered in a clockwise fashion around the table. There is a button, which is like a little disc, which is the dealer button. The cards are dealt starting at the first person left of the button. Each hand the button moves one player around, rotating slowly.

The first person to the left of the button, the one that gets the cards dealt to them first, is the small blind. The next player left of him is called the big blind. Both of these players must put a mandatory amount of chips in to the pot to play. Because they are forced to bet before the get cards they are 'betting blind'. The blinds stimulate action by growing the pot the players will compete for. The big blind puts in a 'full' bet (whatever the minimum bet is set at) and the small blind is always half of that. Eg, the BB is $200 and the SB is $100.

Each player can do one of three things when its their turn. They can call, which is posting the amount of the big blind to play, they can raise, which is posting the amount of the big blind plus extra, or they can fold, which is throw away their cards and not play that hand anymore. If you want to raise you must bet an amount that is at least twice the size of the last raise. So if you are the first to raise it must be twice the size of the big blind. If someone raises in front of you and you want to raise him, you must at least double the amount of chips your opponent has bet. Remember in No Limit Texas Hold Em Poker there is no limit to the maximum amount you can bet. At any time you or your opponent can go all-in. All in is raising with all of your chips and is proves to be a very strong play. There's a famous saying that goes something like 'Players that go all in will win every time bar once'. Be careful because once your out of chips your out of the game.

After everyone has made their play, called, raised or folded, all the bets go into the middle pot and the dealer will deal the flop. The dealer will burn the first face down card of the deck which means he throws it away not to be used (its always face down so no one gets to see it). He then will turn over three cards and put them in the middle. This is the flop. These cards are the community cards and everyone gets to use them. Now, another round of betting occurs. After the flop a player has the opportunity to check if no one has bet anything in front of him. Checking is essentially not betting and not folding. You get to stay in without betting. The other choices a player has is to bet or to fold. If you bet, again, you must bet a minimum of the big blind. So after all the players have made their move, some betting and possibly other players betting more etc the dealer will pile all the chips into the pot again.

The dealer then deals one more face up card, called the turn. The turn is another community card so everyone gets to use it. Now the players have six cards (their two hole cards and the four on the board) to make their best five card hand. Another round of betting happens, again where players can check, bet, call or bet more, or fold. After the conclusion of that betting round the dealer will pile all the chips into the pot and deal one more face up card. The last community card is the river. The After the river there are the five community cards for everyone to use and each player has their own two hole cards. Here each player knows their best hand and there isn't any wiggle room. A final round of betting will occur. Here players can check, bet, call or bet or fold, just like in the others.

After the final round of betting after the river, all the chips are piled up into the middle and there is a showdown. You and your opponents show your hole cards face up in front of you. The player who initiated the final betting round is obligated to show his or hand first. If everyone check then the player to the left of the dealer shows his cards first. The dealer then pushes the pot to the best five-card combination. Its that simple.

I hope you have been able to learn Texas Hold Em Poker from the brief explanation I have provided. These points are the crux of how the game is played. I have not gone into detail about the different hands, like what a pair, full house or flush is. You will need to learn these though if you are ever going to win Texas Hold Em Poker. You need to know which cards beat what if you are ever going to win. I hope you enjoyed this article and have heaps of fun playing this fabulous card game!