Texas Hold-em

• HOW TO PLAY
• TOP TEN STARTING HANDS
• WINNING STRATEGIES (“NO LIMIT” TEXAS HOLD-EM)
• WINNING STRATEGIES (“LIMIT” TEXAS HOLD-EM)

HOW TO PLAY

Texas Hold-em is the most popular variety of poker, as well as the easiest to learn.

Players receive two 'hole' cards that only they can see and use. Then, five 'community' cards are dealt that everyone can see and use. Players can make their five-card hand from both, one or none of their hole cards in combination with the community cards.

The game is divided into four rounds of betting, and the betting moves clockwise around the table. Betting starts from the position next to the dealer button, which moves one place to the left after each hand. In online games, the dealer button replaces the 'real' dealer.

The Blinds

Before a game starts, the two players to the left of the dealer post 'blind' bets, so-called because they are made before the players have seen any cards. The blinds ensure that there is some money in the pot to play for at the very start of the game. The player to the left of the dealer posts the 'small blind', and the player to his left posts the 'big blind'.

Pre-Flop

Now the game starts to heat up! Each player receives two cards that only they can see, called 'hole' cards. After this, the first round of betting is started by the first player to the left of the big blind. This player, who is known as 'under the gun', can:

When the betting returns to the player who made the big blind (the first full bet), that player can 'check' or opt to stay in the game without adding anything to the pot. However, if an opponent has raised, the big blind has three options: he must fold, call, or re-raise.

The Flop

Three 'community' cards, which all players can use to make their five-card hand, are dealt face up on the table. A second round of betting follows.

The Turn

A fourth community card is dealt face up on the table. The third round of betting follows.

The River

The fifth and final community card is dealt, followed by the final round of betting.

The Showdown

If there is more than one player left in the game, there is a showdown in which the players reveal their cards and the highest hand wins (see the TOP TEN below). If two players share an identical hand, the pot is split.

TOP TEN STARTING HANDS IN TEXAS HOLD-EM

1. A-A
2. K-K
   
3. Q-Q
   
4. A-K
   
5. J-J
   
6. 10-10
   
7. A-Q
   
8. 9-9
   
9. 8-8
   
10. 7-7
    

Printer Friendly Version

WINNING STRATEGIES (“NO LIMIT” TEXAS HOLD-EM)

Always start by following THE HOG'S GOLDEN RULES.

Be sure to review and memorize our TOP TEN STARTING HANDS in Texas Hold-em. When in a no-limit game playing your opponent is almost as important as the value of your cards. Often enough your opponent will be betting on a very weak hand, or bluffing, but it is hard to determine what he/she really has. I advise you learn and follow these simple steps:

1. Only open with strong hands to start.
2. Give your hands extra credit when you are due to be late in the betting order post flop. If your position is the button (dealer), or 1-2 seats before (left of the dealer), and no other player has raised, you can raise with a mediocre hand like J-K, A-T, Q-J. If a later player calls, I would play the hand (if flop is good – bet … if not check and fold to a bet). If a later player re-raises, or one of the blinds re-raise, I would fold pre-flop.
3. If you have a great hand (A-A, K-K, or A-K suited), throw in a big raise and try to knock the game down to one-on-one. Note: with A-A or K-K you are always in danger of losing a huge pot (being as the hand is so hard to fold no matter what the flop is), if you raise pre flop and get only one caller, or everybody folds and you win a small pot only … well it’s better to win a small one than lose a big one.
4. I play suited connecters (7-8, 5-6, 3-4 etc) when there are at least 3 players in the hand. These are class A hands for cracking rockets (A-A) or Cowboys (K-K). If an A-A raises and I have 5-6 and flop comes out 3-4-J … I am now a favorite to win the hand, and trust me, even if I bet “all in” the A-A will call. If the flop comes out poor for me, I FOLD probably not losing that much. If the pre flop raise represents more then 10% of my chips (or my buy-in) at the table – I FOLD pre flop.
5. Flopping top pair. My hand is A-J and the flop is J-8-2 (all different suits), I will always BET at least the pot to get a feel for what everyone else has. Always “protect” top pair. Don’t let a K-Q get a free card and hit one on the “turn” (4th card out).
6. If somebody raises pre-flop, and I have 8-8 (or 7-7, 9-9, T-T etc) and I decide to call and hit my 3rd ( known as “trips” or three of a kind ) on the flop (lets say flop is J-8-3) – ALWAYS BET INTO THE RAISER. Not just a small bet but a nice healthy one. If playing at a $200 no-limit game and the pre-flop raiser was to $15, I would bet $20 into him. If the raiser has an over pair - 99% of the time he will come back with an “all-in” bet (and be a huge dog in the hand), if his hand was A-K or A-Q … well you are not going to make any big money off that hand anyway.
7. Never open with A-X (X being 9 or smaller). These are the hands you will lose most money on. An A hits the flop, you don’t want to fold, but you know your “kicker” is too small. 9 times out of 10 you wind up calling that hand down and losing. My experience is NEVER OPEN WITH IT.
8. The game is about winning money – NOTHING ELSE!!! Sometimes I find myself raising pre-flop and getting a bad flop, I bet the flop and somebody plays back at me … I find myself saying “heck, I raised pre-flop, how can he come back over the top and re-raise me”. I then make a big bet – and lose it. This happens to ALL players, if anyone tells you otherwise he is either lying or a lousy player. When this situation happens YOU FOLD!!!! when he comes over the top of your post-flop bet.
9. Spend some time observing the table, see who the players are – who bets often (aggressive style of play), who calls often (and loses most of the time), who stays in too many hands. Against a constant raiser, even if you only flop top pair on board I would play back at him. Against a constant caller (known as a “calling station”) NEVER BLUFF, he will call anyway, don’t try anything fancy, just wait till you really make a hand. Against a player who always stays in for the flop – get aggressive pre-flop. Raise a couple of bucks each time and bet the flop. If he makes a hand he will tell you by re-raising your bet (you then fold). Most of the time he will stay in for the flop, and fold to your flop bet. You will make many small pots off him, the one he plays back at you – you will be ok (meaning ahead in total against him).
10. There are many books about no-limit hold-em. I strongly suggest reading one. At the end of the day your system will work best for you. Check out our RECOMMENDED POKER BOOKS for our featured books on this exciting game.

WINNING STRATEGIES (“LIMIT” TEXAS HOLD-EM)

Always start by following THE HOG'S GOLDEN RULES.

Be sure to review and memorize our TOP TEN STARTING HANDS in Texas Hold-em. When playing a limit game the cards need to do the talking. As opposed to a no limit game, you will find in limit games that players will call much more often. It is advised to only stay in on good hands and “bet your hand” meaning when you have a good one feel free to bet and raise. I will offer a few tricky scenarios here; to me these are the tips that separate the winners from losers:

1. Only open with good hands. As opposed to no-limit where I advice to open with suited connectors (5-6, 3-4, 8-9), in a limit game you won’t make enough money on a pot with them. It will be too easy to figure your hand on a low flop. I advice here to fold them pre-flop.
2. Flopping top pair: In a late betting position I advice you to raise if somebody bets. Test the waters sort of speak. If everybody checks to you bet.
3. Players LOVE staying in on any 2 suited cards. If you flop top pair and 2 hearts are on the flop. Somebody bets, I would raise. If you’re re-raised – I would re-raise back. If the turn is NOT a heart and player checks – bet. If the player bets again … your call from experience of watching players betting habits. If a 3rd heart hits the board on the turn or the river – most likely somebody made a flush. Fold.
4. Please go to the tips on NO LIMIT Hold-em game. Read up on players betting habits there. Same rules apply to them as limit game.
5. BEWARE (!!) when a player calls your bet on the flop, and raises you on the turn, 90% of the time he has a great hand. Most likely a set (trips – 3 of a kind), FOLD. Players will always wait to raise the big bet in a limit game. You will find that folding right then and there will save you a lot of money over time.
6. In the small blind or big blind position – if a large number of players are in the hand (lets say 5 or more), I would call no matter what. It’s called pot odds. You may just get a really lucky flop, and with so much money in the pot many players will continue to call on real “long shots”.
7. When dealt rockets (A-A), or cowboys (K-K), bet as much as you can pre-flop. If a “scary flop” comes out i.e. J-J-4, T-T-7, T-J-Q, etc. judge by the number of players in the hand. If there are 4 or more, odds are you are beat. It may be too hard to fold these hands, but upon raising, you have to. If nobody raises but 1 player is betting, you may consider only calling, but odds are you are beat. I suggest calling the flop bet (the small one), and checking out the action after the turn. If somebody bets, and another player raises – FOLD. You will lose the hand. No point in having a story to tell how you lost with A-A, better to have money to show for your great play “even though you lost with A-A” at the end of a day.
8. There are many books on the topic of limit hold-em. I highly recommend reading one. We offer here a number of good tips, but can not offer as much detail as a 200 page book. Check out our RECOMMENDED POKER BOOKS for our featured books on this exciting game.

If you find this site useful, please click on one of the links in the Trusted Sites that you wish to play on. This helps us cover overhead and maintain the site for others who are in the exact situation you are. Thank you.