Texas Holdem

There’s a good reason why Texas holdem has long reigned as the most popular version of poker – it’s the easiest to learn. It also epitomises everything that makes poker such an enduringly popular game; calling on elements of strategy, mathematical reasoning, and of course a little bit of luck.

Texas holdem is a great introduction to a multitude of poker variations; once you’ve mastered the basics of holdem you’ll be in a great position to sample the delights of an array of River Belle’s other poker games - from Omaha to Stud.

The game typically starts with ‘blind’ bets, these are obligatory bets made by the two players sat to the left of the dealer to ensure that there’s some money in the pot before the game begins. There should be a ‘big blind’ and a ‘small blind’.

Next up each player will be dealt two face-down ‘hole’ cards (cards that only they can see) before the first round of betting, starting with the player left of whoever bet the big blind.

In Texas Holdem players have thee betting options: call, raise or fold. A call would match the amount bet in the big blind, a raise increases that amount meaning all the players wishing to stay in the hand must match the raised amount and folding abandons the hand at the cost of any stake already bet. Whoever bet the big blind has the option to ‘check’ and is not obliged to add anything unless the stake is raised in which case they must fold call or re-raise.

Once the opening round of betting has been completed the first three community cards, known as the ‘flop’, are dealt. These are face up cards that anyone can use to make a five card hand. After a second round of betting a fourth community card is dealt and more bets are placed. Once the fifth community card has been dealt you have what’s known as the ‘river’ – the final five community cards - after which a last round of betting concludes the hand and the remaining players reveal their cards. The winner of that game of Texas Holdem is the player with the best hand.