The game play of
hold’em begins with players being dealt
two hole cards, face down, to be used as their
personal hand. Once these are dealt, there is
a round of betting. The first three community
cards or board cards are turned in the next deal,
followed by another round of bets. The final
two board cards are dealt separately, each followed
by another round of betting.
Online Poker Players will use
a five card combination of board cards and hole
cards to attempt to get the best hand at the
table and take the pot. In online hold’em,
the dealer position is replaced by the dealer
button, designating the position from which play
begins. Generally, there is a two blind open,
however there are variations that use an ante,
a different number of blinds, or both blinds
and an ante.
Objective: Players attempt to build the best
ranking hand with any combination of the cards
dealt to their personal hand or the community.
Rounds of Play
1. The two pocket cards, or hole cards, are
dealt face down to each player.
2. The first round of betting completes.
3. First a card is burned by the dealer, then
the three community cards are turned, face up.
(Referred to as the flop)
4. Players participate in a second round of betting.
5. Another card is burned, then the fourth community
card is dealt. (called the turn or the fourth
street)
6. The third betting round is played.
7. A final card is burned before the dealer shows
the last community card. (referred to as the
fifth street or river)
8. Final bets are placed by remaining players.
9. Those still standing show their cards, last
bettor first. (also called the Showdown)
Players remaining at the showdown have three
choices when revealing their cards:
- Use three board cards, plus both of their
hold cards.
- Use four board cards, plus one of their hole
cards
- Play the board or use all five of the board
cards
Specific Texas Hold’em Rules
1. If the dealer should accidentally show a
player’s first hole card, this is considered
a misdeal. Dealt cards will be gathered, and
the deck is shuffled and cut again. If the one
of second hole cards are exposed by fault of
the dealer, the deal continues, however, the
exposed card is not kept. Instead, at the end
of the deal, the revealed card is replaced by
the top card on the deck and the shown card becomes
the burn card for that round. If a second hole
card is shown, it is considered a misdeal, and
all cards are collected, shuffled, cut, and redealt.
2. If the flop reveals more than three cards,
the community cards must be dealt again, whether
it is obvious which was the extra card or not.
3. Should it be necessary to redeal the flop,
for reasons such as the flop coming early or
having extra cards in the flop, the community
cards are then shuffled back into the remainder
of the deck. The burn card is left as is and
after the cut, the flop is dealt from the top
of the deck, without a new burn card.
4. If an early turn of the fourth card occurs
before the end of the previous round of betting,
that card is removed from play and betting is
completed. It does not matter if this causes
players to fold. Another card is burned and the
fifth board card becomes the fourth. Once the
next round of betting finishes, the card that
was removed from play is reshuffled into the
remainder of the deck. Burn cards and discards
stay on the table. The deck is cut and the dealer
turns the last card without burning another card.
Should the final card be revealed, the process
of redealing after reshuffling and cutting is
the same.
5. If once the two hole cards are dealt, the
dealer accidentally deals a third card to the
first player, the card is returned to the deck
and remains as the burn card. Should more than
one player be dealt a third card, a misdeal results.
6. If you choose to play the board, you must
declare this before throwing away your hole cards.
If you do not, you have no claim to the pot for
the hand.
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