Party Poker

In Hold'em, players get two down cards and five community cards (which are face-up in the middle of the table). Your hand is determined by using the best five of those seven cards (in any combination) and the best hand wins the pot. (The pot may also be won by someone betting and no one calling prior to the completion of the hand.)

To better help you understand the game, the definition of the underlined words on this page can be found in Poker Lingo.

Basics: There are four rounds of betting in Hold'em. In Limit Hold'em, one bet and three raises are allowed for each betting round. To continue to play, players must act on each betting round and call all action to them (unless they are "all-in"). Betting always proceeds in a clockwise rotation.

Here is the procedure for Hold'em:

1) Prior to dealing the cards, two blinds (the Small Blind and the Big Blind) are placed in the pot by the two players to the immediate left of the dealer (indicated by the red dealer "button"). The blinds are put in to start the action.

2) Everyone is dealt two down cards ("hole cards"). The action begins with the player to the left of the Big Blind folding, calling, or raising. Action continues with all players making one of these decisions. This is the first betting round.

3) Upon completion of the first round of betting, the dealer then turns over three cards (community cards known as "The Flop"). This is the second betting round. Beginning with this round of betting (and throughout the remainder of the hand), the player to the left of the button acts first. A player may now check (not bet or fold) or bet if there is no betting in front of them. If there is betting and/or raising in front of them, they may Call, Raise, or Fold.

4)Following the completion of action on the "flop", the dealer turns over another card (known as "The Turn" or "Fourth Street"). This is the third round of betting. (In Limit Hold'em, the amount bet doubles on "The Turn".) The betting again starts with the player closest to the left of the button.

5) Following the completion of action on "the turn", the dealer turns over the last card (known as "The River" card or "Fifth Street"). This is the final round of betting.

6) Upon completion of the final round of betting, the best hand wins the pot.

Note: The blinds are determined by the size of the game.