Tip 7: Take Equity Realization Into Account Possibly due to the popularity growth of Twitch, many poker players approach to big blind play has evolved. The current trend is to defend the big blind with virtually any 2 cards, as some top pros elect to do, and the justification for this is taking advantage of the excellent pot odds being offered. Top 10 NL Holdem Tips Top 10 No Limit Holdem Tips. In the last 10 years No Limit Hold’em has become the most popular game played in the world. Thanks in part to “TV Poker” and the massive Multi-Table Tournament prize pools.

Texas Hold’em Poker Sites

Texas Hold‘em is definitely the most popular variation of poker. If you are looking for places to play it online, check out the best Texas Hold‘em poker sites.

Given that Texas Hold’em is the most popular poker variation, you needn’t have difficulties finding a website of your preference to play on. Almost every online poker site includes Texas Hold’em on offer, but they don’t all come with the same terms and conditions of playing the game. The list below consists of Texas Holdem poker sites that offer the best set of conditions for both new players and experienced players.

Best Texas Hold’em Sites in 2020

Sportsbetting Poker

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How to Play Texas Hold‘em

Even though you might be a seasoned Texas Hold’em player, this short guide will definitely come in handy. Let’s dive in and discuss this most popular variation of poker and the most important rules.

First and foremost, you should be aware of the fact that Texas Hold‘em is a community card poker game, meaning it is greatly dependent on betting and the game itself.

The rules of the game are standardized at most times. Different Texas Hold’em tournaments, however, come with different set of game rules. If you therefore participate in a poker tournament, make sure to check the rules that may apply.

The goal of the game is rather simple – win the most chips. The chips are won through pots and there are basically two ways to do that:

1. You have the best hand
2. All other players fold

When it comes to the cash game, it is played with two to ten players and with real money, rather than with chips. In tournaments however, you pay a buy-in normally with real money, and you will get chips. For this reason from this point on we will talk about chips rather than money.

If we were to divide one Texas Hold’em into consisting parts, these are setup, betting rounds, and showdown.

How to Play Texas Hold‘em – Setup

After each player has been neatly seated around the table, the equal number of chips is distributed to them. Once they all have chips, the next step is deciding the dealer. Texas Hold‘em features a rotating dealer most of the time, meaning that each player at the table gets to be a dealer for one hand.

Usually, the way to choose the first dealer is to let every player take one card from the deck, and the one with the highest card gets to be the first dealer. This player gets the dealer button and holds it until the end of the round. The button then goes to the person to the left of the dealer.

Sometimes, there is a professional dealer, but the dealer button still rotates from one player to another for various purposes.

How to Play Texas Hold‘em – Betting Rounds

Betting rounds are the focal part of every Texas Hold‘em. The first round is called the “blind” round where players get to put out “the blinds”. What does this basically mean?

The blinds are initial bets that are placed by two players to the left of the dealer. These bets will be the base for the further stakes in the game. They are basically the cost that the players have to pay in order to participate in the hand. The blind placed by the first player is called the small blind and the second player to the left places the big blind.

Next comes the dealing of the initial two cards, also known as the “hole cards”, to each player. Once you know what cards you have at disposal, you are ready for another betting round which is known as the pre-flop betting round. You can choose to either:

• Call – follow the betting amount proposed by other players
• Raise – bet more than proposed (in which case other players need to follow your raise)
• Fold – give up from the current hand and wait for the next one

Now, the dealer places the flop and you enter the flop betting round. The flop is essentially the initial three cards placed face-up on the table that you can combine your hole cards with. Take a close look at whether you have certain combinations and place bets accordingly.

This pattern will repeat two more betting rounds which are known as the “turn” and the “river”. Both of them will reveal one more card on the table until there are five cards facing up in total.

How to Play Texas Hold‘em – Showdown

If there are at least two players remaining who have not folded yet, it’s time for the “showdown”. This is basically the part where the remaining players reveal their cards and show potential combinations that they have made with the cards on the table. The best combination wins the hand.

Let’s take the most basic example of a pair. If you have a King-Seven and the opponent has Queen-Seven, and there are one King and one Queen on the table (so both of you have at least one pair), you will come out victorious because King is a better card. In Texas Hold‘em, Aces are counted as the highest cards.

This marks the end of the game and the player who won it takes all chips from the pot. The dealer button goes to the next player on the left and a new game can begin.

Texas Hold‘em Strategy and Tips

There are different strategies that can come in handy in different circumstances. Some of them will help you become competitive even on the top Texas Hold’em poker websites.

Always Make the Most Out of the Dealer Button

The player who has the dealer button is the last one to make a decision. This means that they have the most information about what cards other players might have at that moment, so they are able to make the most thoughtful move in terms of betting. On the other hand, the “early position” players are usually considered weak because of the lack of information about other players’ cards, which disables them to make a thoughtful move.

Win Consistently Rather than Big

New players are often tempted to do some inconsiderate moves such as going all in. This is usually because they want to win big and end games abruptly. Poker, however, does not really work that way and one of the basic strategies, especially for every new player, is to play only the hands that you have more chances of winning and to try to have more wins smaller in range.

Raising Tips

Take a look at these tips to help you with deciding when to raise your bet:

• Whenever you have a really good hand, raise big and scare other players away – make them fold.
• If you already have a made hand pre-flop, make an initial big raise as other players with weak cards may fold.
• If you think that you know your opponents well at some point, you can make a bluff or semi-bluff raise. This is a risky strategy but it may pay off occasionally in the long run. Be wary though – if your opponents often catch you bluffing, you might lose the bluff power.
• Sometimes you need to raise your stake in order to know more about the cards that other players have. Although they might be bluffing, you can take an educated guess about their cards based on their actions.

Texas Hold‘em History

The history of this poker variation does not only come as outstanding but is also packed with many interesting facts and figures.

It is difficult to say with certainty who came up with the game and where it originated. In the early 1900s, however, Texas was officially declared the birthplace of Texas Hold‘em and recognized by Texas Legislature as such ^[1].

The game quickly became popular nationwide, reaching Las Vegas in 1963 for the first time, when it had been introduced to California Club by one of the professional poker players called Corky McCorquodale. Other casinos such as Golden Nugget, Stardust, and Dunes accepted this variant of the game soon afterwards ^[2].

The first chapters of poker history were being written at the time. The first Texas Hold‘em poker legends were born, some of whom were Crandell Addington, Doyle Brunson, and Amarillo Slim. They even recall how the game used to be referred to as just Hold‘em. Addington added that the game’s popularity was vastly influenced by the fact that the rules included four bets back then, which left sufficient room for more strategies unlike in Draw poker. He says that Hold ‘em was more like a food for thought rather than a game per se.

Top Tips For Texas Holdem Poker Free Chips

The game continued to grow in popularity in the state of Nevada for two more decades, only to become attractive in 1980s to poker players from other states as well. As for European players, they had a chance to get to know this card game during the ‘80s thanks to Terry Rogers and Liam Flood, two renowned poker players.