The Ultimate Texas Holdem Poker Guide for 2021

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Texas Hold ’em follows only one principle: The dealer has to be thrown down in a standard Texas Hold ’em hand. But how to do it? That’s all we’re going to talk about today. 

History of Poker: A Brief and Possible Origin

Well, the exact roots of the game’s name as poker is still unclear. According to different studies, the game has ancient roots of nearly 1000 years. Some chroniclers think it was a pastime of Chinese monarchs. But most historians consider it a modified form of “As Nas,” the Persian/Iranian card game. With that, we could say that it started in the 16th century. More history students studied it profoundly, and now they have negated the “As Nas” story. They divert the concentration on other games which they think are the originators of present poker;

Brag: It’s a game of Three-Cards that came from Britain in the 18th century.

Brelan: An ancient French gambling game from the 17th to 19th century played with a 32-card pack.

Poca: It’s an Irish origin card game that means ‘pocket or purse.”’

Poque: It is one of the earliest forms of French card game

Primero: It’s a form of Spanish poker from the 16th century.

What are the Variants of Poker?

• Texas Hold ’em
• Omaha Hi
• Omaha Hi-Lo
• 7-Card Stud
• 2-7 Triple Draw
• 5-Card Draw
• Badugi
• Razz

Texas Hold ’em: It is the most trendy variant of poker. The best thing about this form is that it is easy to grab the skills it needs hence best for amateurs. If you are into online card games, you’ll quickly find it on websites offering poker games. 

Omaha Hi: It is the second most well-known form of poker. It shares the resemblance with Texas Hold ’em, so those Play Hold ’em players can learn Omaha effortlessly. It is the best for players who love excitement and action.

Omaha Hi-Lo: Like, Texas Hold ’em is similar to Omaha Hi. Omaha Hi-Lo is closed to Omaha Hi. The actual name is Omaha Hi-Lo split, Eight or better.

7-Card Stud: It is the elite choice for proficients before Texas Hold ’em. The fun fact is players can see the number of cards in each others’ hands. 

2-7 Triple Draw: Another name is Deuce to Seven Triple Draw, where the objective is to have a hand in the lowest rank. 

5-Card Draw: It is the simplest form of poker. Most of the professionals grew up playing 5-Card Draw. It needs less plan of action; hence suitable for some entertaining gambling. 

Badugi: It is an unconventional variant of poker that is not played extensively like other forms. The players have four cards in hands instead of five makes the Badugi an unusual variant of poker.

Razz: It is available mainly for the online audience at poker websites. It is slightly different from traditional poker because of the lowest-hand-win.

Poker Playing Styles

There are four primary styles a poker player can adapt.

• Tight Passive
• Loose Passive
• TAG (Tight Aggressive)
• LAG (Loose Aggressive)

THE TIGHT PASSIVE STYLE: Players who follow tight passive aware of their hands to play. But this style can turn into failure since they usually lose the protection of their hands. It is helpful for the opponent because the player is easily readable by their face and gestures.

THE LOOSE PASSIVE STYLE: As the name indicates, players who play with loose-passive style fall in a weak category of players. They indeed get into the game by relying only on luck, and if it is not there, the player won’t have a worthy poker session. They seldom take an aggressive approach and watch others do the risking part. 

TIGHT AGGRESSIVE STYLE: It is the profit-making category for players. The professionals usually advise opting tight-aggressive approach. Players who play with this style know the hand strengths and perfect positions, but opponents pick their strategy without delay due to playing style. 

LOOSE AGGRESSIVE STYLE: Players who play with an open aggressive strategy have a better success rate, but this style is not suitable for amateurs because it has a higher risk of losing your money. Due to different starting hands, it is hard to understand the player. A LAG must know when to fold hands; otherwise, the player would lose lots of wealth.

Poker Hands

The player who understands the worth of a Poker hand and the game rules can play effortlessly. A poker hand has five cards, and their different hand combinations rank from the highest to the lowest, i.e., five of a kind to nothing/no pair. Below is the list of poker hands in descending order according to rank.

• Five of a Kind
• Straight Flush
• Four of a kind
• Full House
• Flush
• Straight
• Three of a kind
• Two pairs
• One pair
• No pair

How to Play Poker?

In this section, I’ll try my best to describe the game procedure as simple as it could be in a step by step way by elaborating the various poker terms;

STEP 1: LET’S GET STARTED

Before the first betting round, every individual player dealt with two secret cards, i.e., “Pocket cards/Hole cards.” Then three cards, i.e., Community card, dealt face-up, known as “the Flop,” accompanied by a second betting round. Now is the time to face up the fourth community card called “the Turn,” followed by third betting. The final betting round begins after the face-up of the fifth community card called “the River”””.

STEP 2: GET READY TO FIGHT

The game can play anywhere between two to ten players. To decide, who initiates the game, all the players dealt a single face-up card, and the high card will be the first dealer, D. A white plastic chip indicated the Dealer position, and after each round, it rotates clockwise.

STEP 3: SHUFFLE

The player shuffles the deck, and the D dealt two cards face down, beginning with the player on his left side.

STEP 4: BEGINNING OF THE GAME

There are three acts a player can choose; 

• Call (the current bet)
• Fold (the hand without betting)
• Raise (the stake)

STEP 5: THE FLOP

The D discards the card from the top (Burn), then deals three cards face up (Flop)

STEP 6: THE TURN

The “Turn” step takes place, i.e. D burns a card and then deals a fourth community card face up.

STEP 7: THE RIVER

The dealer deals the final fifth community card face up. It is the “River”

STEP 8: THE SHOWDOWN

After the last betting round, the other players automatically expose and compare their hands to know the winner if more than one player left. This condition is known as “Showdown”.

STEP 9: WINNER

Player or players who have the best five-card hand wins the game.

A QUICK RECAP:

• Dealt the hole cards
• Round of betting
• The remaining players see a flop
• One more round of betting
• Turn Card
• Another betting round
• Final river card
• One last round of betting
• Lastly, winning the best five-card hand

Rules of Texas Hold’em Poker

Like any other game, Texas Hold’em also has some basic rules. It would be easier to play poker by learning the fundamental rules.

• Every player dealt with two hole card
• For forming a “Board”, a player dealt five community cards with face up.
• All the players used shared community cards in combination with their hole cards.
• A player can utilize any variety of the available seven cards by using their private hole cards.

Practicing Poker Online

Like other games, it is essential to practice the Texas Hold ’em as much as possible. To get into the professional level, you need commitment and a lot of hard work. If you want to practice and learn how to play Texas Hold ’em, there are different softwares available online to help you a lot. The good thing about these online softwares is you have a chance to play against the opponent to feel the actual competition. Another best thing is your money is not at stake, so you can learn all the tricks and use several strategies without thinking of losing your wealth. 

Although luck plays a significant part in a poker game and some players are lucky enough to break the bank. But this is not every time as you see on TV screens. They do a lot of practice and give time as much as they can. Several web hosts offer poker rooms where you can practice without your detailed information with no deposit policy.