First, a dealer has to be selected. The dealer, or Button, is more important in Hold ‘em than other versions of poker, as this position determines two important betting positions. The position immediately to the dealer’s left is called the Small Blind. To the left of that is the Big Blind.

To start, the betting parameters are set and the Small Blind posts a bet of one-half the minimum bet and the Big Blind posts a full minimum bet. Then, the action begins. Each player is dealt two cards, one at a time, face down. These are called a player’s Hole or Pocket Cards. Once these are dealt, the players evaluate their cards and betting begins with the “Pre-Flop” bet.

The first person given the option to bet is the person immediately to the left of the Big Blind. This person can call, fold, or bet. Proceeding clockwise, each subsequent person can do the same, raising if a bet has already been made by someone else during that round. After the betting is finished the dealer deals the Flop—three face-up community cards—which all players can use to build their best five-card hand.

After the Flop, another round of betting takes place. When this is completed, the dealer deals the Turn—one face-up card that he adds to the Flop. After the next round of betting is completed, the dealer then deals the final card, the River. Now, each player still in the game knows what the best hand he can make is from his two Hole cards and any three of the five Community cards. At this point a final round of betting takes place. If only one player is left in the game after this final betting round, he wins the pot. If more than one player remains in the game, the best five-card poker hand wins the pot.

For each subsequent hand the deal moves in a clockwise manner.

One more thing. In Texas Hold ‘em, a player can declare “All In” at any point in the game. This means that he bets all his chips at one time. This move makes him immune to any subsequent raises made by other players and guarantees that his hand will be considered in determining who wins the pot. If he loses, he is out of the game.

Winning Poker Hands
Regardless whether one is playing a five-card or seven-card version of poker, whether it's Draw, Stud, Texas Hold 'em, Omaha, or any of the other many variations, the winning hand boils down to who has the best five-card hand. Here is the hierarchy of winning hands:

Playability And Starting Hands in Texas Hold ‘em (Or “what I would do if I really knew what I was doing”)

The two cards initially dealt to you in Texas Hold ‘em will comprise one of 169 possible opening hands. Naturally, there are starting hands that are great, good, not so good, and well, this is a good time to get some more cheese and crackers. The chart below shows what a player should do based on the odds of him winning the pot with those first two cards dealt.

Be careful to not assume that a certain player’s behavior can be tracked back to the hands indicated. Bluffing is a big part of the game. Also, some people are fools and simply have no idea what they are doing. Be sure to teach the latter a valuable lesson while being taught one yourself by the former.