3. Texas Hold’em Poker

Introduction
Texas Hold’em Poker is a variation of poker which differs by having five community cards that are shared among all players on the table and two cards dealt to each player face down which are known as hole cards. The objective of Texas Hold’em is to form the best 5 card poker hand from the combination of the five community cards and the player’s 2 hole cards.

A game of Texas Hold’em Poker consist of a single 52-card deck which includes 13 ranks of each suits:

Diamonds (♦)

Clubs (♣)

Spades (♠)

Hearts (♥)

*The cards are arranged from their weakest to strongest.

Game Flow

Before joining a room in Texas Hold’em Poker, the player would have to ensure that they have sufficient balance for the minimum Buy-in before joining a table.

A round of Texas Hold’em Poker begins with a random player given the dealer chip which then have the two players to the left of the dealer place the small and big blind before the round begins. The player to the immediate left of the dealer in the small blind receives the first card and then the dealer pitches cards around the table in a clockwise motion from player to player until each has received two starting cards (Hole cards).

Then players will be able to examine their cards and decide on the following options: (pre-flop phase)

• Check : The player can check if they decide to pass on betting for that round.
• Raise : Increase the bet in order to challenge other players.
• Call : Follow through a raise to match the highest player’s current bet.
• All-In : If a player chooses to “Raise/Call” to the amount of their current balance, the action would be changed to “All-In”. Doing so would exempt the member from further betting in the round.
• Fold : Forfeit their current Ante and concede for the round.

When all the Pre-flop betting has finished, the first three community cards would be shown on the table, this is commonly known as The flop, followed by a round of betting. Until then the fourth community card will be dealt face up. This is called The Turn, followed by another round of betting. Then the last community card is revealed, called The River, and a final betting round will be given. Once the river betting round has been completed the players now enter into the Showdown. At this point the best hand wins the pot.

Betting Rule

Texas Hold’em Poker table betting rules follow the same betting structure as No Limit Poker table. It means that at any point in the game a player can bet as much as all of the chips they have on the table, which is known as going all-in. The other players must match the amount to call the bet, or can go all-in themselves for less.

Card Ranking

Ranking	Example
Royal Flush - A royal flush requires the following specific cards, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace with the same suit
Straight Flush - Five cards of the same suit. The values of the cards does not matter unless the player has a flush.
Four of a Kind - Four cards of the same value.
Full House - A full house is a combination of a pair and a three of a kind.
Flush - Five cards of the same suit. The values of the cards does not matter unless the player has a flush.
Straight - A straight is five cards that are running values
Three of a Kind - Three cards of the same value
Two Pair - Two pairs of respectively equal values.
Pair - A pair of two cards with the same value.
High Card - The highest card in a player’s hand if no combinations are found.

The Kicker Card
After the hands of all participating players in a round has been revealed and there are two or more players with the same winning hands. A Kicker Card will be used to determine the winner. In the situation where the Kicker Card is unable to resolve due to players still having the same hand, the pot will be split among the winners.