Sometimes the best texas hold em hand is made by the five shared cards on their own. If they were 10-10-10-10-A and you had 9-9 your hole cards would not play as there is a four-of-a-kind of higher value already showing. End of the game. There are two ways a hand can end.
Texas Hold'em is always a game you should play with the long term in mind, if your poker hand has a 55/45 advantage compared to your opponents, you can lose it 10 times in a row. But if you play the hand 10,000 times on average you will win 55% (5.500) times.This is why good bankroll management is important. A quick test of your poker skills.

The basic rules of Texas Hold’em gameplay are really easy to learn and, in fact, a complete beginner can be taught how to play in a matter of minutes. Texas Hold’em is known as the Cadillac of poker for a reason. No other variant finds such a perfect balance between all of the various elements of poker.

While the mechanics of the game are straightforward, the strategy needed to win is anything but simple. It takes countless hours of study and practice before one is able to even come close to mastering all the elements necessary to succeed and beat the competition. The great news is that learning is easier than ever in the information age. Even so, before you can learn any kind of poker strategy you must first understand the basic rules of the game. These include:

Texas Hold’em is a popular poker game played between two or more people. Two cards are dealt face down to each player, with up to five ‘community cards’ dealt face up in the middle of each hand. Dominating Poker Hands A texas hold'em hand is dominated if it has 3 or fewer outs against a hand it faces, like AQ against AK. In this example only a Q can help AQ, an A will not. A hand like AK is a 3 to 1 favorite over hands it dominates like AQ, AJ, A9, KQ, KT, etc. 32 is only a 2 to1 favorite).

Defining Texas Hold’em
The Positions at the Table
How the Cards Are Dealt
The Hand Rankings
Poker Actions (Bet, Raise, Call, Fold)
The Rules of Gameplay
The Basics of Betting

What is No-Limit Texas Hold’em?

Texas Hold’em is a variant of poker where each player is dealt two “hole cards” that are kept face down for the entirety of the hand until “showdown.” There are four potential rounds of betting known as pre-flop, the flop, the turn, and the river. After the pre-flop betting round comes “postflop,” when second round of betting begins when the three “flop” cards are dealt face-up on the table. One more community card is dealt on each of the last two betting rounds, known as the turn and the river. Each player’s two hole cards are used to make the best five-card poker hand. After the last betting round, whoever has the best hand at showdown is deemed the winner of the pot.

Each player matches their hole cards up to the community cards and the best 5-card hand wins. Easy stuff.

How Many Players Does it Take To Play a Game?

A poker table typically consists of between 2 and 9 players. If the game only has two players, it’s known as heads-up. If there is a maximum of 6 players allowed at a table, it’s known as 6-max. If the table has a maximum of 9 players, it’s known as (you guessed it) 9-max. Occasionally, you will encounter a 10-max game in some casino games. The largest single table game online is typically 9-max.

Regardless of the number of players, the gameplay is the same, with the exception of heads-up which has its own set of rules.

What are the Poker Positions?

There are 6 key poker position names that you need to know. They are:

Under-The-Gun (UTG)
Hijack (HJ)
Cutoff (CO)
Button (BTN)
Small Blind (SB)
Big Blind (BB)

Here are the positions, shown on a 6-max poker table. For 9-max, you would add UTG+1, UTG+2, and UTG+3 between the UTG player and the HJ.

The game of Texas Hold’em revolves around the Button and Blinds. On each successive hand, the button and blinds move once to the left. In the example above, on the very next hand, the Small Blind will become the Button, the Big Blind will become the Small Blind, and UTG will become the BB.

The Button

The Button is also the player who is the acting dealer. All Texas Hold’em games have a physical button that is placed in front of the Dealer before the hand commences. The exception is when you are playing in a live game that has a dedicated dealer. In that case, the actual dealer does not have the button in front of him or her. Of course, online the entire dealing process is automated and the dealer button and blinds move automatically.

The Blinds

There are two players that are required to post a forced bet, or ante, before the hand can begin. Typically, the small blind is exactly one half of the big blind amount. Thus, if you are playing in a game where the big blind is 50 cents, then the small blind would be 25 cents.

Texas Holdem Poker Sites

The Other Positions

Understanding how the other positions work is not important for a beginner. What matters is that you understand how the relationship between the Button and Blinds operates. Once you start learning strategy and discussing hands with other players, understanding the individual strategies of the other positions will become necessary. For now, what you need to know is how the table is set up and where the blinds sit in relation to the Button.

What Does Out Of Position and In Position Mean?

The terms out of position and in position are terms associated with post-flop play. To be in position means you act last during each betting round. Out of position means you do not act last. Don’t worry about what it means to play in or out of position right now, just make sure you understand what the terms mean.

How Are the Cards Dealt Before the Flop?

Once the Button and Blinds are established, the dealing begins in a clockwise fashion starting with the player directly to the Button’s left. Thus, the first player to receive a card is the Small Blind, followed by the Big Blind, so on and so forth. The last player to receive a card is always the Dealer.

How Are the Cards Dealt in Heads-Up?

In heads-up matches, the player in the Big Blind receives the first card.

Hand Rankings

With but a few exceptions, every poker game is a battle to make the best five-card hand. Here is a list of the ranking order of all 10 possible hands that one can hold followed by the best starting hands in Texas Hold’em. Make sure you memorize these hands as playing the game is impossible otherwise.

Best 5-Card Poker Hands Ranked from Highest to Lowest

1. Royal Flush	The best possible hand in poker. With the highest card being an Ace, all five cards must be in numerical order with identical suits. In poker, all suits are equally ranked.
2. Straight Flush	All five cards must be in numerical order with no gaps in between and all of the same suit. Making a straight flush is so rare that most players can remember every single one in their lifetime.
3. Four of a Kind	Any four cards of the same rank, with the fifth card being called the “kicker”. Another extremely rare hand to achieve.
4. Full House	3 matching card ranks along with 2 matching card ranks. The example shows “Nines full of Aces.” When ranking full houses, the cards that matter are the trips, ie. “Eights full of twos” beats “Sevens full of Aces.”
5. Flush	Five non-consecutive cards of the same suit. The highest card rank determines the strength of the flush. The example shows a Jack-high flush, which would only be beaten by a Queen-high or better flush.
6. Straight	Five cards that are in the sequence. For the purposes of making a straight, Aces can count as either the highest card or the lowest (technically a one). An Ace to five straight is called “The Wheel.”
7. Three of a Kind	Commonly called “Trips,” three of a kind contains any three cards with the same rank. As with other poker hands, in the event of a tie, the highest ranked trips wins.
8. Two Pair	This hand is self-explanatory and consists of two cards with matching rank alongside another two cards of matching rank. If two players have two pair, the highest ranks win, ie, JJ55 beats both TT99 and JJ44.
9. One Pair	A pair is made up of two matching card ranks along with three unrelated side cards.
10. High Card

Texas Holdem Poker Hands To Play