TEXAS HOLD 'EM

Texas hold 'em is a variation of the standard card game of poker. The game consists of two cards being dealt face down to each player and then five community cards being placed by the dealer—a series of three ("the flop") then two additional single cards ("the turn" and "the river"), with players having the option to check, bet or fold after each deal, i.e. betting may occur prior to the flop, "on the flop," "on the turn," and "on the river." The three most common variations of texas hold 'em are limit hold 'em, no-limit hold 'em and pot-limit hold 'em. 

In Texas hold 'em, like all variants of poker, individuals compete for an amount of money or chips contributed by the players themselves (called the pot). Because the cards are dealt randomly and outside the control of the players, each player attempts to control the amount of money in the pot based on the hand the player holds.

The objective of winning players while playing texas hold’em is not winning every individual hand, but rather making mathematically correct decisions regarding when and how much to bet, raise, call or fold. By making such decisions, winning poker players maximize long-term winnings by maximizing their expected gain on each round of betting. A pair of aces is statistically the best hand to be dealt in texas hold'em poker.

Texas hold 'em is normally played using small and big blind bets – forced bets by two players. A dealer button is used to represent the player in the dealer position; the dealer button rotates clockwise after each hand, changing the position of the dealer and blinds. The small blind is posted by the player to the left of the dealer and is usually equal to half of the big blind. The big blind, posted by the player to the left of the small blind, is equal to the minimum bet.

In general, an overall tight/aggressive style of play is probably the most profitable, especially in intermediate/strong games. Texas hold’em is the most popular poker variant in the world today. It has caught the imagination of people from all possible age groups. Texas hold’em is simple to play and easy to understand.