What is Texas Hold'em?

One of the most popular poker games is Texas hold'em. It is a poker game with community cards, which are used by a lot of modern games of poker. Community cards are the cards shared by all the players at the table, and they are always dealt face up. The cards that each player holds in his/her hand are called 'hole cards' and they will make up the complete hand, together with the community cards. The most popular poker game with such community cards is Texas hold'em, which originates in the second decade of the twentieth century.

In most of the casinos in the USA Texas hold'em is the most common poker variant. It goes under different forms, and the form with no limits on betting is used in worldwide poker events such as World Poker Tour and World Series of Poker. But the popularity of Texas hold'em is not limited to the United States alone. The game is also commonly played and popular outside the USA.

The maximum number of players in Texas hold'em is theoretically twenty-two. However, it is more common to be played with no more than ten people. Of all the poker variants, Texas hold'em is considered to be the most positional because of the fact that the betting order is set at the beginning of each poker round.

The objective of most poker variants is to win pots, and so is that of Texas hold'em. The pot refers to the sum of money bet by all the players at the table in a hand. The pot can be won in two ways, either by having the best poker hand at showdown (five cards out of the seven available), or by betting until all the other players have folded and given up claiming the pot. The showdown refers to the situation which occurs after the final bets have been placed, and there are two or more remaining players. In this case, each remaining player has to make up the best hand out of the seven cards at his disposal, five community cards which are on the board and two hole cards that he/she holds in his/her hand. The best poker hand can be made up only of the community cards, but in this case, since the other player can make the same hand, the only thing to hope for is a split pot. The player can use one or both hole cards, hoping to outrun the other player(s) and construct the best poker hand. If at the end of the last betting round there is only one player left because all the others have folded, he/she wins the pot and does not have to show the hole cards.

It's not uncommon for the players to have poker hands with a close value. If the best hand that the players have is made up of pairs or three of a kind, for instance, the only way to settle the tie is by using kickers. Kickers are especially important in Texas hold'em because it is very common that the winning hand be made up of one of the two cards the player is holding and another card on the table. This means that the player's second hole card will act as a kicker.

Texas hold'em is a closed game since the showdown is the only moment when the two hole cards that the player receives face down at the beginning of the game may be revealed. Most specialists recommend a tight yet aggressive strategy when playing Texas hold'em.