The name of the game
The purpose of the game is to make the best possible hand of five cards from the two cards dealt to you at the beginning of the game (hole cards) and the five community cards on the table, which are dealt as the game progresses.
Not all games will go the distance - if at any point all players fold and there is only one player left in the game, he will win the pot.
Posting Blinds
Before the hole cards are dealt, the player to the left and next-left of the dealer button are required to post the blind and big blind respectively, this only happens at the beginning of each new hand.
The deal
Once the blinds are posted each player is dealt two hole cards face down on the table. From the immediate left of the big blind and continuing in a clockwise manner, each player must act on the cards they have been dealt. They can choose to do any of the following...
Fold - throw the cards away.
Call - match the amount of the big blind.
Raise - increase the bet amount.
If there is no raise, betting will finish with the big blind, however if there are raises the betting continues until all players on the table have matched the last raise made or have folded.
In limit games betting is limited to three raises.
The flop
OK, now that the first round of betting is out of the way, it's time to see the flop.
The flop is made up of three cards, dealt face-up in the middle of the table (on the board). Each player can use these community cards to build their strongest hand.
The person who starts the betting at the flop and in the next subsequent rounds is the player to the immediate left of the dealer button.
The turn card
A single card is now dealt into the middle to add to the three from the flop. Players still in the game build their strongest hand with their two hole cards and the four community cards.
The river
Now it's time for the fifth and final community card to be dealt - the river. Now that all the cards have been dealt, each player remaining in the hand can see what their best five-card hand is.
This is also the final round of betting.
The showdown
Here comes the crunch, time to see who takes the pot. Each player who has remained in the hand can now show their cards, starting with the last person to bet, and then moving round the table clockwise. Players who know they're beaten have the option of mucking (throwing their cards away without showing). But the last player to bet (and first to show) always has to show their cards.
Keep focused
Seeing what cards other players have, even if they lose, is critical in developing a good strategy so it's always a good idea to take note when you have the chance.
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