Texas Hold’em is one of the most common variants of poker. It is often played amongst friends at parties as a social game. It can therefore be quite important to learn the rules in order to join in with this game. 
As with other forms of poker, the aim of Hold’em is to create the best possible hand with the cards that are dealt. However, Hold’em is different to other forms of poker in that it has community cards. Players will each be dealt two cards face down. The dealer will then perform the flop where he will deal three cards face up in the centre of the table. Players can use these three cards in their hands to make the strongest five-card hand possible. After all the players have assessed their hands and community cards, betting takes place. Once the first round is complete, a fourth card will then be dealt and added to the community cards. The round will proceed and then finally a fifth card will be placed. This is the final card and it is at this point that players must make the final decision regarding their hand. This is the basic game play of Hold’em. New players should also study and understand what the different hands are and how strong they are. From a pair to a full house and a Royal Flush, it is important that a player understands the differences, as this is the key to poker as a whole. Some simple do’s and don’ts are also important to learn with things such as state of mind, drunkenness and levels of focus all coming into play when it comes to playing poker. It can also be an excellent idea to play poker free before diving into higher stakes games.
