Texas Hold 'Em 101: The Basics

1) You will be dealt Two cards on your Playmaker. These are your 'hole cards'. Nobody else will be able to see these cards.

2) Five Cards will then be shown to everyone at your table. These Five cards are 'Community Cards', meaning that everyone playing can use Three of them to make the best 5-card hand along with their Two hole cards.

Best Possible hands in ascending order:

• Ace-High (Ace is your highest card)
• Pair (2 of the same card, i.e. 7/7)
• Two-Pair (2 of the same card twice i.e. 7/7, 9/9)
• Three of a Kind (3 of the same card, 7/7/7)
• Straight (5 cards in a row, i.e. Queen-Jack-Ten-Nine-Eight)
• Flush (5 Cards with the same Suit, i.e. 5 Cards all Hearts)
• Full House (3 of the same card, pair of another, i.e. 7/7/7-2/2)
• Four of a Kind (four of the same card, i.e. 7/7/7/7)
• Straight Flush (5 cards in a row, all the same Suit. i.e. 10-9-8-7-6-All Hearts)
• Royal Flush (Highest Straight possible, all the same suit: Ace-King-Queen-Jack-Ten- All hearts)

In any situation when two players have the same hand, the player with the 'higher' cards in the hand wins. For example, a pair of 10's beat a pair of 8's.

Betting:

Betting takes place in 4 stages:

1. The first round of betting takes place after everyone gets their 'hole cards'.
2. The second stage of betting takes place after 'the flop'. 'The flop' is when the first 3 of the 5 community cards are shown to everyone.
3. The third stage of betting is after 'the turn'. 'The turn' is the 4th community card.
4. The final bet takes places after 'the river'. 'The river' card is the final of the 5 community cards.

During any of these four stages you have the following betting options: Check, Call, Raise, Fold.

If no one has made a bet before it's your turn, and you don't want to bet you can 'Check' and essentially pass your turn to the next person.

If someone has made a bet before it's your turn you can either 'call' the bet (match it) or you can 'raise' the bet (bet more) if you feel you have a better hand. If you don't want to call or raise, then you 'fold' and your hand is over.

For more information on Buzztime Texas Hold 'Em check out our Hold 'Em FAQ page. And if you have an iPhone or iPod touch make sure you download our Mobile Playmaker for an even better Texas Hold 'Em experience. Now that you know the rules go out and enjoy this fun game of skill, luck and intellect. Rack up those points!

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