Texas Hold Em poker is an extremely popular card game. You can find people play Texas Hold Em all over the world in casinos and in private poker rooms. You can play with up to eleven players and it uses regular poker hand rankings to determine winners. Here is a compilation of the rules for Texas Hold Em and how to play.

The typical Hold Em game goes as follows and is broken down into five categories. I have simplified betting as well as the blinds to make it less complicated.

Before the Flop:

Starting with the player to the left of the dealer, each person is dealt one card face down and then another card is dealt also face down. After receiving the pocket or hole cards betting occurs.

Flop:

The dealer then burns or discards one card or three cards and then deals three cards face up into the middle of the table called the Flop. These are community cards and will be used by everyone at the table to make the best possible hand after the showdown. Next another round of betting will occur.

Turn:

The dealer discards one more card and then deals a fourth card into the community line of cards in the middle of the table. This fourth card is generally called the Turn or sometimes Fourth Street. Another round of betting occurs.

River:

The dealer discards one more card and deals the fifth card face up next to the other community cards as this will be the last card or the River and then a fifth and final round of betting occurs.

Showdown:

The remaining players now flip over their cards and any combination of 5 cards, including their cards and the community cards or even one of their hole cards and 4 of the community will work. Player with the highest hand wins the pot.