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Hold'em Basics

1. Texas Hold'em can be played with as few as two players, but is usually played with eight to ten players at a single table.
2. Texas Hold'em is played with one full deck of 52 playing cards.
3. Using the best five-card combination of their two hole cards and the five community cards, players try to form the best five card poker hand.
4. The two players, sitting to the left of the dealer, place a forced initial bet. This forced bet is called "posting the blinds".
5. The person left of the dealer posts a bet called the "Small Blind", which is usually equal to half the minimum bet.
6. The person to the left of the "Small Blind" posts the "Big Blind", which is equal to the full minimum bet.
7. First (Initial) Deal - Each player is dealt two cards face down, which are known as "Hole Cards" or "Pocket Cards".
8. First round of betting ("Pre-Flop" betting) - Starting with the player to the left of the big blind, each player can call the big blind, raise, or fold. The big blind has the "option" to raise, call, check or fold.
9. "The Flop" - The dealer burns a card, (discards the top card of the deck to prevent cheating) and then deals three community cards face up. The first three cards are referred to as "The Flop"
10. Second round of betting - Starting with the player to the left of the dealer, each player can check or bet. Once a bet has been made, each player can raise, call, or fold
11. "The Turn" - After the betting concludes the dealer burns another card, (discards the top card of the deck to prevent cheating) and then adds a fourth card face-up to the community cards. This fourth card is known as "The Turn"
12. Third round of betting - The player to the left of the dealer begins another round of betting. This round follows the same format as the second round.
13. "The River" - After the betting concludes the dealer burns another card, (discards the top card of the deck to prevent cheating) and then adds a fifth and final card to the community cards. This fifth card is known as "The River". Players can now use any of the five community cards on the table with the two cards in their pocket (or hole cards) to form their best five card poker hand.
14. Final round of betting - There is now a final round of betting starting with the player to the left of the dealer. It follows the same format as the second and third betting rounds.
15. "The Showdown" - After the final round of betting, using the best five-card combination of their hole cards and the community cards, the remaining players show their hands, with the bettor or last raiser showing first. The highest five-card hand wins the pot. If two or more players have the same hand, the next highest card in the player's hand is used to break a tie. This is called the "Kicker". If there is no "Kicker" card and the tied players have used both hole cards, or have the exact same hand, then the pot is split between the tied players.
16. The deal is then passed clockwise to the next player and another round of play begins.

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