Texas Hold 'em, sometimes referred to as just Hold em, is the most popular and one of the easiest games of poker to learn. Each player is dealt two private cards and throughout the game five community cards are dealt face up. Every player can use as many of their private and community cards as they want to add up to their best five card poker hand. Texas Hold 'em uses the standard poker hand rankings.

There are four variations of Texas Hold 'em
Limit Texas Hold 'em: Played with a pre-determined limit for each bet.
Pot Limit Texas Hold 'em: Players can bet any amount up to the size of the pot.
No Limit Texas Hold 'em: Players can bet all of their chips at any time.
Mixed Texas Hold 'em: The game will switch between rounds of No Limit and Limit.

The Blinds
In Texas Hold 'em the two players to the left of the dealer button will put in 'blinds' before the action starts. Immediately to the left of the dealer is the small blind, and to the left of that player is the big blind, usually twice the size of the small blind but not always. In online poker the blinds will be displayed by the name of the poker table.

Pre-Flop
The first player who must make a decision is the one sitting to the left of the big blind. They can either fold, call, or raise. If the game is down to two players total then the dealer will be put in the small blind and act first while the other player will put in the big blind. Once all players have had a chance to fold, call, or raise then the flop is dealt.

Flop
The flop consists of the first three community cards. Once these are dealt the player to the left of the dealer button will have the chance to act first. They can either check, bet, raise or fold. Every other player will then get the chance to act, going clockwise around the table. Then the turn is dealt.

Turn
The turn is the fourth community card. Once this card is dealt the player to the left of the dealer button will have the chance to act first. They can either check, bet, raise or fold. Every other player will then get the chance to act, going clockwise around the table. Then the river is dealt.

River
The river is the fifth and final community card. Once this card is dealt the player to the left of the dealer button will have the chance to act first. They can either check, bet, raise or fold. Every other player will then get the chance to act, going clockwise around the table. This is followed by the showdown to see who will win the pot.

Showdown
The last person to bet or raise will (if called) show their cards at the end of the hand. If there was no betting in the final round then the first player who still has cards that is sitting to the left of the dealer button will show their cards first. The player with the best five card hand wins the pot. If both players have the exact same hand then the pot is split between them. If three players have the same hand, the pot is split three ways, etc.

Once the pot has been awarded to the winning player, the dealer button moves one position to the left and a new hand is started once the small and big blinds are posted.