A Texas Hold'em game can be played at a single table with two to ten players, or as in the case of a large tournament the large number of players can be sat at several tables of ten players so all can play at one time. These tournaments continue until only one player is left. There are two kinds of ways tournaments handle the elimination of players until only one player remains: 1) as players are eliminated the remaining players are moved from table to table to balance the tables and empty tables are removed from the tournament floor until only one table is left for the final players or 2) the players stay at their assigned tables and play until a champion emerges for each table, then all of the table champions play at a final table until the winner emerges.

The dealer first deals two cards face down to all of the players, these are called the "hole" cards. The players look at their hole cards but do not share this information with the rest of the players. Hole cards can be used by the player they were dealt to and only by that player.

After all of the players have looked at their hole cards there is a round of betting. Players bet on the odds that the two hole cards will become part of a winning hand later when combined with the community cards that will follow.

When the betting is finished the dealer deals "the flop", three "community cards" dealt face up and placed in the centre of the table. These community cards are viewed by all and are available to all of the players to be used in making their best hand. The players now have a five card hand (two hole cards plus three community cards) and re-evaluate their chances of obtaining a winning hand.

Again the players indulge in a round of betting.

Next the dealer turns over a single card "the turn" (sometimes called the fourth street) and places it with the other community cards. The players now have an additional card available to them to use in making their five card hand (two hole cards plus four community cards).

Another round of betting takes place.

Finally the dealer turns over a last card "the river" (or fifth street) that also goes with the community cards. Now the players make the best five card hand they can using the cards available to them (two hole cards plus the five community cards). A player can use any five cards including both, one, or none of their hole cards to make the best hand they can.

A last betting round takes place.

The showdown has the remaining players showing their cards, and the best hand winning the pot.

The Betting Rounds
Betting in Texas Hold'em as in all poker games is a vital part of the game, betting skill can let a useless hand take the pot if the other players fold. So, keeping this in mind let's take a quick look at the betting in a Texas Hold'em game.

The betting is done in an organized way with each player being asked, in turn, what they would like to do. A player has four options to choose among.

Fold - if a player has bad cards or if they have a feeling that another player has better cards then a player can fold. To fold you simply give your cards back to the dealer and you are no longer playing in this hand.

Check - when a player wants to play the hand, but doesn't want to put any money in the pot he/she can check. Checking can only be done when no-one has bet in the round.

Call - a player can match the bet(s) that have been made before their turn to act but not increase the bet. All players must contribute to the pot equally.

Raise - increase the pot by matching the bet(s) that were made before and then raising it by adding more to the pot.

A round of betting continues until only one player remains (the others having folded) or until all that remain in the hand call. Once the betting stops the dealer deals the next card or if all of the cards have been dealt the showdown takes place and the winner determined.

Betting Types
All poker betting falls into one of three categories, and a player must decide on the type of game he/she wishes to play in. The betting types are (from less risky to very risky) Table limit betting, Pot limit betting, and No-limit betting.

Table Limit
Table limit games set the amount that a player is allowed to bet ahead of time. Table limit games are sometimes referred to by the limit amounts so a $5/$10 hold'em table lets the players know the fixed amount of the bets that can be made at that table ($5 for the first two betting rounds and $10 for the last two betting rounds). There is a large range of table limit games offered, online poker rooms are able to offer Texas Hold'em games with limits as low as $.01/$.02 and several table limits are available up to the $20/$40 limit range. When a player plays a $5/$10 hold'em game the players receive their cards, then for the first two rounds of betting a bet is $5, if someone raises or re-raises the bet it is by $5. Most poker rooms restrict betting to three or four bets per round, before dealing the next card(s).

For the last two rounds of betting the bets are usually doubled, so when playing the $5/$10 table above bets would be increased to a fixed $10.

Pot Limit
Pot limit games restrict the amount that can be wagered to the amount in the pot at the time that the bet is made. Pot limit games have a low betting maximum for the beginning rounds of betting, but the bets quickly grow with each round as the pot grows. In pot limit betting the pot size is the total of the pot on the table plus the all bets on the table plus the amount a player must call before he/she can raise.

No-Limit Betting
No-limit betting is exciting, and is the type of betting normally seen on televised poker tournaments such as the World Series of Poker Tournament. With no-limit betting a player has basically no limit to the amount of money he/she can wager when it's their turn. Many poker fans, both players and non-players, see no-limit poker as the ultimate because a player has the option of going "all in" and betting all of his/her chips on one hand.

Pot limit and no limit poker games can involve large bets and as such are best suited for advanced hold'em players. Those players learning poker basics should stick to playing fixed limit hold'em games until their skill level improves with practice.