We often have new players enter our home game and when we do, we quickly go over rules. I suggest you do this for your home games as well… or you could just refer them to this page.

Basic Rules

1. One player acts as dealer. This position is called the button and it rotates clockwise after every hand. When you actually have a dealer, you use a plastic “Dealer” button to represent the dealer.

2. The two players to the left of the dealer are the small blind and the big blind, respectively. They are the only players who have money in the pot before the cards are dealt.

3. Every player receives two cards face down. These are hole cards.

4. The first betting round begins with the player sitting immediately to the left of the big blind, and continues clockwise. At this point, each player has to at least call the big blind, raise or fold.

5. When the first betting round is completed, the dealer burns one card and then flips three community cards face up on the table. This is called the flop.

6. The second round of betting begins with the first remaining player seated to the left of the button. The betting resumes, clockwise. The first better may either check or bet. FOLDING IS NOT AN OPTION.

7. When the second round of betting is finished, the dealer burns another card and then flips up another community card face up on the table. This is called the turn.

8. The third round of betting commences with the first remaining player sitting to the left of the button. The betting moves clockwise.

9. When the third round of betting is over, the dealer burns another card and then a fifth community card is flipped face up on the table. This is called the river.

10. The fourth round of betting starts with the first remaining player seated to the left of the button. The betting continues to move clockwise.

Blinds and Rounds

Blinds should go up every 15 or 20 minutes. If they don’t, the game will last forever. If you have between 5 and 7 players, set your blinds at 20 minutes and expect about 2 to 3 hours of play. If you have between 8 and 10, setting the blinds at 15 minutes will yield you about 2 to 3 hours of play as well.

For our home tournament game, with a 1000 in staring chips, we start the blinds at 15 and 30… these go up respectively… 20/40. 25/50. 50/100. 75/150. Etc Etc.

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It’s always fun to bring in new players. Just make sure that when you bring your friends over that have never played poker, much less tournament style Texas Hold’em (or whatever game you prefer) that you explain the way it all works. This ensures the most fun for everyone. A lot of the new players who knew nothing about poker when we started are now getting much better and having a lot of fun.

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