Unless you permanently live under a rock, you’ve seen that Texas hold’em has been exploding in popularity over the past few years. The allure of this exciting and action-packed game can be attributed to many things. This cliché phrase says it best: “It takes a minute to learn, but a lifetime to master.” The game is one that you can pick up in a matter of minutes, but to be good requires a life-long quest.

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1. Real money online, freerolls are a great way to make some cash the cheap way in 2021. Poker freeroll tournies let you play Texas Hold'em or any other card game in scheduled tournaments without risking.
2. 888poker is another poker site where you can set up private games to play online poker with friends for free. As explained by 888poker Ambassador Chris Moorman in the video below, the process is.
3. For poker sites, Texas Hold'em is by far the most popular variant out there. Popularized by the World Series of Poker, the game drives a lot of new players to play poker online. All of the best online casinos and poker sites will offer a good variety of real money Texas Hold'em tournaments, sit n go's and cash games.

On top of the excitement factor and the never-ending ability to get better, the game can also be extremely lucrative. Anyone can make a ton of money from playing Texas hold’em. Whether you’re playing at home with friends and family for pennies and nickels or you’re playing in Vegas at the World Series of Poker for millions, the amount of money you can win is endless.

You’re in for a real treat with this guide. We’re going to start by walking you through the basics of the game. We’ll talk about why the game is important, how to play the game and the differences between the different ways you can play Texas hold’em.

After that is where we get into the fun stuff. We’ve created a section fully dedicated Texas hold’em strategy that will cover everything from beginner strategies like starting hand requirements to advanced strategies like floating, three and four betting and more. Our team of professionals will be revealing strategic content that you normally should have to pay for completely free. You can consider this our donation back to the poker community.

If you’re ready to get learning, let’s dive into the world of Texas hold’em poker!

Recommended Sites: Start Playing Now!

Some of you action seekers might already be crushing your local games and are ready to jump to the next level. If you’re ready to try your hand at online Texas hold’em, we’ve got you covered. One of the most important decisions you can make in your poker career is where you choose to play. You need to be playing at a trustworthy and secure site that understands the importance of an easy to use interface, player bonuses and keeping the easy to beat recreational players around.

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It’s important that we let you know that we do not allow any online poker sites to pay for better reviews, ratings or recommendations. We feel that allowing that would be a disservice to you, our reader. For that reason, you can trust that the sites we recommended above (and anywhere else on our site) are actually the best options available. We refuse to waiver on this. All we care about is that you have the best online poker experience that you possibly can.

In This Guide…

This comprehensive guide was put together by a team of past and present professional poker players. These players have extensive experience in all facets of the game as well as professional experience with instructing poker players of all levels. The beginning sections of the guide will focus on information important to those brand new to the game. We’ll walk you through a general overview of the game, how to play the game and then the different variations of the game that you need to be aware of.

After that, we’ll dive into our strategy section which is the real treat of this guide. The section has invaluable information for players of all levels. Unlike some resources online that only give you generic poker strategy, we’re going to get into the nitty-gritty details and specifics about the different formats of hold’em and how to beat them.

As a game of skill, poker is not in the same gambling category as games like blackjack or craps. In those games, you compete against the house and will always be at a statistical disadvantage. With Texas hold’em, though, you’re competing against other players in a game of skill where the best player will reign victorious in the long run.

If you’re brand new to the game, we highly recommend that you work through this guide from start to finish. If you’re not, though, we’ve left some convenient links to jump to the specific sections that you’re most interested in. Take your time and try to absorb as much of this information as you possibly can. Remember, the game can be learned quickly, but it takes a lifetime to master it!

The Importance of Texas Hold’em

We touched in the intro about the growing and exploding popularity of Texas hold’em poker. What we’d like to do now is go more in-depth into some of the reasons why the game is so popular and, more importantly, why you should play Texas hold’em. Understanding why you should learn something is crucial to keeping the motivation to push through the mountain of knowledge we have for you here.

Why is Texas Hold’em So Popular?

It really is no secret that Texas hold’em is one of the most popular games in the world. People of all ages from the old to the young are picking up the game. The game is shown on TV networks worldwide, has dedicated magazines and publications, monster forums and websites dedicated to it and is played at the majority of casinos in the world.

So why is this game so darn popular? As we’ve already mentioned, it’s a game that doesn’t take long to learn. The rules are fairly simple and straightforward, and you can have a fairly firm grasp on them in no time. This means that you’re not spending a lot of time preparing before you can jump into the action and give it a shot. For people that love action and excitement, this is a huge draw.

The game also allows anyone to ascend to the highest ranks. Imagine if you decided today that you wanted to play professional football. Could you realistically see yourself in the Super Bowl next year? Unless you’re some freak athlete, there is probably about a 0% chance of that happening. Even if you were a freak athlete, you’d still have a million different hoops to jump through, and that percentage wouldn’t be much higher.

With poker, though, anyone can play at the highest level as long as they have the cash to cover the buy-in. The Texas hold’em Super Bowl is the World Series of Poker Main Event played in Las Vegas every year. Do you have to go to tryouts, qualify and make the team to play? Nope! As long as you have the $10,000 buy-in to play, you can take a seat and play with the best.

Does this mean you’re going to win? The answer to this question is another reason that Texas hold’em is so popular. If you went out and raced against the best sprinters in the world 100 times, you would lose 100 out of those 100 races. You would win zero times. But, if you play poker against the best in the world 100 times (and you aren’t that great), you’d probably end up winning a few of those times. Sure, they would beat you most of the times, but poker includes a small element of luck to go with the skill side.

This means that, on any given day, an amateur could beat the pros. In the long run, the better players are going to prevail, but in the short term, anything is possible. This makes it exciting for amateurs to take their shot against the pros. This coupled with the other reasons we’ve mentioned are just a few reasons why Texas hold’em has been exploding in popularity and shows no signs of lightening up anytime soon.

Why Play Texas Hold’em

Some of the reasons you should play Texas hold’em might already be clear to you, but we want to mention several of them in case you are considering getting in the game and are still on the fence. This is not a complete list of the reasons to start playing, but they are some of the main ones that most people would list as the reason they got started or that they continue to play.

The Fun

The Money

The Camaraderie

Even though you will be competing against everyone else at the table, Texas hold’em still makes for a great social experience. Whether you’re playing online and chatting in the chat box or playing live and chatting face to face, the Texas hold’em community is a great one to interact with. Sure, there are some bad apples in the bunch, but for the most part the game attracts some of the brightest and most interesting minds in the world.

It’s not rare to be sitting at the table with billionaire businessmen, famous Hollywood actors, comedians, athletes and more. The greatest part about poker is that, at the table, everyone is an equal. No one gets special treatment once the cards hit the felt which makes for a great environment to let your guard down and make some new friends.

The Brain Workout

Yes, poker is an easy game to learn, but that does not mean it’s easy to beat. Have you ever played golf? It’s easy to learn that the game involves you hitting the ball and getting it into the different holes. Does that mean golf is an easy game? Definitely not. There is a big difference between “easy to learn” and “easy.”

Texas hold’em will test your mind, wit and resolve as you work to conquer the game and defeat your opponents. It’s important that your mind is always pushed to the limits and worked out just like any other muscle in your body. You can rest assured that this game will always push you to those limits. If it ever starts to get easy, you can always move up in stakes to play at the higher limits. There can only be one “best player in the world, ” and if that’s not you, you’ve still got room to grow.

How to Play Texas Hold’em

The first step to being the best Texas hold’em player in the world is learning how to play the game. The rules are fairly simple and straightforward, so they shouldn’t take you long to learn. If you’re brand new to the game or looking to brush up on the rules, we’ve got you covered.

Below, you’ll find a link to our dedicated guide on the rules of Texas hold’em and how the game is played. When you finish that guide, you’ll be ready to try your hand at the game. Should you, though? Well, we recommend not getting ahead of yourself. After you get through learning the rules, come back here and learn everything else you need to know to get started on your journey to the top.

Cash Games vs. Tournaments

All Texas hold’em games are not created equal. In fact, every variation of the game is light years different from the others. What we’d like to do is start by introducing you to these different variations. Texas hold’em games can be divided into three main types: cash games, tournaments and sit and go’s. Within each of these subsections, there are more variations that we will go over as well.

Remember, while these different formats are in fact different, they are still just variations of classic Texas hold’em. The rule sets are going to be the same. The same hands that beat other hands will not change. The order in which you play along with the flow of the game will be the same. The only things that will be different will be the format of how the game is set up. Let’s take a look at each, and it will make much more sense to you if you’re currently confused.

Cash Games

A cash game is a poker format where you can play for as many or as few hands as you want. A cash game has no definitive end, and the blinds and antes never go up. Players will come and go from the game as they please and are never required to play a certain number of hands.

When you buy-in to a cash game, you are given chips that represent the exact amount of money you used to buy-in with. If you buy-in with $200, then you are given $200 in chips. If you take those chips back to the cashier, you can get $200 in cash back. Cash game chips are effectively the same as cash. They hold a cash value.

You’re free to sit down and play one hand in a cash game and leave if you want or you can sit down and play for 20 hours straight. Every other player at the table has the exact same right as well. Cash games come in varying stake/blind levels, but they will always stay at the stake/blind level that is posted. They will never increase as they do in some of the other formats we will mention.

For example, if you were to sit down in a $1/$2 cash game, the small blind would be $1, and the big blind would be $2. At no point will these ever increase. During hand 1, the blinds will be $1/$2…at hand 8,479, the blinds will be $1/$2.

As we mentioned, you are free to leave a cash game at any point in time that you want to. When you leave, the value of the chips you have in front of you is the amount of money you will get back from the cashier. If you started with $200 in chips and get up when you have $300 in front of you, you’ll get $300 in cash back. If you start with $200 in chips and cash out when you have $150 in front of you, you’ll get $150 in cash back.

Also, if you lose all of your chips in a cash game, you are always free to buy back in. You are not eliminated from the cash game. You’re free to purchase more chips and get right back into the action.

Tournaments

Tournaments are much different than cash games. A Texas hold’em tournament is a poker competition where players compete until one player has all of the chips in play. The blinds and antes continue to rise on a fixed schedule until the tournament is completed.

Players pay an entry fee for a set number of chips instead of buying chips that match the amount of money they put in. This means that technically tournament chips have no cash value; they are only tournament units. Players are not permitted to ever cash out of a poker tournament, but must play until they are out of chips or until they have all of the chips in play. Players are awarded prize money based on what position they finish in the tournament.

Let’s break this down a bit more to make it clearer. Let’s say that 100 people sign up for a $100 Texas hold’em poker tournament. Each player is given 10,000 in chips. Obviously, these chips do not equal $10,000. They are just units for the players to work with to see what place they finish in.

The tournament will start, and the blinds will rise to help force the action along. When a player is out of chips, they are out of the tournament (with exceptions we will cover below). The play continues until 1 of the 100 players has all of the chips in play.

So, how does the money work? Well, 100 players each put in $100, so the total prize pool is $10,000. This prize pool is usually distributed based on what position the players finish in. While this can vary, the industry standard is for the top 10-15% of players to receive money with the amount increasing the higher you finish. The remaining players receive nothing.

The payouts for this tournament might pay the top 15 players with first getting much more than 15^th. The level at which the payouts increase will be determined by the site or poker room putting on the tournament.

Different Types of Tournaments

Just as all Texas hold’em games are not created equal, all tournament formats are also not created equal. There are a multitude of different popular formats that you will encounter at some point along your poker journey. Are you required to know how to play and beat all of these to be a successful Texas hold’em player? Of course not! You can make your whole career out of only playing one of these formats and do just fine.

Freezeout Tournaments

Rebuy and Re-entry Tournaments

Satellite Tournaments

A satellite tournament has nothing to do with NASA or anything like that. A satellite tournament, sometimes referred to as a satty, is a tournament where the winners receive an entry into a bigger tournament. Typically, the top prize will only be the value of the buy-in to the bigger tournament. If there is additional prize pool money, it will be paid out to the remaining places as additional seats to the bigger tournament.

Satellite tournaments are a great way to get involved in bigger tournaments without having to put up the full buy-in amount. If you’d like to learn more about satellite tournaments and how to dominate them, click the button below now.

Bounty Tournaments

A bounty tournament can come in one of two styles. The first is where every player has a bounty on their head. With these, a portion of the buy-in goes to the main prize pool while another portion goes to the bounty. If you knock a player out, you get their bounty money regardless of how you finish in the tournament. The other style is a tournament where the people running it will add money to the prize pool to put bounties on specific players. If you knock one of these players out, you get their bounty money no matter how you end up finishing in the tournament.

Bounty tournaments can be a lot of fun, but can change a lot when it comes to proper strategy. We break everything down for you for both styles in our special bounty tournament guide below.

Sit and Go’s, Shootouts, Steps and Heads Up Tournaments

A sit and go (SNG) is a tournament that has a fixed number of entrants. In some of the other styles of tournaments, anyone that wants to enter can enter, and they usually won’t cap the entrants. A SNG, though, will be a set number of entrants. It won’t have a start time either, but will begin as soon as the correct number of players have signed up.

The most popular type of SNG’s are single-table tournaments. These are 9 or 10 handed tournaments that usually pay the top 3 players. It’s not rare to see multi-table SNG’s as well with any amount of players (usually in multiples of 9 so they have full tables). You may also see tournaments where SNG’s are played in a bracket-style with the winner of each table moving on to play the winners of the other tables. These are known as shootouts. A variation on this style is the step tournament that we will cover more in depth in the dedicated guide.

Single table SNG’s can also be run with two players only where the players battle it out against only the other player. These are known as heads-up SNG’s or heads-up tournaments. These can be one table only or can also be done in a shootout format, although they aren’t usually referred as shootouts in those situations.

To learn more about all of these types of tournaments that fit in the same format family, click the button below.

Guaranteed Tournaments

A guaranteed tournament is a little different than everything else on this list. Basically, any one of the tournaments on this list could be a guaranteed tournament on top of their own style. A guarantee simply means that the poker room is guaranteeing that the prize pool will be a certain amount no matter how many players enter.

For example, if a poker room says that a $100 buy-in tournament has a $10,000 guarantee, this means that no matter how many players show up to play they will be giving out $10k in prize money. If 90 players show up, that means the poker room only collected $9k, but they are still going to pay out the prize pool as $10k. The poker room will have to put up the extra $1k out of their own pockets. If 200 people show up for this tournament, the poker room will collect $20k from players and the prize pool will then be $20k.

The poker room does not get to keep any extra money just because they met and exceeded the guarantee. When the poker room falls short on a guarantee, it is called having an overlay. As you can guess, an overlay is extremely good for players and means they’ll be playing for more money than they really should be.

Pot Limit vs. No Limit vs. Limit

If you aren’t already overwhelmed with all of the different options with Texas hold’em yet, we’ve got more for you! Within each of the different formats we listed above, you have three more variations of the game that can be played. These variations have to do with the style of betting and the amount that you are allowed to bet on each street.

No Limit Texas hold’em

This is by and far the most popular form of Texas hold’em there is. This is the style that is played during the WSOP Main Event and most likely the style you’re accustomed to playing. For that reason, most of the rest of this guide and the strategy sections deal with no limit. In no limit Texas hold’em, you can bet as much or as little of your chip stack as you want at any point in the hand. There are no limitations. Your entire stack is always in play.

This makes for a much wilder and more exciting format of poker. The pots are usually bigger, the action is faster and the chance to make a fortune grows.

Pot Limit Texas hold’em

This version of Texas hold’em is “no limit lite.” In this format of the game, you are only allowed to bet as much as is in the pot. If there is $100 in the pot, then the maximum you can bet is $100. If there is $800 in the pot, then the maximum that you can bet is $800. You are limited in your bet size by the pot, hence, why it is called pot limit.

Limit Texas hold’em

Sometimes referred to as an old man’s game, limit Texas hold’em is a structured betting game where you can only bet or raise a fixed amount on each street. While this may sound like a buzz-kill and somewhere you can’t make a lot of money, that’s definitely not the case. Limit games will sometimes play very big with the chosen limits being in the thousands per bet.

Even though limit Texas hold’em is technically similar to no limit Texas hold’em, the strategic implications are so different that some regard it as a totally different game. These people are somewhat right and somewhat wrong. The strategic theory is similar, but it just is altered due to the limits in betting sizes. You have only one bet size to react to instead of interpreting a lot of different bet sizes as you do in pot limit or no limit.

Texas Hold’em Strategy

Welcome to the fun part of this guide! This is the section that we are the most proud of and the section that will certainly bring you the most value in helping to grow the success of your Texas hold’em career. Our team of past and present poker professionals have spent countless hours putting together a fully dedicated Texas hold’em training and strategy section.

You’ll find tips, tricks and strategies that you normally would have to pay for completely free. If you’re ready to elevate your game to the next level, click the link below and enter our fully dedicated and completely free strategy portal. We know you won’t be disappointed.

Luck vs. Skill

It’s crazy for us to think about how widely this is debated and how often people are misinformed about the topic. Is there luck involved in poker? Yes. Is it predominantly luck? Definitely not. Poker is a game that can be beat long term. There is a reason the same people always seem to find their way to the top of tournaments. There’s a reason that certain people are able to play cash games for a living for many years.

Are these people just the luckiest people on the planet? No. These people understand the strategy of the game and how to exploit their opponents properly. They know how to get maximum value when they have the best hand and lose the minimum when they have the worst hand.

Since we know that many people are stubborn, we’ve put together a dedicated guide to walk you through this debate. This guide is perfect for those who aren’t sure whether to believe that the game can be beaten long term. This guide is also perfect for those that “have already seen the light” and are looking for an eloquent way to share this information with their friends, families and significant others.

Click below, and you’ll see that we’ve finally settled this debate once and for all.

Online Texas Hold’em vs. Live Texas Hold’em

One of the biggest choices you’ll have to make once you start playing Texas hold’em is whether or not you’re going to play live in a brick and mortar poker room or at home on the Internet. In the older days, you were limited to only playing in a brick and mortar poker room or at a home game at a friend’s or someone you knew.

While this could work, it ended up being fairly inconvenient for a lot of folks. This only worked if you lived close to a poker room or you happened to know someone that was running a game. Even then, you had to travel to the game, and security was a real concern if it was a home game. In the late 1990s, though, Internet poker blasted onto the scene giving players a convenient option to get their poker fix on.

In the sections below, we’ll dive into the differences between live Texas hold’em and online Texas hold’em. We’ll discuss the pros and cons of each to help you make a much more informed decision about where you might want to play. This will be great if you’re brand new to the game or maybe if you’re someone that has played live for many years and is considering the switch to online play.

Live Hold’em

This is the most classic form of Texas hold’em. If you watch any old movie with gambling in it, you’ll most likely see a table of cowboys in the background playing poker. While they probably weren’t playing Texas hold’em, they were playing live poker. Live poker is any time that you play the game in a brick and mortar setting. This could be going to the local card room to play, going to the poker room at a casino or even playing in a home game at your friend’s house.

Live poker is a favorite of a lot of people because they can see their opponent. A lot of times they feel like they can get a much better read on their opponent based on their facial expressions, body language and the way they speak. This is definitely one of the biggest pros that live poker has over online. The second pro of live poker is that it’s much more social than online poker. You’re able to chat face to face with other players, the dealers and the floor staff. For a lot of people that use poker as a recreational hobby, it’s a great reason to get out of the house and get some human interaction.

On the flip side, there are some downsides to playing in the brick and mortar setting. First, convenience is much lower than it is with online poker. You’re forced to put your pants on, get a babysitter for the kids or your significant other, drive to the game location and then finally start playing. This takes time and costs money. This is time you could be already playing and money that you could be saving.

You’re also only able to play one game at a time. A lot of poker players who like action or play to make money like to play more than one game at once. This is possible online with the click of a button, but in a live setting, you are limited by the fact that you can’t physically be in two places at once. For some, though, they’re content with playing one game at a time. Yes, live poker is slower than online poker, but for a lot of recreational players looking for social interaction or to pass the time, that’s fine.

If you do decide to play Texas hold’em in a live setting, you need to make sure that you follow a lot of general etiquette rules when you get to the poker room. Following these will ensure that you don’t make any costly mistakes and that you have a much more enjoyable time.

Online Hold’em

It’s funny that we still refer to online poker as a new innovation when, in fact, it has been around for over 20 years now. In its infancy days, it had issues that were legitimate concerns for people interested in trying it out. In the past 20+ years, though, the kinks have been worked out, and online poker is now a legitimate and viable way for you to play poker. Some would argue that it’s more legitimate, safer and better structured and organized than any live poker room in the world.

Let’s talk about the pros of online poker. First, it’s much more convenient. You don’t have to leave your house, and it takes just a few seconds to get logged on. All of your transactions can be done digitally including cashing out your money. This saves you an enormous amount of time, hassle and most of all, money. It officially takes $0 in gas money to get to an online poker room.

Secondly, it’s much more conducive to improving your game quicker. You’re able to see hands faster, play more games if you want, study your hand histories easier, use software to help you get better and most importantly, you can start playing at much lower stakes than you can playing live. If you go to play Texas hold’em in a local poker room, the smallest game that you’ll most likely see will be $1/$2 no limit hold’em. The standard buy-in for this game is $200.

When you play online, though, they will have tables as low as $.01/$.02 where the standard buy-in is $2. This means that you can start playing for real money without risking much in the beginning. You can then slowly and strategically work your way up the stakes as you improve and are ready. This could be reason enough to play online if you are new to the game and looking to improve at a gradual and safe pace.

The third major pro of online Texas hold’em is that there are MUCH more players. Because you’re able to play with players from around the world, you’re always going to be able to find a game. If you want to play on a random Tuesday morning, you might not be able to get a game at your local card room. Online though, there are always people ready to play. They might not be from the same country as you, but their money cashes out and spends just the same!

There are some limited drawbacks to online poker that are more preferential thoughts. First, some people don’t like the fact that you can’t see your opponents face to face. They like to stare down the table when they’re making a tough decision (or sometimes any decision…insert eye roll), and it’s just not the same when you’re starting at a small avatar or a screen name. Secondly, some people like to use poker as a social outlet. While you can still chat with people online, it’s definitely not the same as talking to someone face to face. As a culture that stays buried in our phones now anyway, this may not be a big deal.

Overall, we are big proponents of online poker versus live poker especially for Texas hold’em. It’s convenient for the casual player and strategic for the serious player looking to improve their game. As an industry that’s now been around for over 20 years, it has really turned into an amazing product and industry that you definitely need to check out!

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions about Texas Hold’em

Is Texas hold’em hard to learn?

Is Texas hold’em the same as poker?

What does “no limit” mean?

Are tournaments the same as cash games?

Should I play online or in a poker room?

Legal online poker for real money in the US saw a massive upswing in 2020. With more players at home and no live casinos open, many players moved their Texas Hold’em action online. Many new players began getting in the action, too.

If you’re one of those new players looking to play Hold’em online, you’re in the right place.

The game of poker—and Texas Hold’em in particular—can look intimidating at first. But it won’t take you long to get up to speed. This page offers everything you need to know about playing Texas Holdem online, from the best sites to basic Hold’em rules, hand rankings and strategy tips for beginners.

Best Texas Holdem Sites Online

Where Can I Play Texas Hold’em Online?

As of 2020 just four US states currently offer legal Texas Hold’em online, although more states are scheduled to go online soon. Licensed sweepstakes online poker is also available in 49 US states. Here’s a look at the legal online poker states and the poker sites available in each. Use the exclusive USPoker links to claim your welcome bonus:

State	Poker Sites	Bonus Offer/Code
• All (excl. WA)	Global Poker	Free $20 Gold Coin package; No code needed
• New Jersey	PokerStars WSOP.com 888poker partypoker BorgataPoker.com BetMGM Poker	Free $30 (with $20 deposit); FREE30 Free $10; 10FREE Free $25; no code needed Free $25; PLAYNJCASH Free $25; FREEMONEY Free $25; PLAYNJFREE
• Pennsylvania	PokerStars	Free $30 (with $20 deposit); FREE30
• Michigan	PokerStars	TBD
• Nevada	WSOP	Free $10; GET10
• Delaware	888poker	Free $25; no code needed

Free Texas Holdem Online

Players in US states not listed in the above table do have some other options including free (or play money) online poker provided by the legal online sites listed above. These offer a player a chance to learn the game and work on strategy and technique.

Best Online Texas Holdem Sites

Check our free online poker sites & apps page for more. If you’re more interested in setting up an online poker home game with your friends, check our dedicated page here:

As mentioned, there is also another option to play Texas Hold’em free online and even win some real money. That’s via sweeps cash poker, with Global Poker the best-known of these sites. Games offered include:

• Texas Hold’em
• Omaha
• Crazy Pineapple

If you want to play Texas Hold’em for free, you can stick to their virtual currency called Gold Coins. You can win Gold Coins in games or tournaments or purchase more Gold Coins at any time. When you do purchase Gold Coins you are awarded another virtual currency called Sweeps Coins as a bonus.

Sweeps Coins can be used in separate ring games, tournaments, Sit & Go’s, and other events. Unlike Gold Coins, Sweeps Coins can then be cashed in for real cash prizes. Poker players will find a nice, safe online poker option with Global Poker. The platform is available throughout the US (excluding WA) and Canada (excluding Que.).

As of August 2020, Global had seen a boom in players and had run numerous large tournament festivals. The site has now topped 1 million players and continues growing. Sweepstakes poker offers a social gaming alternative with a real chance to turn your Texas Hold’em poker skills into real winnings.

Texas Hold’em Poker Rules & Game Play

Knowing how the game of Texas Hold’em works is important before hitting the tables. Taking advantage of free online play offered at legal online poker sites will help become accustomed to the ins and outs of how the game flows without losing any real cash.

To get started with real-money play online you can also take advantage of no deposit poker bonuses, which offer free money deposited in your account for real games.

How to Play Texas Hold’em

Pre-flop

To start a game of Texas Hold’em, all players are dealt two cards face down. Unlike in a home game, a poker game in a casino features a designated house dealer. Players don’t have to worry about dealing the game themselves.

Instead a “dealer button” rotates around the table each hand to designate which player would have been the dealer. The player to the left of the button is the small blind and the person to that player’s left is the big blind.

These are forced bets that every player will make as the action is rotated around the table. The small blind is usually half of the big blind. Blinds make a player decide whether to:

• Fold – throw cards away and get out of the hand
• Call – match the bet
• Raise – raising the action to play for more

Blinds keep players from simply “checking” the action and seeing flops without committing any chips. A “check” means a player isn’t betting and instead passing the action to the next player (more on this later).

Players can also re-raise someone else’s raise. This is often called a three-bet because it is the third bet in the pot.

For example, blinds might be $1/$2 in a cash game and 100/200 chips in a tournament. To start the action, the player to the left of the big blind can call, fold, or raise and the action continues that way around the table.

If no one raises, then the small blind only owes half his bet to complete the big blind. If you’re on the big blind, you can simply check to see the flop because you’ve already paid your big blind.

This player can also raise however, if he or she chooses. Once all that action is complete, players will then see the flop.

When playing Texas Hold’em online, all this action is done automatically and players have the luxury of all chips counted out for them. It makes for some simplicity and players will also find the action quicker.

The Flop

Texas Hold’em, unlike draw poker games, makes use of community cards. These are a limited number of cards that all players see and can use to make their best five-card hand.

Texas Hold’em derives from Seven Card Stud, in which all players are dealt three cards down and four cards up. Players can see some other players’ cards to determine the strength of their own hands. But in Hold’em there is a more limited number of visible cards and they’re all fair game for every player to use.

Once all the pre-flop action is complete, the dealer will burn a card (deal a card out of the game) and then spread three cards – known as “the flop.”

Once that’s dealt, the person to the left of the button can check or bet. The next player then has that option.

If an opponent bets, you have the option to:

• Call (match) the bet
• Raise the bet
• Fold (throw your hand away)

If no one calls, the bettor takes the pot and the hand is over. If other players call, the players will then see another card.

Just a reminder: checking means you don’t want to bet and you pass that action to another player. If the other players check around, the dealer will also continue on with another card, known as the turn card.

The Turn Card

Once all the action is complete on the flop, the dealer will burn one more card and then deal out a fourth card – known as the turn card. The same betting pattern follows as was seen on the flop.

The first player that remains in the pot to the left of the dealer button has the action first and can once again bet or check. Any opponents left can do the same and raise the action if desired. Once all the action is complete and the pot is good, the dealer will burn another card and deal the final community card.

One reminder: in No Limit Texas Hold’em, players can go “all in” and bet all the chips they have in front of them. In a cash game, a loss could mean digging in the wallet for more cash.

In a tournament, a player may be putting their life in the tournament at risk. Depending on their number of chips, a losing hand could send them to the rail (poker lingo for being eliminated). This makes for quite a twist and is one of the aspects that makes the game so intoxicating for so many.

The River Card

Once the final card is dealt, known as the river card, there is once again a round of betting. If a player bets, those remaining will call, fold, or raise. If an opponent calls, the betting player will show his hand.

This is called the showdown and the player who bet then reveals their cards. If their hand is better than their opponent’s, then they rake the pot. If the opponent has the best of it, the dealer will ship those chips their way.

Once the hand is over, the dealer button will then be moved to the next player and a new hand begins.

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Split Pots, Kickers, All Ins & Side Pots

There are a few intricacies to remember when playing Texas Hold’em. Here are a few of those to remember.

Split pots

Sometimes two players will have the exact same hand. For example, a flop, turn, and river might bring A♥♣K♠8♦3♥2♠. If there are two players that stay until showdown, they both may flip A♠8♥ and A♣8♣.

This means that there is a split pot and both players receive half the pot. The dealer will take care of this in a live game and online, the software client or poker app will take care of this scenario and divide the pot in half.

There is a scenario where two players seemingly have the same hand, but only one of them will rake the pot. A player holding A♠K♠ has a shot to beat an opponent with an unsuited Ace-King if the community cards brought three spades.

The same can happen if the board brings out four diamonds and one player has A♦K♠. Those cases can be rare, but not too uncommon.

Kickers

It’s important to remember that a player’s best five cards make up his or her hand. If two players both have a pair of eights, the remaining cards will determine which player wins the pot.

For example, two players might see a board of K♥10♣10♠2♦7♦. One players holds A♠K♠ and the other holds K♣Q♦.

Both players have made two pairs, Aces and 10s, but the player holding A♠K♠ wins the pot. That’s because his kicker, an Ace, is higher than his opponent’s Queen.

Players will find these kinds of scenarios fairly common. It’s important to assess the strength of your own hand, and players will face tough decisions like this when at the poker table.

Online players will find this situation sorted out automatically by the software. It still can be frustrating to just miss out on a nice pot.

Going All In and Side Pots

It’s important to remember that in No Limit Texas Hold’em, a player can go all in for all in for all the chips at any time. However, other players can continue betting.

Those chips will be placed in a side pot and only those two players have a shot to win the side pot. If there are even more players in a pot and another goes all in, there could even be one or more side pots.

A player going all in can only win or lose the amount of chips they have put in the pot. A tournament player may have two other opponents in a pot and moves all in for all of his 30,000 chips.

Two other players may call, meaning he could triple up to 90,000 chips if winning the pot. If a player wins in this scenario he remains alive in the tournament and will take his portion of the pot.

This can be a bit tricky when dealing at your home game, but in online poker the entire scenario is easily handled. Playing online can be a great way to learn the features like this that go into playing Texas Hold’em.

Texas Hold’em Hand Rankings

Poker is a family of games and Texas Hold’em has become the most popular form over the last two decades. The game can be played in these formats:

• No Limit Hold’em — A player can bet all of their chips at any time.
• Limit Hold’em — This version of the game has fixed-limit betting and usually caps the number of raises.
• Pot Limit Hold’em — Bets are limited to the size of the pot.

The no limit variety has become the most popular form of poker in the world. This format can be found in the $10,000 World Series of Poker Main Event and World Poker Tour events. This is also the version most played at legal online poker sites.

To first play any form of poker, it’s important to know the ranking of hands. A hand’s strength is based on the odds of being dealt that hand.

One thing to remember: a player can use both hole (hidden) cards, only one of them, or simply play the five community cards to form their best hand. Here’s a look at the hands that can be dealt in poker from weakest to strongest.

High Card

This is when you’re dealt a hand that doesn’t make anything with the board, not even a pair. You simply have a “high card” as your best hand. It’s rare to win a hand with this hand. An example would be A-Q-9-3-2 after all cards are dealt, sometimes just called Ace-high.

One Pair

A pair means that one of your cards has matched another card on the board or that both of your hole cards are the same. Obviously if you are dealt a pair of Aces, then you are in pretty good shape even before the flop. If you hold a hand like A-K (aka “Big Slick”), then you’ve made a pair if you see a flop like A-10-3.

This is also known as “top pair,” meaning that among the pairs now available considering the community cards, your pair of Aces are the highest possible.

Two Pairs

This is when you make two pairs, which can be a nice hand depending on the situation and the board. If you’re dealt K-10 and see a flop like K-10-5, then you’ve made two pairs.

While this can be a nice hand, it’s certainly not unbeatable. And remember another two pairs can beat yours. If a Q fell on the turn, another player holding K-Q would have a better hand.

A board like this also opens up other possibilities for bigger hands as well (more on those below).

Three of a Kind

Often called “trips,” this is when a player gets three of the same card. If you’re dealt J-J and the flop brings 8-J-7, then you’ve hit not just trips but the best three of a kind possible considering all the community cards.

This is an excellent hand but not unbeatable. The sign of a great poker player is knowing when he’s beaten and being able to fold premier hands.

It’s important to consider the entire board and what possible hand combinations can be made. Connecting cards for a possible straight or three, or four cards of the same suit for a possible flush, might mean sending those trips into the muck.

Straight

This is a hand where five cards fall in sequential order. For example, you hold 8-9, and the board brings 10-7-K. You now have what’s called an “open-ended” straight draw.

That means any Jack or 6 and you’ve made a straight. A straight can be an excellent hand, but beware of making the sucker straight. That means you’ve made the low end of the straight.

For instance, if you held 6-7 on a board of 8-9-10, you’ve made a straight. However any player with 7-J or J-Q has made a high straight and the hand could be costly if committing too many chips.

Also a board with three of four suited cards could also be scary as your straight may lose to a flush. A pair on the board could also mean an opponent has drawn a full house. More on those below.

Flush

This hand is made when you have five cards all of the same suit. A player holding Q♦K♦ would be in luck with a board of 5♦4♦J♦9♣2♠. This has assured him of a King-high flush.

In this case however, a player with an A♦2♦ would have an even bigger flush. A player who lands small flushes like 10-high or Jack-high will have even more concerns with potential bigger flushes still available.

This is even more of a concern with four cards of one suit on the board. A player must determine if his hand is beaten by a bigger flush. Discerning opponents’ holdings, and if they’re bluffing, is a major part of the game.

Full House

This is a huge hand as well and means a player has made three of one kind and two of another – like A♥A♦A♣K♠K♦. A player holding pocket nines – 9♣9♠ – would have hit a huge hand on a board of 9♥10♦K♣10♠Q♥. This is obviously a huge hand but some caution might be needed.

An opponent going to the turn might also have an even bigger flush if they hold a Q-10 or K-10, and even 10-10 for four of a kind. Otherwise, in most instances this is a massive hand.

Four of Kind

As the name implies, this means you’ve simply hit four of the same cards. This could mean you hold a big pocket pair like A♥A♠ and hit two more Aces among the community cards.

A player might also hold one card that finds three more on the flop, turn, and river. A player holding A♦8♣ would celebrate (internally of course) on a board that included the other three eights in the deck, 8♥8♠8♦, and this would hopefully yield big rewards.

This is one of poker’s premium hands and rarely a loser. Losing with “quads” would be a real cooler indeed.

Straight Flush

As the name implies, this hand is all five cards in sequential order but also in the same suit – 6♠7♠8♠9♠10♠, for example. This is a premier hand, the second best in the game.

Players getting this hand have a huge opportunity to win armloads of chips if they can get callers and action in the pot. If an opponent catches a massive flush or full house in this scenario, there is potential that all the chips could go in the middle of the table.

Royal Flush

This is the biggest hand in poker and beats everything else. It’s also extremely rare to be dealt. Many players may even remember some of the times they’ve caught a royal flush.

The Royal Flush is basically the straight flush but includes all the face cards all in one suit – A♥K♥Q♥J♥10♥. It’s a rare hand indeed and only shows up on about 1 out of every 649,740 hands.

That means your chance of getting one comes out to 0.000154%. It’s a rare hand indeed, but a monster if you can get so lucky.

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Types of Texas Hold’em Games Online

When you play Texas Hold’em online, you typically have quite a few options to choose from. Tournaments and cash games are different in regards to structure and game play. Both can be rewarding experiences and offer plenty of poker fun.

Texas Hold’em Cash Games Online

In these types of games, players are playing for real cash as they would in a casino poker room.

Live, a player will head to the cashier to purchase chips and then be seated at a table. Most players like to buy in for at least 50-100 big blinds. For example, a player heading to the Borgata in Atlantic City may want to play some $1/2 No Limit Hold’em. You may want to buy in for $200.

Online, it works exactly the same way. You make a deposit into your poker account (often via a convenient poker payment method such as PayPal or credit card). You can then buy in at any online table with open seats at the blind level you prefer. The maximum and minimum table buy-ins will be clearly marked for each table.

When playing online, players will find plenty of action and various stakes. That can mean playing for much less than what one would find in a live casino. Cash games at sites like PokerStars, WSOP.com, and partypoker have Texas Hold’em action as low as $0.01/$0.02.

This is a great way to learn the game before heading to a casino to play or jumping in a cash game with friends. Online poker sites also offer bigger stakes once your game has improved and you’re ready to play for more.

In a cash game online, players win and lose real cash just as they would in a casino. However, unlike you might see in the movies, players are playing for table stakes. That means you can only play what’s in front of you.

Once a player is all in for whatever is in front of him, he can’t reach in his pocket for more money to buy more chips to play during that hand. Win the hand and the player remains alive and doesn’t need to buy more.

If that player loses, he can buy more chips or head to the exit. Also, unlike in a tournament a player can get up and leave a cash game at any time. There is no time length set for how long a player must play. Many players like this aspect as they may not have the time commitment needed for a tournament, which can be several hours and a few days for even larger events.

Texas Hold’em Tournaments Online

In contrast to cash games, once a tournament player is all in and loses, her time in the tournament has ended. The goal in a tournament is to continue accumulating chips to hopefully make the final table and win the tournament.

In Texas Hold’em tournaments, chips don’t have any real cash value but are used as your “weapons” to battle with other players along the way. A player may buy in a $500 Texas Hold’em tournament and start with 30,000 in chips.

Throughout the tournament, the field keeps getting smaller as players are eliminated. The field is whittled down because the blind levels increase throughout the tournament. A clock is used to determine when blinds are going up.

Players will usually find this information in the form of a structure sheet at a casino or in the tournament lobby when playing online. Players on smaller stacks have some big decisions to make when the blinds escalate higher.

Those who have seen the World Series of Poker or World Poker Tour on television are probably familiar with tournament poker. These are hugely popular multi-day events, but casinos hold single day “daily” tournaments as well.

The action moves faster online so tournaments can finish quicker. There are numerous events at various online sites throughout the day. Sites like WSOP.com, PokerStars, and partypoker also hold major tournament festivals.

These series feature tournament guaranteed prize pools and numerous event of every buy-in level. An online tournament can be a lot of fun and offer an opportunity at some nice money for a small buy-in.

Texas Hold’em Sit & Go’s Online

A Sit & Go is a smaller tournament meant to finish quickly, sometimes under an hour or even less. While these can be found at a casino poker room, they’re more often associated with online poker at real money online casinos.

Online players will find heads-up Sit & Go’s, six-max, nine-handed, and event events with two or three tables. They’re a great way to practice some tournament skills in a shorter time frame. What makes these great events?

• Wide range of buy-ins – These can range from just $0.25 to hundreds of dollars.
• Quick events – A Sit & Go is perfect for people short on time, but enjoy tournaments more than cash games.
• Great mobile options – These smaller-field events can be great options for those using a mobile phone or tablet device.
• Work on your skills – Aspects of the game like heads-up and final table play usually come at the end of a long tournament. Sit & Go’s make this an easier element to work on.

Players who get their Sit & Go game together will have a chance to regularly get in the money in these events. Those skills also carry over to larger multi-table tournaments.

5 Quick Texas Hold’em Strategy Tips

There are numerous theories and styles when it comes to Texas Hold’em online. There are books, training sites, poker strategy coaches, poker mindset coaches, solver software, training apps, and probably a lot more.

Best Texas Holdem Poker App

These can help a player both at the live tables and online. Here are five quick few tips for new players looking to get started:

1. Keep it simple – Playing fewer hands and picking good spots will help a player in the long run. That doesn’t mean just waiting for Aces, but playing fewer pots reduces those times when your hand finishes second or third.
2. Play position – The player on the button has a built in advantage. He gets to act last after the flop and can also times some raises and bets well because of this. After the flop, if action checks around, a sizable bet will often take down a pot. Players in later positions in general have this advantage and preflop raises can pay off.
3. Be willing to fold – Calling to be a hero can often turn you into a zero.New players tend to believe that every player is bluffing them. Certainly bluffs happen, but playing without folding can siphon off chips. Don’t be a calling station, folding can make those chips last for the long run and help you win more in better spots.
4. Bet strong when needed – Avoid being passive or weak in most situations when you are dealt some big hands. Some players get a bit too fancy and try to extract extra chips out of opponents by checking these big hands. While might be a good play in some situations, for the most part it’s important to bet your big hands. Checking allows opponents to do the same and also allows them to catch an even bigger hand than yours. When in doubt, bet, raise, or fold.
5. Don’t play above your head – It’s okay to play at micro or low stakes until you feel good about your skills at the table. That’s one of the great things about online poker. You can practice and get better at lower stakes. When you feel comfortable and are winning at one level, it may be time to move up. But that doesn’t mean you have to. Find a comfortable game with stakes that work for you and your bankroll.