Texas Hold'em is the most popular poker variation in the world. Doyle Brunson, the godfather of modern poker, called it "the Cadillac of poker".

Most players enter the game of poker via Hold'em, which makes Texas Hold'em rules the first thing and the most essential piece of information to have.

Hold'em can be played by between 2 ("Heads Up") and 11 players. The game is won by the player that has assembled the best possible 5-card hand out of two cards that are visible only to that player and/or five visible community cards that all players can use.

Each player is dealt two cards, but before they are dealt the forced bets must be paid. The forced bets consist of the "Big Blind" and the "Small Blind". The size of the big and small blinds are predetermined, as well as the regular bets. The size of the small blind is half the size of the big blind.

In each round of game the player to the left of the dealer is the small blind and the player to its left is the big blind (the dealer role moves to the left with each hand played).

After the cards have been dealt, players look at their cards and decide whether they wish to raise, call, or fold. What does this means?

Call

• Calling is basically placing an amount of chips in the pot equal to the previous bet. In order to stay in the game a player must at least call a bet.

Raise 

• When a player raises he makes a bet that is bigger than the previous bet. This forces the original bettor to call the difference or fold.

Fold

• Folding means forfeiting your hand and quitting the hand.
  

After the players see their cards (which are called pocket cards or hole cards) and bet accordingly (starting with the player seated left to the big blind) the pre-flop ends.

The dealer burns a card (sets it aside, out of the game). This is a custom that began in casinos to make sure the dealer doesn’t cheat. The dealer then proceeds to deal 3 cards. Face down, and then turns them all face up – hence the "flop". These cards are the first 3 cards of the final 5 community cards that players use to build their hand, along with their pocket cards.

The first player to make a bet is the small blind, seating left to the dealer.

In this phase the dealer burns a card and then deals a 4th community card face up. Another round of betting takes place, starting with the small blind (same as the Flop).

In the final phase the dealer burns the final card and then deals the River – the 5th community card face up. After the round of betting, all players show their cards. The first to reveal his cards is the last player to bet.

The other players who have yet to reveal their cards may muck their hand. Mucking is basically folding your cards in order to avoid revealing it. The player that reveals the highest ranking hand wins the pot.