Texas Hold'em Poker

The game usually involves a table of about 10 players. One player is arbitrarily labeled the "dealer" (or "button"). Play starts to the left of the "dealer", and continues in a clock-wise order.

After each hand, the "dealer" designation moves one position to the left. So every player at the table has his fair share as "dealer". Note: in a casino, there is a designated dealer who physically deals the cards... but this naming convention remains to allow eveyone to have a fair turn in the "dealer" position. The "dealer" position is advantageous because that player is the last to act during betting. Everyone else must either bet or fold before the "dealer" has to act.

First 2 Cards
Each player is dealt two cards face down. These are the player's private cards and should not be shown to anyone else. Each player looks at their cards and a round of betting ensues. As always, play stars to the left of the dealer and each player can either "bet", "raise", or "fold" depending on how strong they feel their cards are.

If a player "raises" by increasing the bet, then subsequent players must either match that raise ("call") or fold (put down their cards). This way, everyone still playing (ie. hasn't folded) has contributed an equal amount of money to the "pot".

The Flop
Once the initial round of betting has finished, then three cards are dealt from the deck face-up in the middle of the table. These three cards are known as "The Flop" and represent community cards shared by everyone at the table. At this point, each player has a 5 card hand composed of two private cards and the three community cards.

Another round of betting/raising/folding ensues.

The Turn
After everyone has bet on The Flop, a 4th community card is dealt -- called "The Turn". Another round of betting ensues.

The River
After betting, a final community card is dealt -- called "The River". A final round of betting ensues. And once this is complete, players reveal their two private cards.

The player with the best possible hand out of their set of cards is the winner and wins the money from the pot. If at any point during the betting rounds described above, only one person remains betting, while all other people have folded, then that one person wins the pot by default.