This book provides a concise summary of Texas Hold’em poker, including rules, conduct, tactics, and strategies. Read this book to:

• Learn the rules of Texas Hold’em.
• Learn poker terminology.
• Learn to play Texas Hold’em in a public cardroom.
• Learn to play Texas Hold’em online.
• Learn the fundamental tactics and strategies.
• Learn to become a winning poker player.

The goal of this book is to provide the tools you need to play an intelligent game of Texas Hold’em in any venue, and to give you a greater understanding of poker in general.

Texas Hold’em is one of the many variations of poker. In all poker games, money is wagered on the outcome of each hand, but each variation of poker has its own structure for dealing cards, betting, and awarding the money wagered. Winning money is the object of all poker games. Without monetary stakes, poker is a meaningless game. Poker combines elements of both skill and luck. The structure of the game determines the extent to which skill is more of a factor than luck.

In cardrooms throughout the country, two variations of poker predominate—Seven-Card Stud and Texas Hold’em. Both variations require a high degree of skill to be successful. Only players with the knowledge, discipline, and patience to execute correct strategies will win over the long run. Compared to Seven-Card Stud, Hold’em is characterized by:

• More players: Unlike Seven-Card Stud, where a deck supports only seven players, in Texas Hold’em the deck can support 23 players. In practice, cardrooms seat up to 10 players at a Hold’em table.
• Faster play: More hands per hour are played in Hold’em because fewer cards are dealt from the deck. No more than 25 cards are dealt in a 10-player game. With a fast dealer, it is possible to play as many as 40 hands per hour.
• Less memorization: All exposed cards in Hold’em remain on the table. There is no need to remember the contents of previously folded hands.
• More competitive hands: The characteristic feature of Hold’em is the use of shared cards to make up a hand. Since most of your cards are also everybody else’s, there will not be a great disparity between the strengths of the winning and losing hands.

Hold’em is a complex, exciting, and aggressive game. For both the recreational and serious gambler, mastering Hold’em is a source of much enjoyment and many rewards.

Excerpt from: The Intelligent Guide to Texas Hold'em Poker