If you're going to play Texas Holdem, you've got to know the rules. Here's a handy guide to Texas Holdem Rules. Feel free to bring them with you to the table!

Texas Holdem Rules --The Basics

Texas Holdem is a community card poker game, which means that certain cards are shared with your opponents. Your objective in Texas Holdem is to make your best five card poker hand out of the five cards placed in the middle of the table, shared by all, and two hole cards which belong only to you. Play begins when two players put forced bets, called blinds, into the pot. Generally the player to the left of the dealer puts in one half bet called the small blind and then the player to his left puts in a larger bet, called the big blind. The player to his left (also called “under the gun”) is now the first to act. If he likes his cards, he can call (match the big blind), or he can raise, or he can fold (pass). The action continues this way clockwise around the table until it gets back to the blinds, who have the option of raising their original bets, just calling, or folding.

Once all of the betting is done, the dealer places three cards (community cards) in the middle. This is called the flop. These cards can be used by all players to make their best hand. There is now another round of betting where players can check (pass without betting or folding), bet, or if there is already a bet to them, raise or fold. All players who match whatever bets are made then see a fourth card, called Fourth Street, or the turn. There is another round of betting, and finally a fifth card, the river or fifth street, is placed on the table. There is a final round of betting and finally there is a showdown with all remaining players. Players now make their best hand using the five cards in the middle and their two “hole cards”. A player can opt to use one, two or no one of his hole cards when determining his best possible poker hand. For instance, if there is a royal flush on the table, then the player, actually all players, would use zero cards from his hand, but if there is three jacks and two kings on the board and the player holds a king in his hand he would use that king to make a full house with kings over jacks. The best poker hand wins the pot. If there are two, or more, hands that are equal then the pot is split between them.
Texas Holdem Rules --The Betting

Texas Holdem is played according to a fixed limit, pot limit, or no limit betting structure. In a fixed limit game, the amount of the bets is predetermined. For example, in a $4/$8 limit Holdem game, players can bet or raise $4 before and on the flop, and $8 on the turn and river, no more, no less. In a no limit game, players can bet as much as they want, up to their entire stack of chips (called “going all-in”) at any time. Pot limit on the other hand is played so that the player can raise the same amount that is already in the pot, including the sum to call. For instance, if the blinds are $5-$10 then the first player to act can raise $25 (the pot is $15 + $10 for him to call which equals $25, which is what he can raise). After his raise the pot size is $50. Then it would cost the next player $35 to call (the first players call of $10 and the $25 raise) and so forth.