Texas Holdem is the most popular poker game in the world. No Limit Texas Holdem is my favorite of the online Hold em poker games.

As the webmaster of Arctic Fox Tournament Poker, I feel a responsibility to help fill a huge gap in the available knowledge of the ins and outs of online Texas Hold-em Poker. Arctic Fox Poker will go into great detail trying to help you get a better understanding of this popular game. I (Arctic Fox) also have the intent to help you develop your own style of poker tips and strategies, Bankroll Building, Freerolls, Freeroll Tips, Multi-table, Single Table, Heads up and Head Hunter turnaments, Omaha and Holdem poker.

But first, I want to tell you not to be confused by all the spellings of this game. You'll see it spelled a few different ways as you'll notice throughout this article just to make you comfortable with seeing the differences. Holdem Poker is predominant throughout the internet for the most part and is used more than three to 1 of any other spelling.

There are three versions of Texas Holdem. They are:
-Limit Texas Hold em (specific betting limits apply during each hand) -Pot Limit Texas Holdem (Pot sized bets can apply) -No Limit Texas Hold'em (All of your chips can be bet at any time)

The Game:
Texas Holdem Poker has what is called a button or a dealer button to indicate the advancing dealer of each hand. After each hand is completed, the button moves clockwise to the next active player indicating his or her turn to be the active dealer.

Now, how do we get a fair dealing of those cards in online Texas Holdem poker or any other online poker for that matter?
Before the start of the game, all online poker rooms use what is called the Random Number Generator (RNG) to shuffle a deck of cards for the hand.

How does it work?
Each system generates a random set of numbers, which are used to place a card of the deck in a particular position. Once the complete deck is created, the deck is used for that particular hand only. A new shuffle of the deck is done with each start of a new hand and random numbers that were previously used are discarded and new ones generated before the shuffle. The RNG codes are always monitored and audited for accuracy and integrity.

First round betting in Texas Hold-em Poker:
A new table starts off with the first person sitting on the table becoming the dealer or "on the button". The next player would post what is called the small blind. The small blind is equal to half the minimum lower limit of your table. This is the guideline for determining the blinds. The player to the left of the small blind is required to post the big blind. The big blind is equal to the higher table limit.

In certain scenario'sin online Holdem Poker, it is possible for more than one player to post a big blind in a hand. This is if a new player joins a table at which a game is already going on. The player would get an option of placing a Big Blind bet at the start of the next hand or wait for his/her turn to place the Big Blind in succession.

All the blinds in Hold em poker are considered live bets and the players who posted them will have the option of checking, calling, raising or folding when the betting returns to their position. After the blinds have been placed, the down cards (hole cards) are dealt to each player in the hand.

In Texas Hold’em, 2 cards are dealt to each of the players, after which the first round betting starts. The player to the left of the player who placed the big blind starts the betting for this round. Each player will now have the option to place his or her bets in the first round, which was preset by lower table limits.

Bets can be placed by playing any of the following options: "Bet, Call or Raise". Each player will also have the option to Fold. These options are available to each player depending on the action taken by the previous player. The first player (left of the Big Blind) to act (in the first round) would get the Bet, Call or Raise option. Then each player following clockwise would also get the options of Call and Raise or fold. To Call is to bet the same as what the previous player has bet. Raise action calls for raising whatever was the bet/call amount of the previous player, and can be calculated based on the value of the previous bet amount. Every player participating in the hand will have bet equal amounts as the previous player (includes bets, calls and raises), which signifies the end of betting and awaiting the next card.

After the first round of betting is over, the Flop comes. The Flop is three cards turned up on the board. These three cards are community cards, which mean they are in everyone’s hand.

The Second Round Betting in Texas Holdem: 
After the flop and in each subsequent betting round, the first active player left of the button is first to act. The second betting round also limits the value of bets and raises to the lower table limit. So on a $1/$2 table, each bet is $1 for the second round. When we say the bets are limited to $1, it refers to: a Bet (single bet) of the value of $1, so when a user places “BET” then it is $1, “RAISE” would be $2 – includes one additional bet and a call on the previous bet placed by a player. Bets can be placed, by playing any of the following options – Bet, Call and Raise. These options are available to each player depending on the action taken by the previous player. The first player placing the bet would get the Bet option (the active player left of the Button). Other players will get the Call and Raise options only. After this the fourth community card is dealt out – this is known as the Turn.

The Third Round Round Betting in Texas Holdem: 
The third betting round starts again with the player left of the button, and bets and raises are limited to the upper limits of the table this time. $1/2 game, $2 would be the upper bet. When we say the bets are limited to $2, it refers to: a Bet (single bet) of the value of $2, so when a user places “BET”, then it is $2, “RAISE” would be $4 – This would be a $2 call plus one additional $2 bet.

The next step is the fifth community card. This is dealt out – this is known as the River.

The Fourth Round Betting in Texas Holdem:
The fourth (and final) betting round starts again with the player left to the button, and bets and raises are limited again to the top table limits.

The term "cap" is used to describe the final raise in a round since betting is then capped and no one can make another raise. Once capped, players will have the option of calling or folding only. Folding can be done at any stage of the game. The action of folding basically shows the player cards being moved to the dealer. The player from then on would not be considered as part of the game. He/she would not have any rights over any pots created on the table. Apart from the fold option, a player could also get the option of “Check”, in which the player can pass his/her turn without placing a bet. This option would not always be available to the player, and depends on the actions taken by the previous player in the hand. The player HAS TO equal the amount of bet placed by any other players for each round in the hand.

Online Texas Holdem Poker is played with "table stakes", meaning only the chips in play at the beginning of each hand may be used throughout the hand. This means that the player cannot get additional funds from the cashier while he is in the midst of a game. The table stakes rule has an application called the "All-In" rule, which states that a player cannot be forced to forfeit a hand because the player does not have enough chips to call a bet. Exceptions to the value of betting in each round: A player who does not have enough chips to call a bet is declared All-In. The player is eligible for the portion of the pot to the point of his final wager. All further action involving other players takes place in a "side pot", which is unavailable to the player who has already gone All-In. When a player goes All-in, the pot currently at the center of the table, which has contributions from him/her as well, is treated as the main pot, over which the All-in player has rights. After the player goes all-in, all the new bets are placed in a side pot, over which only the contributing players have rights. The All-in player does not have any rights over the side pot. The side pot is then given to the next winning combination.

Since Texas Hold'em is a multi player game, players are expected to play within a set time frame, any action taken during their turn. There is a wide array of time allotments between each site. Most common time frames run 20 to 30 seconds. Usually you’re notified in some way when you’re approaching the halfway point. Most sites have some sort of built in intelligence to detect if your time has elapsed due to being disconnected and allows extra time to reconnect. If the player is not able to connect back to the table before the time elapses, then the player goes All-in. All-in basically means that the player is in the game, but would not be an active player (placing any bets). Whatever pot is collected is referred as the main pot, and the all-in player has rights (if he wins) to this pot only. After this the money that is bet on the table is added to a side pot, over which the all-in player does not have any rights (if he wins).

After the final round of betting, it’s time for – Showdown. This refers to the action of deciding who the winner of the pot is and display of the cards from all players (showing your cards is optional).

Five cards total are to be used for deciding on the winning hands.
A combination of the following may be used:

-Both hole cards and three community cards

-One hole card & four community cards

-All five-community cards (playing the board)

On the final round of betting, the player who acts first is required to show their cards first at the showdown. If they have the best hand, the remaining players may/may not show their cards as they wish. The aggressors’ hand is only turned over first if he was the last to initiate action on the river.

There is a set rank/hand ranking, of cards, which determines the winning hands in Texas Hold'em.

ROYAL FLUSH
Example:     10, J, Q, K, and A suited

STRAIGHT FLUSH
Example:     5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 suited

FOUR OF A KIND
Example:     Jd, Js, Jc, Jh, 5h

FULL HOUSE
Example:     Kh, Ks, Kd, 8c, 8d

FLUSH
Example:     2, 5, 8, K, A suited

STRAIGHT
Example:     3, 4, 5, 6, 7 non suited sequential cards

THREE OF A KIND
Example:     9h, 9d, 9c, 5d, 7h

TWO PAIR
Example:     Jd, Jc, 4h, 4s, 5h

ONE PAIR
Example:     Ad, As, 6h, 2d, Kh

NO HAND/HIGH CARD
Example:     2h, 5d, 7c, 10d, Kh

If two or more hands are the same ranking, the winner is the one having the higher cards.

For example, a Flush with an Ace high beats a Flush with a King high.

If the online Texas Hold em poker hands remain tied, then the highest card not being held in common (the kicker) determines the winner. Should Hold'em poker hands be absolutely identical in ranking, the pot will be split evenly between the winning players. If there is an odd chip, the winning player to the left of the button/dealer will receive it. This applies to both play money and poker for real money.

Rake or house commission is how the poker sites make the money to support the sites. There is a small portion of each played hand that goes to the house. Most of the time you will see limits set both on what size tables there are raked hands at and what maximum rakes are with a few exceptions out there.

In Limit Texas Hold em a maximum of four bets is allowed per player during any betting round. This includes a (1) bet, (2) raise, (3) re-raise, and (4) cap. If all the other players in any given hand only call or fold, you would not get an option to raise if the last raise was done by you.

No-Limit and Pot-Limit Hold'em, there is no limit to the number of raises that a player can make.

No-Limit Texas Hold’em Minimum raise: The raise amount must be at least as much as the previous bet or raise in the same round. As an example, if the first player to act bets $1 then the second player must raise a minimum of $1 (total bet of $2). The maximum eligible raise would be the size of your stack (your chips on the table) Pot-Limit Texas Hold’em Minimum eligible raise: The raise amount must be at least as much as the previous bet or raise in the same round. As an example, if the first player to act bets $1 then the second player must raise a minimum of $1 (total bet of $2). Maximum eligible raise is the size of the pot. The size of the pot is defined as the total of the active Pot (which can be either the main pot or the side pot depending on whether anyone has gone “all-in”) plus all bets on the table plus the amount the active player must first call before raising. As an example, if the active pot is $2.00 and the first player to act in the round bets $1.50 and the next player calls $1.50, the third player has a maximum eligible total bet of $8.00. The $8.00 total is made up of the $1.50 call and $6.50 raise. The $6.50 max raise portion is equal to the pot of $2.00 + first player's $1.50 + second player's $1.50 + his own call of $1.50.