If you haven’t heard about internet poker, you must be living in a cave or in a coma.  Internet poker has managed to transcend the realm from fashionable trend to mainstay of western culture.  The rise of the internet coupled with the rapidly advancing technology has made playing poker online almost as realistic as sitting in a poker parlor.  There are many sites that offer poker and there are literally hundreds of variations of poker that are played.  However, there are only a few poker variations that are played at nearly every online poker site.  We’ll discuss the most popular variant – Texas Holdem – since that’s probably the variation you’re itching to play anyway.
Texas Holdem is probably the most popular version of online poker and has been gaining popularity since the variant was officially dubbed “Texas Hold em” at a Las Vegas tournament in the 70’s.  Go figure.
There are two types of Texas Hold’em games; they’re both related to pot size.  Limit and no-limit pots are the difference and the beginner would be well-advised to stick with the limit pot size until they’re experienced otherwise you could lose your entire bankroll on your first round.  No-limit pots are exciting and are designed to be because of how outrageously large the pots can become and often do in poker tournaments.  So, now that you know to avoid the no-limit pots as a beginner we can move on to more practical stuff.
First, the round begins with each player receiving two cards at which the player and only the player are to look at.  Then the usual round of betting, calling, etc happens.  The thrill of Texas Hold em comes with the fact that you won’t know your potential full hand until the end of the round.  Anticipation and strategy are heavily utilized in Texas Hold’em.    That’s the appeal of the game.  This initial period is known as the pre-flop.  The options for players in the pre-flop are to fold, call, bet or raise. 
After the pre-flop stage is completed, the first three community cards are laid down on the table face-up.  These cards can be used by any of the players in any combination with the cards in the player’s hand.  The calling, betting, raising and folding segment of the round is next. 
Then a fourth card is laid down on the table.  This is known as the turn card.  At this point, the players evaluate their hand and then complete the betting segment of the round. 
A fifth card is then laid on the table – known as ‘on the river’ – and this is the final card to be used in the round.  At this point, each player still in the round must decide which of the seven cards give him the best hand of five cards. 
The final stage is known as the showdown and this is when players reveal their hands.  The hand rankings for Texas Holdem are the same as other poker games with Royal Flush as the best hand.  The winner of the round takes whatever money is in the collective pot and the game continues in a new round.