Texas Hold’em Poker at FullHouseCrypto: The Ultimate Guide

Part of our MO is making poker dynamic, exciting, but also accessible for newcomers – to that end, we offer up to 1,000% on your initial deposit, along with 25% rakeback, which simply means that you get 25% of your tournament entry back whether you win or lose.

There are tables running round-the-clock to cater to all betting limits, along with some very tempting prize pots.

Each game will feature between six and ten players.

Unlike in Omaha Poker, where you receive 4 or 5 ‘private’ cards (more commonly known as hole cards) at the beginning of the game, Texas Hold’em begins with a deal of just two hole cards per player. Your ultimate aim? To make a 5-card poker hand using any combination of your two hole cards or the 5 community cards (comprising the flop, turn & river) that will be placed on the table.

The game then unfolds over five distinct phases:

1. Pre-Flop: Before the community cards are added to the centre of the table, an initial round of betting takes place. These bets are all placed based on the two hole cards dealt to each player; they don’t know what’s going to turn up in the flop, so a lot is riding on instinct and strategy.

2. Flop: This is when 3 of the 5 community cards are added to the table by the dealer. Players get a lot more insight into where their hand could take them, although they still don’t know the full picture. It’s possible a player could get everything they need during the flop phase – or a lot still may hang in the balance. Another round of betting follows the flop; some players may fold already, while others will attempt to size up their opponents’ hands by the size of their bets – but, then again, they could be bluffing.

3. Turn: When betting has finished, a fourth community card is added by the dealer. Once again, players have the opportunity to bet, raise, fold, or go all-in. 4. River: Again, when betting for the previous phase is over, the final card is added to the flop. Another round of betting takes place.

5. Showdown: Any player left in the game – AKA, those who didn’t fold – will reveal their cards, and the winner will be uncovered. The winner may not be the player who was deal the best hole cards; with the right strategy, the best cards could have been held by those who didn’t make it to the showdown.

There are a lot of possibilities lying in wait at the poker table; every time you sit down, you’re preparing to experience a very dynamic, unpredictable style of game that will leave you questioning everything until the showdown at the very end. Even so, there are a limited number of moves you can make – a fact which helps to keep the experience smooth, pacey, and welcoming to beginners.

• Betting: Committing your chips to the pot, increasing your investment in the hand you're holding.
• Calling: Matching the bet made by another player to remain active in the current hand.
• Checking: Opting not to initiate a bet when no other bets have been placed in that round, passing the action to the next player.
• Folding: Withdrawing from the current hand and forfeiting any chance to win the pot. Don’t be afraid to fold when the time feels right. While it puts you out of the running for a win, it also avoids you losing more than necessary.
• Raising: Increasing the stakes by betting more than the previous highest bet. An exception occurs when you go all-in, pushing all your chips into the pot, even if it's less than needed to officially raise.

Blinds are mandatory bets that start the action and get things going. In Texas Hold’em, there are small blinds and big blinds – determined by where each player is positioned at the table in relation to the dealer button which moves around the table after every hand.

Big Blinds: This is the lowest possible bet – meaning that other players cannot bet lower than the big blind. This effectively means that the big blind, barring another player raising, had made a bet before seeing their hole cards (hence the term blind).

Small Blinds: This is usually around half of the big blind – meaning this player, once they have seen their hole cards, can decide whether to add more to match the big blind (or any raise that has taken place so far), or simply sacrifice the amount they have already ‘bet’ and fold.

The blinds keep gameplay dynamic, ensuring that there’s always money in the pot, and that all players are on the same wavelength in terms of how much (or little) to bet.

• Dealer: The dealer is always detonated by a white chip at online versions of Texas Hold’em. It’s a strong position, since you’re the last to bet in each round after the flop, turn, and river. It’s a real strategic advantage, which is why the position rotates with each hand. It’s not like in blackjack, where the dealer and the player are clearly separated; in Texas Hold’em, you’ll be the dealer at various points.
• Small Blind: As we mentioned above, this is the player directly to the left of the dealer who is responsible for placing the mandatory small blind bet – AKA, the lowest permissible bet – at the start of the hand, before any cards are dealt.
• Big Blind: Again, this player places the big blind at the start of each hand. Under the Gun (UTG): Left of the big blind, their job is to place the initial bet after the pre-flop round. Compared with the dealer position, this is a very unfavourable position to be in, since you’ve got to make a call before knowing what any other player is planning to do.
• Cut Off (CO): This is the last player before the dealer. It’s another strong position, since you make your move after most of the players at the table.

Every player comes to the table with a certain amount of chips. This ‘wealth’ is referred to as a stack. Seasoned players often review a stack in terms of the amount of blinds it covers – so, if the big blind is 100 chips, then a stack of 500 chips is 5 big blinds.

A lot of your strategy should be based on your stack size – ie., whether it’s big, medium, or small. A big stack is typically a stack that covers 100 or more big blinds, while a small stack is under 50 (in most games). Medium is, as you might imagine, anywhere between 50 and 100.

Small Stack You’ve got to push when you can. If you’ve got a promising hand, then the best approach is usually to go on the aggressive, raising the bet or, when the outlook is good, going all-in. A lot of new players want to be conservative when they’ve got a small stack, but think of it this way: you’ve got a lot less to lose, but much to gain, by taking risks.

How to be aggressive: call and raise bets, bluff your way through on shaky hands, and pile on the pressure.

Medium Stack You don’t want to be quite as cavalier as you were with a small stack, but there’s still some scope for risk. Play the strongest hands, but waste chips on chasing small wins or bluffing your way to the showdown. Remember that the stakes are higher with a medium stack – but that, at the same time, your opponents may be keeping one eye on your stack size, and start to catch onto your strategy.

How to tighten your playing style: pursue promising hands with strong chances of success, but avoid the risks.

Big Stack You’ve got a lot more to lose with a big stack, but you’ve also got more scope for taking risks, since small losses here and there won’t deplete your stack. It’s a lot easier to pile the pressure on your opponents, but remember how much further you’ve got to fall…

How to adopt a loose playing style: Be open, take the good with the bad, be willing to bluff your way but also stand your ground when you know you’ve got a good hand.

• It’s harder to avoid falling victim to opponents’ bluffing techniques when you’re not playing in the room with them, since body language doesn’t really translate into a virtual space. Online, you need to pay attention to your opponents' performances over time – when they bet, when they fold, when they hesitate. You can tell a lot without looking at anyone’s face.
• Know what a bad starting hand looks like – and, of course, a good starting hand, too. You can’t turn every deal into a winner, and it pays to recognise when that’s going to be the case.
• Review games. Don’t just play, win/lose, and move on. Playing poker is like any other skill – it takes experience, but also reflection to get really good.
• Don’t be too aggressive to start off with. Beginners are often aggressively pursuing every potentially good hand – and, of course, small stacks make that more feasible. But this is the beginner’s downfall. Learn how to be circumspect, and it’ll serve you in the long run.
• Only trying one playing style. As we mentioned above, it’s important not to fall victim to the beginner’s curse by playing aggressively constantly – instead, try both loose and tight playing styles too. Choose your strategy based off your ability to calculate probabilities.

Our on-site or on-app experience has been purpose-built to cultivate dynamic gameplay, immersive experiences, and strong, positive learning curves for new players – or existing fans. We take a strong stance against toxic or pro gameplay, ensuring the tables are always ready to seat engaged, positive players who want to enjoy one of life’s greats: Texas Hold’em, or any other variant of poker you feel like playing.

Get signed up – which is simple, since our sign-up process is free from KYC forms and checks – pick your preferred cryptocurrency option, and make your way into one of our virtual rooms to get started.

Whether you need a basic ‘How To’ for poker, or to roll up your sleeves with some practical experience, FullHouseCrypto is designed by poker fans, for poker fans.