Poker Blinds
Before cards are even dealt in a game of holdem, it is important to have some initial money in the pot. Otherwise every player could just wait for aces in the pocket before making any investment. It would also make pot limit games a little difficult to get going. The two ways to start this are antes and blinds and we'll go into each in detail.

Antes
Antes are a set amount put in the pot by every player in the game prior to cards being dealt. This amount does not count toward your bet on the first round of betting, unlike blinds. This simple method is used primarily in home games. This method also is not very common with texas holdem specifically, it's more often found in games like five-card stud or draw. Antes are also used in conjunction with blinds in the later stages of a tournament.

Blinds
Based on the limit of the game, the player to the left of the dealer's button (the small blind) and the player two to the left of the button (the big blind) are required to put up mandatory bets before the cards are dealt. The big blind puts up a bet equal to the small limit. The small blind puts up half that amount. So if the limit is $5/$10, the big blind is $5 and the small blind is $2.50.
These blinds do count toward your total investment toward the first round of betting. So if the pot isn't raised pre-flop, the small blind will only have to put in another half a bet to call. Likewise, the big blind won't have to put anything more in the pot, although the big will have the ability to raise his own blind. In an unraised pre-flop pot, this is referred to as the “option”.

Blinds and Antes in Tournaments
The way holdem tournaments are structured, the blind and/or antes go up after a set period of time, called the “escalation”. Each group of time where the blind/antes stay the same is called a “level”. Usually when players go up a level, the blinds double or less. If antes are introduced, they usually do not double every level.
Sometimes to start a tournament, the big and small blind are the same amount and at the next level the big doubles.

For example, on the first days of the World Series of Poker (2004), blinds escalated every two hours and looked like this...

Tie Hands

What Happens when you both have the same hand? Well, in most cases there is a way to determine who wins after that. With tied hands, the higher the rank, the better. If you still have the same five card hand after evaluating the ranks, the pot is split evenly among all the winning players. The following are examples of split pots in Texas Hold'em.
      Player One                                                 Player Two
                                       
These players split the pot with a board of:


      Player One                                                 Player Two
                                       
These players split the pot with a board of:


      Player One                                                 Player Two
                                       
The above example splits the pot no matter what the board, unless the board has 4 or 5 cards of the same suit.

      Player One                                                 Player Two
                                       
These players split the pot with a board of:


      Player One                                                 Player Two
                                       
These players split the pot with a board of:



Kickers
Kickers are the leftover cards after a hand is declared. They determine who wins if players have the same hand. Since not all hands have "leftovers", kickers only apply to four-of-a-kind, three-of-a-kind, two pair, one pair, and high card situations.

In texas hold 'em you always use the best combination of five cards. Since a certain amount of cards are "used up" when you declare a hand, there can only be a certain number of kickers. Here's the short list…

Four-of-a-Kind has one kicker. In this example, the 5 of clubs is the kicker.


Three-of-a-Kind has two kickers. In the example below, the 9 of spades and the Jack of hearts are kickers.


Two Pair has one kicker. Below, the Ace of diamonds is that kicker.


One Pair has three kickers. In the example below, the 2 of hearts, 9 of clubs and the King of hearts are kickers.



Here are some examples to further explain kickers.
      Player One                                                 Player Two
                                       
With a board of:

In the above example, Trip Aces, King kicker beats trip Aces, Queen kicker. (Player One wins)



      Player One                                                 Player Two
                                       
With a board of:

In the above example, Two Pair, Jacks and Fives, King kicker beats Two Pair, Jacks and Fives, Queen Kicker. (Player One Wins)



Same goes for high card hands...
      Player One                                                 Player Two
                                       
With a board of:

In the above example, Ace High (Hand of AKQT5) beats Ace High (Hand of AKQT4). (Player One wins)



      Player One                                                 Player Two
                                       
With a board of:

In the above example, both players split the pot (both with hands of AKQT6).