rules
Texas Hold'em, all of it.
Every player gets two private cards. Five shared cards come out in three stages, with a round of betting before and after each one. You make the best five card hand from any combination of the seven, and the best hand still in at the end takes the pot. That is the whole game. Everything below is the detail.
the four betting rounds
Preflop
two private cards per playerEveryone gets two cards that nobody else sees. The player left of the button posts the small blind, the player next to him the big blind. Those two bets make sure there is always something to win.
Starts left of the big blind. You fold, call the big blind, or raise.
Flop
three face up cards in the middleThree community cards come out at once. Everyone can use them. This is the round in which most hands are decided.
Starts left of the button. You can also check now.
Turn
a fourth face up cardOne more community card. Anyone who was waiting on a card has one chance left, and that makes the price of calling different from the flop.
Starts left of the button. The bets are usually bigger.
River
the fifth and last face up cardThe last card. Nothing more is coming, so everyone now knows exactly what he has. Just not what the other player has.
Starts left of the button. The showdown follows.
A hand that reaches the end looks like this: in your hand, on the table. You have a pair of kings with an ace kicker, and whether that is good depends entirely on what the other player did on the way there.
your five options
| Action | When | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Check | There is no bet in front of you | You stay in the hand and put nothing in. |
| Bet | There is no bet in front of you | You are the first to put money in this round. |
| Call | There is a bet in front of you | You put in the same amount and stay in the hand. |
| Raise | There is a bet in front of you | You increase it. The others have to decide again. |
| Fold | Always | You throw your cards away and lose what you already put in. |
where you sit changes everything
Position is the part beginners underestimate and winning players never do. Acting last means you have seen every other decision before you make yours, and that information is worth more than most starting hands.
Button (BTN)
The button. After the flop you always act last, and that is the best seat at the table.
Small blind (SB)
Left of the button. You are forced to post half the big blind, and you act first after the flop.
Big blind (BB)
Left of the small blind. You post the full blind and you act last preflop.
Under the gun (UTG)
Left of the big blind. First to act preflop, with most of the players still behind you.
Cutoff (CO)
Right of the button. Almost the best position, and the seat most players do too little with.
the showdown
Who wins, and why.
If two or more players are still in after the river, the cards go face up and the best five card hand wins. Which hand that is comes from a fixed order that never changes: the full ranking from royal flush down to high card, with a straight beating three of a kind and a flush beating both. The last player to bet or raise shows first; if nobody bet on the river, the player closest to the left of the button shows first.
Two hands of the same type are separated by the highest card, then the next, up to five cards. That last card is the kicker, and losing a pot to a kicker is one of the most common ways to be certain you had the best hand and be wrong.
You do not have to reach a showdown to win. If everyone else folds, the pot is yours and you never show your cards. Most pots end that way, which is why the betting matters more than the cards.
next
Reading the rules is not the same as knowing what to do.
Play the rules instead of reading them. Forty hands against a bot, in the browser, no account and no download, and at the end you get a hand history you can actually analyse.
rule questions
How do you play Texas Hold'em?
Each player gets two private cards. Five community cards come out in three stages: three on the flop, one on the turn, one on the river. There is a round of betting before the flop and after each stage. You make the best five card hand from any combination of your two cards and the five on the table. The best hand at showdown wins the pot, or you win it earlier if everyone else folds.
Do I have to use both of my cards?
No. You use any five of the seven available cards. You can use both of yours, one, or neither. If the five community cards make the best hand on their own, everyone still in shares the pot.
What are the blinds?
Two forced bets posted before the cards are dealt, by the two players left of the button. The small blind is usually half the big blind. They move one seat clockwise every hand, so everyone pays them equally often. Without blinds nobody would ever have to play a hand.
Who acts first?
Before the flop, the player left of the big blind. After the flop, the first player left of the button who is still in the hand. Acting last is an advantage, because you have seen what everyone else did.
How much can I bet?
In no limit Texas Hold'em, anything from the minimum raise up to every chip in front of you. A raise must be at least as big as the previous bet or raise. You can never bet more than you have on the table, and you can never be forced to add more mid-hand.
What happens if two players have the same hand?
The pot is split. Suits never break a tie in standard poker. If the hands are identical for all five cards, the money is divided equally.
Back to all poker rules.