Texas Hold'em Rules: How to Play

What Texas Hold'em is

Texas Hold'em is the best-known form of poker. It is a no-limit game: on your turn you may bet any amount up to all of your chips. Each hand is a new deal, and a match is a series of hands.

The game mixes two things. You hold information that others cannot see, and you decide how much to put in. That is why the same cards can be played in different ways. No strategy removes luck.

Players and equipment

A table seats 2-9 players. The game uses one standard 52-card deck, with no jokers. Suits do not rank above one another.

Everyone starts with 1,000 table chips. These are free play chips. The two forced bets, the blinds, are fixed at 10 and 20 and never rise, so 1,000 chips is 50 big blinds and a match can run long.

You have 30 seconds for each move. If time runs out, you check when there is no bet to call, and fold otherwise. A dealer button marks the last seat to act and moves one seat clockwise after every hand.

Goal

In each hand you want to win the pot. You can do it in two ways: hold the best hand at the showdown, or be the last player left after everyone else has folded. In the second case you do not have to show your cards.

Your hand is the best five cards you can make from your two hole cards and the five community cards. You may use both hole cards, one, or none. The match continues until one player has all the chips.

How a hand is played

1. 1Post the blindsThe player to the left of the button posts the small blind of 10. The next player posts the big blind of 20. Heads-up (two players), the button posts the small blind.
2. 2Deal the hole cardsEvery player gets two cards face down. Only you see them.
3. 3Preflop bettingThe player after the big blind acts first, then play goes clockwise. You can fold, call the current bet, raise, or go all-in. The round ends when everyone still in the hand has put in the same amount.
4. 4The flopThree community cards are dealt face up. A new betting round starts with the first active player to the left of the button. You may also check if nobody has bet.
5. 5The turnA fourth community card is dealt face up, followed by another betting round.
6. 6The riverThe fifth and last community card is dealt, followed by the final betting round.
7. 7ShowdownPlayers who are still in the hand show their cards. The best five-card hand takes the pot. If two hands are exactly equal, the pot is split equally. The order of hands is in poker hand rankings.
8. 8Move the buttonThe button moves one seat clockwise and the next hand begins.

A raise must be at least the size of the previous raise and at least the big blind, which is 20. If a player goes all-in for less than a full raise, players who have already acted cannot raise again.

When a player is all-in for less than the others, they can only win the part of the pot they have matched. The extra bets form a side pot for the players who put in more. Each pot goes to the best hand among the players who contributed to it.

A worked example

Notice that the result was not certain on the flop: you had only a draw. A flush draw on the flop completes by the river in about 35 hands out of 100, so most of the time it does not. Read more about calling with a draw in pot odds.

Beginner strategy tips

1. Fold most weak starting hands. Two low, unconnected cards rarely become a strong hand, and every call costs chips.
2. Raise instead of only calling with strong hands. A raise builds the pot when you are ahead and can make weaker hands fold.
3. Pay attention to [position](glossary#position). The later you act, the more you know about what others did. See poker position.
4. Do not chase every draw. A draw is a hand that needs one more card. Compare the price of the call with the size of the pot, as in pot odds.
5. Watch the bets, not only your cards. A large bet on a safe board tells you something about your opponent.
6. Bluff rarely and with a reason. A bluff works when the story of your bets makes sense. Random bluffs only lose chips.
7. Keep calm over a long match. The blinds never rise, so one bad hand does not end the match. This advice does not decide every hand.

Common mistakes

• Playing too many hands because they look attractive, such as two low cards of the same suit.
• Forgetting the kicker: with the same pair, the higher side card wins the hand.
• Betting a very small amount, which gives opponents a cheap price to draw.
• Calling a big all-in with only a draw and no hand.
• Playing the same way from every seat.
• Letting the 30-second timer run out. A fold or a check is made for you.