Poker Rules: How to Play Poker Step by Step

These poker rules cover everything a beginner needs to host a friendly home game: how a hand is dealt, how the betting rounds work with chips, which hands beat which, and how the showdown decides the pot. Poker is a family of games, but nearly all of them share the same core, so once you learn it you can sit down to any version. We use Texas hold'em, the most widely played form, as the main example, and cover five card draw and other versions under Variations. Play for chips, points or matchsticks, and treat it as a game of skill and nerve, not money.

Quick rules

• Each player tries to win the pot (the pile of chips) by holding the best five-card hand at the showdown, or by making everyone else fold.
• Before cards are dealt, forced bets (blinds or antes) start the pot.
• In Texas hold'em each player gets 2 private cards and shares 5 community cards dealt face up in the middle.
• There are four betting rounds: before the flop, after the flop (3 cards), after the turn (4th card) and after the river (5th card).
• On your turn you can check, bet, call, raise or fold.
• If two or more players remain after the last round, hands are shown and the best five-card hand wins.
• Hand ranking from high to low: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card.

What you need

• A standard 52-card deck with no jokers.
• Poker chips for each player, or counters such as buttons, beans or matchsticks. A common home stack is 100 to 200 points per player in a few colors.
• A dealer button or any small marker to show who deals.
• 2 to 10 players. Six to eight is the sweet spot for hold'em.

Setup

1. Give every player the same number of chips. Agree what each color is worth, for example white 1, red 5, blue 10.
2. Agree the blinds. A simple home structure is a small blind of 1 and a big blind of 2. Many groups raise the blinds every 20 to 30 minutes so the game reaches an end.
3. Draw cards for the first dealer: highest card deals. The dealer button moves one seat to the left after every hand.
4. The player to the dealer's left posts the small blind and the next player posts the big blind before any cards are dealt.

How to play

Your options when it is your turn

• Check: pass the action without betting. Only allowed if nobody has bet in this round.
• Bet: put chips in when nobody has bet yet this round.
• Call: match the current bet.
• Raise: match the current bet and add more. In a typical home game a raise must be at least the size of the previous bet or raise.
• Fold: give up your cards and any chips you have already put in.

A betting round ends when every player still in the hand has put in the same amount, or has folded. Action always moves clockwise.

Phase 1: the deal and pre-flop

1. The dealer shuffles and deals two cards face down to each player, one at a time, starting with the small blind.
2. The player to the left of the big blind acts first. They may call the big blind, raise or fold.
3. Action goes around the table. The big blind acts last and may check if nobody raised.

Phase 2: the flop

1. The dealer burns (discards face down) the top card, then deals three community cards face up. This is the flop.
2. A new betting round starts with the first active player to the dealer's left. From now on, players may check if nobody has bet.

Phase 3: the turn and the river

1. The dealer burns a card and deals a fourth community card, the turn. Another betting round follows.
2. The dealer burns a card and deals the fifth and final community card, the river. A last betting round follows.

Phase 4: the showdown

1. If more than one player remains, the last player who bet or raised shows first. If everyone checked, the first player to the dealer's left shows first.
2. Each player makes the best five-card hand from any combination of their two hole cards and the five community cards. You may even use all five board cards.
3. The best hand wins the pot. Identical hands split it.

If everyone folds to one player at any point, that player wins the pot without showing cards.

Scoring: poker hand rankings

Suits are equal in standard poker, and an ace can be high (A-K-Q-J-10) or low (5-4-3-2-A) in a straight. For a printable chart and tie-break details, see our poker hand rankings page.

When two players have the same type of hand, the higher cards win (a pair of kings beats a pair of nines). If the main cards tie, the highest unused card, called the kicker, decides it.

How to win

You win a single hand by having the best hand at the showdown or by betting so that everyone else folds. You win the game, in a tournament-style home game, by collecting all the chips, or by having the most chips when the agreed finish time arrives. Keep track across nights with our scoreboard if you play a regular league.

Variations

• Five card draw: each player gets five private cards. After a betting round, players may discard and draw replacements (commonly up to three, or four if keeping an ace). A second betting round and showdown follow. Antes are often used instead of blinds.
• Seven card stud: no community cards. Players receive seven cards, some face up and some face down, with betting after the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh cards, and make the best five-card hand.
• Omaha: like hold'em, but each player gets four hole cards and must use exactly two of them with exactly three community cards.
• Three card poker: a quick version with three cards each. In three-card hands a straight beats a flush, because a flush is easier to make with three cards.
• Limit vs no limit: in limit games bets and raises are fixed sizes; in no limit you may bet all your chips at any time. Pot limit caps a bet at the size of the pot. Sources differ on the minimum raise in casual play, so agree it first.

For a deeper look at the community card game, read our full Texas hold'em rules. If you like the Indian three-card cousin of poker, try teen patti.

Tips and strategy

• Play fewer hands. Beginners lose most chips by calling with weak starting cards. Strong starting hands include big pairs (A-A, K-K, Q-Q) and high cards like A-K.
• Position matters. Acting last lets you see what others do first. Play more hands near the dealer button and fewer in early seats.
• Know your outs. Count the cards that would improve your hand. Nine outs to a flush after the flop gives you roughly a one in three chance by the river.
• Bet with purpose. Every bet should either get calls from worse hands or make better hands fold.
• Watch patterns, not faces. How often someone raises tells you more than nervous fidgeting.

Common mistakes

• Thinking a flush beats a full house. It does not: the full house is higher.
• Forgetting that in hold'em the best five cards can come entirely from the board, which often means a split pot.
• Acting out of turn. Wait for the player to your right to finish.
• Making a "string raise": calling, then reaching back for more chips. Announce "raise" first, or put all the chips in at once.
• Not agreeing on blinds, raise rules and finish time before the first deal.

Looking for more grown-up game night ideas? Browse our card games for adults.