Texas Hold’em Rules: How to Play Step by Step

These Texas holdem rules explain the most popular form of poker in plain steps: how the blinds work, what happens on the flop, turn and river, what you can do on your turn, and how the showdown decides who takes the pot. Hold'em is quick to learn because every player shares five community cards, so you only have two private cards to think about. Play it at home with chips, points or matchsticks as a game of skill, reading people and keeping your nerve. If you are brand new to poker in general, our poker rules guide covers the basics that every version shares.

Quick rules

• Each player gets 2 private cards called hole cards.
• Five community cards are dealt face up in the middle in three stages: the flop (3 cards), the turn (1 card) and the river (1 card).
• Two forced bets, the small blind and the big blind, start the pot before any cards are dealt.
• There are four betting rounds: preflop, after the flop, after the turn and after the river.
• On your turn you can check, bet, call, raise or fold.
• Your hand is the best five cards from your 2 hole cards plus the 5 community cards, in any combination.
• The pot goes to the last player left, or to the best hand at the showdown.

What you need

• A standard 52-card deck with the jokers removed.
• Chips or counters. Give each player the same starting stack, for example 100 times the big blind.
• A dealer button, or any coin or marker, to show whose deal it is.
• 2 to 10 players. Six to nine makes the best game.

Setup

1. Hand out equal stacks of chips and agree what each color is worth.
2. Agree the blinds, for example a small blind of 1 and a big blind of 2. In a tournament style game, double the blinds every 20 to 30 minutes so someone eventually wins every chip.
3. Deal one card face up to each player. The highest card takes the dealer button.
4. The player to the left of the button posts the small blind, and the next player posts the big blind.
5. The dealer shuffles and deals two cards face down to each player, one at a time, starting on the dealer's left.

How to play

Your options on a turn

• Check: pass without betting, only when nobody has bet in the current round.
• Bet: put chips in when nobody else has bet yet this round.
• Call: match the current bet.
• Raise: match the bet and add more. In no-limit hold'em a raise must be at least as big as the last bet or raise in that round, and you may raise up to all your chips.
• Fold: throw your cards away and give up any chips you have put in.

A betting round ends when everyone still in the hand has put in the same amount, or has gone all in.

Step by step through a hand

1. Preflop. After the hole cards are dealt, the player to the left of the big blind acts first. Action moves clockwise. The big blind acts last and may check if nobody has raised.
2. The flop. The dealer burns (discards face down) the top card, then turns three community cards face up. A second betting round follows, starting with the first player still in the hand to the left of the button.
3. The turn. The dealer burns one card and turns a fourth community card. Another betting round follows in the same order.
4. The river. The dealer burns one card and turns the fifth and final community card. The last betting round follows.
5. The showdown. If two or more players remain, they show their hole cards. The last player to bet or raise on the river shows first; if everyone checked, the first player to the left of the button shows first. The best five-card hand wins the pot.
6. Next hand. The button moves one seat to the left, and the blinds move with it.

Two-player games

When only two players are left (heads-up), the player on the button posts the small blind and acts first before the flop, then acts last on the flop, turn and river.

All in and side pots

A player who runs out of chips can still win, but only the part of the pot they matched. Any extra chips bet by the others go into a side pot that only those players can win.

Texas hold'em hand rankings

Use this cheat sheet at the table. Suits are all equal in hold'em. For more detail and odds, see our full poker hand rankings chart.

An ace can be high (A K Q J 10) or low (5 4 3 2 A) in a straight, but a straight cannot wrap around (K A 2 3 4 is not a straight). Ties are broken by the highest unpaired cards, called kickers. If the best five cards are identical, the pot is split. If the board itself is the best hand, every remaining player "plays the board" and splits the pot.

How to win

You win a hand by taking the pot, either at the showdown or because everyone else folded. You win the game by collecting all the chips, or by having the most chips when the agreed finishing time arrives.

Variations

• Limit hold'em: bets and raises are fixed. Preflop and flop bets equal the big blind, turn and river bets are double, and most games cap each round at one bet and three raises.
• Pot limit: the biggest raise allowed is the size of the pot after you call.
• Antes: many tournament structures add a small ante from every player once the blinds rise.
• Omaha: each player gets four hole cards and must use exactly two of them with exactly three community cards.

Tips and strategy

• Play fewer, stronger hands. Big pairs, ace-king and ace-queen are strong. Weak unsuited cards like 9 3 should usually be folded.
• Use your position. Acting last lets you see what everyone does first. Play more hands on or near the button and fewer from the blinds.
• Raise rather than call with good hands before the flop. It shrinks the field and builds the pot.
• Count your outs. If you need one card to finish a hand, count the cards left that help you. Roughly, outs times 2 gives your percentage chance on the next card.
• Watch the board. Three cards of one suit means a flush is possible; connected cards mean a straight is possible.
• Bluff rarely and with a story. A bluff works best against one opponent when your betting matches a hand you could believably hold.

Common mistakes

• Acting out of turn. Wait until the action reaches you, as it gives away information.
• Forgetting to burn a card before the flop, turn and river.
• Thinking you must use both hole cards. You can use two, one or none of them.
• Making a string raise: putting in a call, then reaching back for more. Say "raise" first, or put all the chips in at once.
• Mucking a winning hand at the showdown. Always turn your cards face up and let the table read them.

Keep track of chip counts with the scorekeeper below, or split a big group into tables with the team generator.

Looking for something lighter? Try blackjack with counters, or browse our list of card games for adults.