Poker rules: how to play Texas hold'em

In Texas hold'em every player gets two cards face down, and five face-up cards come into the middle one after another for everyone to use. Whoever makes the best five out of their seven cards at the end wins the pot, which is all the chips bet in this hand. You also win if everyone else folds before that.

A hand has four betting rounds: before the flop (preflop), after the flop, after the turn and after the river. In every round you can check, bet, call, raise or fold. Which hand beats which is on our page about the poker hand rankings.

Poker rules as a PDF

Two A4 pages to print: how a hand goes, the betting rounds, who wins, the ten poker hands with examples, blinds and house rules for a poker night at home.

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How a hand goes

1. SBBB

   1 Blinds

   The two players left of the dealer post the small blind and the big blind before any cards are dealt.

2. 2 Preflop

   Everyone gets two cards face down. First betting round, it starts left of the big blind.

3. 3 Flop

   Three cards face up in the middle. Second betting round, now it starts left of the dealer.

4. 4 Turn

   The fourth face-up card. Third betting round.

5. 5 River

   The fifth and last face-up card. Fourth betting round.

6. vs.

   6 Showdown

   Everyone still in shows their cards. The best five of seven cards win the pot.

Before the flop, the turn and the river, a casino dealer puts one card aside face down, the burn card. That way nobody can spot the next card from its back. At the kitchen table, it's best to do the same.

Dealer button and blinds

The dealer button is a disc that shows who is the dealer in this hand. It moves one seat to the left after every hand. At the kitchen table, the player with the button usually deals the cards too.

The blinds are forced bets, so there is something in the pot in every hand:

• The player directly left of the button posts the small blind, usually half the big blind.
• The next player to the left posts the big blind. With blinds of 10 and 20, that is 20 chips.

With two players (heads-up) there is an exception: the player with the button posts the small blind, the other one the big blind. Before the flop the button acts first, from the flop on last.

In tournaments the blinds go up on a schedule, so the game comes to an end. A ready-made table for a home game is on our poker night page, and how to split the chips for it is under poker chip values. Some groups also play with an ante, a small bet every player puts in before the hand.

The four betting rounds

When it's your turn, you have these options:

• Check: bet nothing. Only possible if nobody has bet yet in this round.
• Bet: be the first in the round to put chips in.
• Call: put in as much as the last player bet.
• Raise: put in more than the last player.
• Fold: give up your cards. You lose what you have already bet in this hand and don't have to pay anything more.

A betting round ends when everyone still in the hand has had a turn and all have put in the same amount or are all-in.

Preflop, the player left of the big blind starts. The big blind acts last. If nobody raised, they may check or raise themselves. From the flop on, the first player left of the button who is still in starts.

How much you have to raise: a raise must be at least as big as the largest bet or raise before it in this round. With blinds of 10 and 20, someone raises to 60, so by 40. Whoever wants to raise after that has to go to at least 100.

No-limit means there is no upper limit, you can bet all your chips at any time. In limit games the bets are fixed, and in pot-limit you can bet at most what is in the pot.

Showdown: who wins?

If two or more players are still in after the river, it comes to the showdown: the cards are turned over. Everyone makes the best hand of five from their two cards and the five cards in the middle. You can use both of your own cards, just one or none.

Whoever bet or raised last in the final betting round shows first. If nobody bet on the river, the first player left of the button shows first. The rule is: cards speak. What someone announces doesn't count, only what lies face up on the table.

Which hand wins follows the order of the poker hand rankings, from royal flush down to high card.

The kicker

If two players have the same hand, the kicker decides: the highest card that isn't part of the hand itself.

Example: on the board are king, eight, five, three, two. You have ace-king, your opponent king-queen. You both have a pair of kings. Your other cards are ace, eight, five, theirs queen, eight, five. Your ace is the higher kicker, you win.

The kicker only counts if it is among your best five cards. If the board shows ace, king, eight, eight, three, and you hold queen-two while your opponent holds jack-four, you win with the queen: ace, king, eight, eight, queen beats ace, king, eight, eight, jack. Your two and their four play no part. More cases are in the special cases of the hand rankings.

Split pot

If two or more players have five cards of exactly the same strength at the showdown, the pot is divided. That is a split pot. Suits have no rank in Texas hold'em, so a flush in hearts is no better than one in spades.

If the pot doesn't divide evenly, change the chips into the smallest value. If one chip is left over, the TDA tournament rules give it to the first winner left of the button.

All-in and side pots

All-in means you bet all your chips. After that you can't bet anything more in this hand, but you stay in until the showdown. Nobody can push you out of the hand just because you have no chips left.

You can win at most as much from each opponent as you put in yourself. Whatever others bet beyond that goes into a side pot that only they play for.

Example with three players, all going all-in:

Player	Chips	Main pot	Side pot
Amy	100	100
Ben	300	100	200
Chris	300	100	200
Total		300	400

All three play for the main pot of 300. Only Ben and Chris play for the side pot of 400. If Amy has the best hand, she wins the 300. The side pot then goes to the better of Ben and Chris. Each pot is judged on its own and split on its own.

As soon as a player is all-in and nobody else can bet, the tournament rules say all cards are turned face up before the remaining cards come into the middle.

Five beginner mistakes

1. Acting out of turn. Folding, calling or raising before it's your turn throws the round off. Under the TDA rules the action goes back to the right player. A fold out of turn still counts.
2. Adding chips in steps. Putting one stack in the middle and then reaching back for more to raise isn't allowed. Say the amount, or push everything in with one move. If you say "call", you have called and can't raise anymore.
3. The straight around the corner. The ace is high or low, but not both. Ace, two, three, four, five is a straight, queen, king, ace, two, three is not.
4. Counting the kicker wrong. Only the best five cards ever count. If your kicker isn't among them, it doesn't help you. If the best hand lies completely on the board, everyone splits the pot.
5. Throwing away the winning hand. Put your cards face up at the showdown instead of just saying what you have. Only face-up cards count. If you throw your cards away face down, you have folded, even if you had the better hand.

Omaha in short

Omaha works almost like Texas hold'em: blinds, four betting rounds, five face-up cards in the middle. Two things are different:

• Everyone gets four cards face down instead of two.
• You have to use exactly two of your own cards and exactly three from the middle. No more, no fewer.

An example: if you hold four hearts and only one heart is on the board, you don't have a flush. For that you need three hearts in the middle. Omaha is usually played pot-limit (PLO), so you can bet at most what is in the pot. The order of the hands is the same as in hold'em.

Back to the home page or on to the hand rankings.