Texas Hold'em Poker: How the Game Works
The object of the game
Texas Hold'em is the most played form of poker: the game of televised tournaments, casino poker rooms and online tables. Players compete for the chips in the middle, the pot. You win a pot in one of two ways: hold the best five-card hand when the cards are turned over at the end, or bet so that everyone else folds before that happens.
You never see your opponents' cards until the end, if at all, so every decision is made with incomplete information. The skill in the game is making good decisions anyway: reading what the betting tells you, knowing the odds, and managing how much you risk.
Your cards and the board
Each player receives two private cards, the hole cards. Over the hand, five community cards are dealt face up in the middle, shared by everyone. Your final hand is the best five cards out of the seven available: both hole cards, one of them, or neither (then you "play the board").
How a hand plays out
- Preflop. Everyone gets two cards. The first betting round: decide whether your starting hand is worth playing.
- The flop. Three community cards. Second betting round. Now you know most of what your hand will be.
- The turn. A fourth community card. Third betting round; bets are usually bigger here.
- The river. The fifth and last community card. Final betting round. If two or more players remain, there is a showdown and the best hand takes the pot.
At any point, if everyone folds to a bet, the last player left wins the pot without showing a card.
Blinds and position
Before the deal, the two players to the left of the dealer button post forced bets, the small blind and the big blind. They put something in the pot so there is always something to fight for; without them, everyone could fold for free until they held aces.
The dealer button moves one seat to the left every hand and marks who acts last after the flop. Acting last is a large advantage: you see what everyone else does before you commit chips. The same two cards can be a fold in an early seat and a raise on the button, and "position" is the first thing experienced players think about.
What you can do on your turn
- Check: pass the action without betting, allowed only when nobody has bet yet in this round.
- Bet: put chips in when nobody has yet.
- Call: match the current bet to stay in.
- Raise: increase the bet; the others must match it or fold.
- Fold: give up the hand and any chips you already put in.
Hand rankings, strongest first
| Rank | Hand | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal flush | A-K-Q-J-10 of one suit |
| 2 | Straight flush | Five cards in sequence, one suit |
| 3 | Four of a kind | Four cards of the same rank |
| 4 | Full house | Three of a kind plus a pair |
| 5 | Flush | Five cards of one suit |
| 6 | Straight | Five cards in sequence, mixed suits |
| 7 | Three of a kind | Three cards of the same rank |
| 8 | Two pair | Two different pairs |
| 9 | One pair | Two cards of the same rank |
| 10 | High card | Nothing above; the highest card plays |
When two players hold the same kind of hand, the higher rank inside it wins first (a pair of kings beats a pair of nines), and then the remaining cards, the kickers, break the tie. Suits never decide a pot.
A hand, start to finish
Blinds 1 and 2. You are on the button with A♠ J♠ and raise to 6. Only the big blind calls; the pot is 13. The flop comes J♦ 8♣ 3♠: you have top pair. The big blind checks, you bet 8, they call; pot 29. The turn is the 2♥, check, you bet 18, they call; pot 65. The river is the 9♣, check, and you check behind with one pair. They show J♥ T♥: top pair too, but your ace kicker wins the 65.
Cash games and tournaments
Cash games: chips have a fixed value, blinds stay the same, you can sit down or leave whenever you like, and each hand stands on its own.
Tournaments: everyone pays the same entry for the same starting stack, blinds rise on a schedule, and you are out when your chips are gone. Prizes go to the last players standing. Survival and adjusting to shrinking stacks matter as much as winning pots.
In this app the chips are play money. Everything above works the same way; only the risk is different.
Words you will hear
- Hole cards: your two private cards.
- The board: the five community cards.
- All-in: betting every chip you have.
- The nuts: the best possible hand on this board.
- Draw: a hand that needs another card to be made, such as four cards to a flush.
- Muck: to fold or discard without showing.
- Showdown: the reveal at the end that decides the pot.
The rules fit on one page. The first thing to learn after them is which two cards to play from which seat, and that is where the Journey begins.