How to play Texas Hold’em

Your goal is to win the pot: the chips players wager during a hand. You can win by making everyone else fold or by showing the strongest hand among the players who remain.

Each player receives two private cards. Five community cards can appear in the center of the table. Your final hand is the best five-card combination available from those seven cards. You can use both private cards, one, or neither.

The four betting rounds

1. Preflop: Players receive their two private cards.
2. Flop: Three community cards are revealed.
3. Turn: A fourth community card is revealed.
4. River: The fifth community card is revealed.

A hand can end before the river if everyone except one player folds.

The dealer button and blinds

The dealer button marks a position that moves around the table. With three or more players, the small blind and big blind are normally the next two active positions clockwise from the button.

PracticePoker uses blinds of 100 and 200. These forced contributions create a pot before anyone chooses to bet, giving players something to compete for.

Before the flop, action begins with the first active player to the left of the big blind. After the flop, action begins with the first active player clockwise from the button.

Heads-up play has a special rule. The dealer posts the small blind and acts first before the flop. The big blind acts first after the flop.

Understanding your actions

• Check: Pass the action without betting. You can check when you owe no additional chips. For example, the big blind can check before the flop if nobody has raised.
• Bet: Put chips in when nobody has bet during the current round.
• Call: Match the current wager, or commit your remaining chips if you cannot cover it.
• Raise: Increase the current wager.
• Fold: Give up your hand and any chips you have already contributed.
• All-in: Commit all your remaining chips.

For a normal raise, the increase must be at least as large as the previous full bet or raise. A smaller all-in increase can be legal, but it does not always give players who already acted another opportunity to raise.

Hand rankings, strongest to weakest

1. Straight flush: Five consecutive cards of the same suit. A royal flush—10, J, Q, K, A of one suit—is the highest straight flush and is exceptionally rare.
2. Four of a kind: Four cards of the same rank.
3. Full house: Three of one rank and two of another.
4. Flush: Five cards of the same suit.
5. Straight: Five consecutive ranks. For example, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
6. Three of a kind: Three cards of the same rank.
7. Two pair: Two cards of one rank and two of another.
8. One pair: Two cards of the same rank.
9. High card: When you have none of the combinations above, your highest cards determine your hand’s strength.

Suits do not break ties. When players have identical best five-card hands, they split the relevant pot. An ace can be high or low in a straight: A–2–3–4–5 is valid, but Q–K–A–2–3 is not.

All-ins and side pots

You can match only as many chips from each opponent as you contribute yourself. Any additional wagers between other players go into a separate side pot.

Suppose three players contribute 1,000, 3,000, and 3,000 chips respectively, and none folds. The main pot contains 3,000 chips: 1,000 from each player. All three can win it. The remaining 4,000 forms a side pot that only the two larger contributors can win.

Chips that nobody matches are returned to the player who contributed them.

Your first practice session

Start at Beginner Table with one or two opponents. Focus on following the action, recognizing your hand, and understanding the price of a call. After each hand, read one review takeaway and choose one adjustment to try.

For examples of these decisions, read Three decisions worth practicing.