Texas Hold'em

1 Objective

Win chips by either making the best five-card hand at showdown, or by getting all other players to fold before showdown. You use any combination of your two private hole cards and five shared community cards.

2 Setup, Deal & Blinds

One player holds the dealer button (marked "D"). It moves clockwise after each hand. The two players immediately to the left of the button post mandatory bets called blinds before any cards are dealt:

• Small blind — first player left of button, posts half the minimum bet
• Big blind — second player left of button, posts the full minimum bet

Blinds seed the pot and give players something to fight for before they've seen their cards. In tournaments they increase over time; in cash games they stay fixed.

The Deal

The dealer shuffles the deck, then deals cards one at a time, clockwise, starting with the small blind. Each player receives exactly two hole cards, face-down. After the first card reaches every player, a second card is dealt the same way. No one sees anyone else's hole cards.

Once every player has two hole cards, the first betting round (Pre-Flop) begins.

3 Betting Actions

• Check, pass the action without betting (only available if no bet has been made this round)
• Bet, place the first wager in a round
• Call, match the current bet to stay in the hand
• Raise, increase the current bet; others must call or re-raise to continue
• Fold, discard your hand and forfeit any chips already in the pot
• All-In, bet your entire remaining chip stack

In No Limit Hold'em, minimum raise = at least the size of the previous bet or raise. Example: if someone bets $10, a raise must be to at least $20.

4 The Complete Hand — Street by Street

A Texas Hold'em hand plays out across four betting rounds. Between rounds, community cards are revealed in the center of the table — shared by all players. At the end, you make your best 5-card hand from any combination of your 2 hole cards and the 5 community cards.

Street 1: Pre-Flop

After hole cards are dealt, the player to the left of the big blind acts first and play moves clockwise. Each player chooses to:

• Fold — discard your hand and sit out this pot
• Call — match the big blind amount
• Raise — increase the bet (others must call, re-raise, or fold)

The big blind acts last and may raise even if no one raised before them ("the option").

Street 2: The Flop

After pre-flop betting ends, the dealer burns one card face-down (discards it), then deals three community cards face-up in the center. This is the Flop. A new round of betting begins — this time starting with the first active player to the left of the button (not the blinds). If you have no action to close, you may check.

Street 3: The Turn

After the flop betting, the dealer burns one card and deals a fourth community card face-up. Another round of betting. In Limit Hold'em, bets double starting on the Turn.

Street 4: The River

After the turn betting, the dealer burns one final card and deals the fifth and last community card face-up. The final round of betting takes place. If two or more players remain after betting, the hand goes to showdown.

The Full Hand Flow at a Glance

1. Post blinds → Deal 2 hole cards to each player
2. Pre-Flop betting (left of big blind acts first)
3. Burn + deal Flop (3 cards) → Flop betting (left of button acts first)
4. Burn + deal Turn (1 card) → Turn betting
5. Burn + deal River (1 card) → River betting
6. Showdown — best 5-card hand wins the pot

5 Showdown

At showdown, remaining players reveal their hole cards. The player with the best five-card hand wins the pot. Use any combination of your 2 hole cards and the 5 community cards.

Showdown order: The last player to bet or raise shows first. If everyone checked the final round, the first active player to the left of the button shows first. Others may "muck" (fold without showing) if they lose, you're never required to show a losing hand.

Pots are split if two players make identical five-card hands.

6 Hand Rankings (Best to Worst)

Ace can be high (Ace-high straight: A K Q J 10) or low (low straight: A 2 3 4 5, called a "wheel"). Suits are never used to break ties.

7 All-In & Side Pots

When a player goes all-in for less than the current bet, they can only win a "main pot" equal to their all-in amount from each player who called.

Example: Player A (100 chips) goes all-in. Player B (500 chips) and Player C (500 chips) call. The main pot = 300 chips (100 from each). Players B and C put 400 more chips each into a side pot (800 total) that Player A cannot win.

At showdown, the side pot is awarded first (B vs. C), then the main pot (A vs. B vs. C). A player can win the main pot even if they lose the side pot.

8 Position

Position is one of the most important concepts in poker. Acting last gives you maximum information before deciding.

• Button (Dealer), best position; acts last post-flop in every round
• Cutoff, one to the right of the button; second-best position
• Hijack, Lojack, middle positions
• Under the Gun (UTG), first to act pre-flop; worst position
• Small Blind, Big Blind, post-flop, these act first (worst position)

Play tighter (fewer hands) from early position; you can open up more from the button where you'll have position all hand.

9 Strategy Guide

Starting Hand Chart

The single biggest leak for beginner players is playing too many hands. This 13×13 grid covers all 169 possible starting hands. Suited hands are in the upper-right triangle; offsuit in the lower-left; pocket pairs on the diagonal.

Upper-right triangle = suited (s) · Lower-left triangle = offsuit (o) · Diagonal = pocket pairs · Hover a cell to see its category

Position Guide

Position is everything in Hold'em. The later you act, the more information you have, and the wider your opening range can be. As a rule: tighten up early, loosen up late.

Pot Odds

Pot odds tell you whether a call is profitable long-term. Divide the call amount by the total pot after your call:

Required equity = call amount ÷ (pot + call amount)

Example: Pot is $100, opponent bets $50. Call = $50 ÷ ($100 + $50 + $50) = 25% equity needed. If you have a flush draw (~35% to hit), calling is correct. If you have nothing, fold.

Reads and Ranges

Don't try to put opponents on a single hand, think about their entire range of hands given how they've acted. A player who raises from early position has a narrow range (premium). A player who checks the flop, turn, and river then bets the river is often representing a hand they just made, or bluffing a missed draw.

Avoid Calling Too Much

Calling is the weakest action in poker, it wins only when you have the best hand at showdown. Raising achieves two ways to win: your opponent folds, or you have the best hand. Beginners who call too much ("calling stations") are exploitable and consistently lose. Bet and raise with your strong hands; fold your weak ones.

Bankroll Management

For cash games, never sit down with more than 5% of your total poker bankroll at one table. A standard buy-in is 100 big blinds, at $1/$2, that's $200. Even good players lose 10–20 buy-ins in bad runs. Proper bankroll management means you survive variance.

10 Common Mistakes

• Limping in, just calling the big blind pre-flop rather than raising. It allows many players to see the flop cheaply and puts you in a weak, passive spot.
• Playing too many hands, playing 40–50% of hands is a losing strategy at most tables. Even 20% is loose.
• Bet sizing errors, bet too small and you give good odds for draws; bet too large and you only get called by hands that beat you.
• Ignoring position, playing a hand the same way regardless of position ignores the most powerful variable in the game.
• Going on tilt, making emotional decisions after a bad beat. The cards have no memory; each hand is independent.
• Slowplaying too often, trapping with a big hand occasionally is fine; doing it always lets opponents draw out cheaply and miss value bets.