Texas Hold'em Rules: How to Play Poker, Step by Step

Texas Hold'em is the most popular form of poker in the world. Each player receives two private cards (hole cards), and five community cards are dealt face up on the table. Your goal is to make the best five-card poker hand using any combination of your hole cards and the community cards.

A hand of Hold'em consists of up to four betting rounds: preflop (after hole cards are dealt), the flop (after three community cards), the turn (after the fourth community card), and the river (after the fifth community card). You can win by having the best hand at showdown or by betting in a way that makes all other players fold.

Before you play, you must know which hands beat which. Poker hand rankings are universal across most poker variants. Here they are from strongest to weakest:

1. 1.
   Royal Flush — A, K, Q, J, 10 of the same suit. The unbeatable hand.
2. 2.
   Straight Flush — Five consecutive cards of the same suit (e.g., 9-8-7-6-5 of hearts).
3. 3.
   Four of a Kind — Four cards of the same rank (e.g., four kings).
4. 4.
   Full House — Three of a kind plus a pair (e.g., three jacks and two fives).
5. 5.
   Flush — Five cards of the same suit, not in sequence.
6. 6.
   Straight — Five consecutive cards of mixed suits (e.g., 10-9-8-7-6).
7. 7.
   Three of a Kind — Three cards of the same rank.
8. 8.
   Two Pair — Two different pairs (e.g., two queens and two sevens).
9. 9.
   One Pair — Two cards of the same rank.
10. 10.
    High Card — No matching cards. The highest card plays.

For a detailed breakdown with visual card examples and probability data, see our Hand Rankings reference.

Every hand of Hold'em starts with forced bets called blinds. The blinds ensure there's always something to play for and create initial action.

After each hand, the button moves one seat clockwise, and so do the blinds. This ensures everyone pays blinds equally over time and gets equal turns in each position.

For a complete explanation of all table positions and their strategic implications, see our Poker Positions guide.

A hand of Texas Hold'em has up to four betting rounds. If all but one player folds at any point, the remaining player wins without a showdown.

Preflop

After posting blinds, each player receives two hole cards face down. Betting begins with the player to the left of the big blind (called "under the gun" or UTG). Each player can fold, call the big blind, or raise. The big blind acts last preflop and can check if no one raised, or call/raise if someone did.

The Flop

Three community cards are dealt face up in the center of the table. A new betting round begins, starting with the first active player to the left of the button. Players can check (bet nothing) if no bet has been made, or bet/fold if there's action.

The Turn

A fourth community card (the turn) is dealt. Another betting round follows with the same structure as the flop. In limit games, the bet size typically doubles on the turn.

The River

The fifth and final community card (the river) is dealt. The last betting round takes place. After this round, if two or more players remain, they proceed to showdown.

If two or more players remain after the final betting round, they reveal their hole cards to determine the winner. The player with the best five-card hand wins the pot.

Important: You always use exactly five cards to make your hand. If the board shows A-K-Q-J-10 of mixed suits, everyone has a straight and splits the pot — your hole cards don't improve this hand.

On your turn, you have several options depending on the action before you:

No-Limit vs. Limit: In no-limit Hold'em (the most common format), you can bet any amount up to all your chips at any time. In limit Hold'em, bet sizes are fixed. Most casinos and online games use no-limit.

Let's walk through a sample hand in a $1/$2 no-limit game with three players.

These are the rules that start arguments at real tables.

Aces are high and low

The ace is the highest card, but it can also play low in one straight: A-2-3-4-5, called the wheel. A-K-Q-J-10 is the highest straight. A straight can't wrap around, so Q-K-A-2-3 is just ace high.

Ties, kickers and split pots

Hands are compared on all five cards. With A-A-K-9-4 against A-A-Q-J-10, both players have a pair of aces and the king kicker wins. A kicker only counts if it is one of your best five cards: on a board of A-A-K-K-Q, a player holding J-10 and a player holding 3-2 both play the board and split the pot. Suits never break a tie.

The minimum raise

In no-limit, a raise must be at least the size of the last bet or raise in that round. At $1/$2, the smallest preflop raise is to $4. If a player raises to $6, that is a $4 raise, so the next raise must go to at least $10. An all-in for less than a full raise does not reopen the betting for players who have already acted.

When everyone checks

If every player checks, the next card is dealt. If everyone checks the river, the hand goes to showdown. Preflop, if everyone just calls, the big blind still gets the option to check or raise.

All-in and side pots

You can never be forced out of a hand for lack of chips. If you go all-in, you can win only what you matched from each player. Say three players are all-in preflop with $20, $50 and $100:

If the $20 player has the best hand, they win the $60 main pot, and the side pot goes to the better hand of the other two.

Who shows first at showdown

The last player to bet or raise on the river shows first. If the river was checked through, the first player left of the button shows first. In tournaments, once a player is all-in and the betting is over, every hand is turned face up. Cards speak: your hand is read as shown, whatever you called it.

String bets and the one-chip rule

In a cardroom, say "raise" or put the whole amount in with one motion. Going back to your stack for more chips without announcing it is a string bet, and it only counts as a call. Dropping a single large chip in without saying anything is also just a call.

When a player busts: dead or moving button

Tournaments usually play a dead button: the big blind always moves to the next player, so the button can sit in front of an empty seat and some hands have no small blind. Many cash games and home games simply move the button to the next player still in. Check the house rule.

Heads-up blinds

With two players, the button posts the small blind and acts first before the flop. The big blind acts first on the flop, turn and river.

The hand rules are the same everywhere. What changes is how the game is run around them.

For a home tournament, our free poker blind timer handles the clock and the blind levels.