How to Play Texas Holdem

Basic Texas Hold’em Poker Rules

• Texas Hold’em commonly used terms
• No Limit vs. Limit Texas Hold’em
• Poker Hand Rankings
• Other poker terms

Texas Hold’em Poker is a community card poker game with game play focused as much on the betting as on the cards being played. Although the rules and game play are the same, the end goal is slightly different depending on if you’re playing a Holdem cash game or a Texas Holdem Poker tournament.

A Texas Hold’em tournament is the same as any other game of Hold’em with a few added rules and twists. Learn more about the unique rules of Texas Holdem poker tournaments. Meanwhile, a Holdem cash game is played on a single table with 2 to 10 players. The goal is simple: win as many chips as you can, one pot at a time. You win a pot by having the best hand after the final community card has been dealt, or by having all other players fold before the showdown. A full hand is made by combining your one or both your hole cards with the community cards.

A Texas Hold’em game can be broken up into three main parts:

• Setup
• Betting Rounds
• Showdown

Dealer Button

Once you have your players around the table the first thing you need to play poker is to have chips. Before you can figure out what kind of chips to give each player, you need to understand how the game works a little better, so we’ll get back to this. For now, assume all players have chips in front of them and everyone is ready to play poker.

The next step is picking the player who will start with the dealer button. Hold’em is played with what’s known as a rotating dealer, meaning a player will act as the dealer for one hand and then pass the role of dealer on to the player on their left when the hand is completed. To choose the dealer, either deal every player one card or spread the cards facedown on the table and have every player choose one. The player with the highest-valued card (aces are high for selecting a dealer) starts as the dealer.

 

The Button

If you’re in a live poker room or casino with a professional dealer (or someone volunteers to always physically deal the cards) the dealer button will still rotate around the table. Even though he or she is physically dealing the cards, for all intents and purposes the person with the button is viewed as being the dealer for the hand. Once the hand completes the player with the dealer button will pass it to the player on his or her left.

Game Layout

Note that the Texas Holdem layout includes three flop boxes, one turn box and one river card box on the felt table. You may also have a play section marked on the table where your bets are made, away from your stack.

 

The Blinds

Now that you have a dealer, you need to put out the blinds. There are two blinds in Texas Holdem Poker – a small blind and a big blind. These are forced bets required by two players to make sure there are some chips in the pot worth playing for. Without any money in the pot all players might be inclined to fold much more often, slowing down the action considerably.

The player directly to the left of the dealer puts out the small blind. The big blind (usually double that of the small blind) is then paid by the player to the left of the small blind. The size of the blinds will dictate the stakes of the game you’re about to play. Typically, you want players to buy in for no less than 100 times the size of the big blind. If you want to buy in for $200 you should play with blinds of $1/$2. For convenience, most people will play 10¢/25¢.

In poker games at a live casino or poker room the maximum and minimum amounts a player can be in for will be in relation to the blinds. For example in a $1/$2 game the table minimum is usually $40 (20x the big blind) and the maximum is $200 (100x the big blind).

If you’re playing at home, you’ll need to determine which chips to use and how to distribute them. Once the blinds are set we know what kind of chips we’ll need to play with. (In the above example we’d use 10¢ chips, 25¢ chips and maybe a few $1 chips.)

You want to give players enough chips in each denomination to allow the game to run smoothly. Typically a player will need only 10% of their total chips in the smallest denomination, as they are only ever used to pay the small blind. For the most part, all Texas Holdem betting will be done with chips larger than that of the small blind. Once you have the chips sorted out and the first blinds in the pot, you’re now ready to deal the first hand.

Betting Rules

The person dealing the cards deals to the left of the player with the dealer button first and rotates clockwise around the table. Each player gets one card at a time until each player has two cards, both face down. These are known as your hole cards and they are for your use alonewhen making your final 5-card poker hand.

When you play Texas Hold’em Poker, each round consists of a minimum of one and a maximum of four betting rounds. The first round of betting is when all players have got their two hole cards, also known as “Preflop”. A hand ends when all players but one have folded or the fourth and final round of betting completes with multiple players still in the hand – whichever comes first.

At that point players enter into the showdown (to be explained in the next section) and the player with the highest hand, hole cards combined with the community cards takes the pot. If two players share the highest hand, the pot is split equally between them.

 

Pre-Flop

When all players receive their hole cards you’re now in the pre-flop betting round. Each player looks at his or her cards and decides what action to take. In Hold’em only one player can act at a time. Pre-flop starts the first round of betting with the player to the left of the big blind. This player has three options:

• Fold: Pay nothing to the pot and throw away their hand, waiting for the next deal to play again.
• Call: Match the amount of the big blind (pre-flop this is also known as “limping in.”)
• Raise: Raise the bet by doubling the amount of the big blind. (Note:  a player may raise more depending on the betting style being played, No-Limit or Pot-Limit.)

Once a player has made their action the player to the left of them gets their turn to act. Each player is given the same options: fold, call the current bet (if the previous player raised, that is the amount you must call; if no one has bet it’s the big blind amount) or raise.

 

The Flop

Once the preflop round ends, the flop is dealt and the second betting round starts. This is done by dealing the top card in the deck facedown on the table (called the “burn” card, it’s not in play), followed by three cards dealt face up in the middle of the table (see below). These are the first community cards, which all players can use to make their best 5-card poker hand.

Once the flop has been dealt the first post-flop betting round begins. The rules of post-flop betting rounds are the same as a pre-flop with two small exceptions:

• The first player to act is the next player with a hand to the left of the dealer
• The first player to act can check or bet; as there has been no bet made, calling is free.

A bet on the flop in Limit Holdem is the amount of the big blind. In No-Limit it has to be at least twice the size of the big blind but can be as much as all of a player’s chips.

 

The Turn

Once the betting round on the flop completes (meaning any players who want to see the next card have matched the value of any bets), the dealer again ‘burns” one card face-down out of play followed by the fourth community card dealt face up in the middle of the table beside the 3 flop cards (see image below). Once the turn has been dealt another found of betting begins, this is the third round of round of betting.

 

The River

Assuming more than one player is left having not folded on one of the previous streets, the fifth and final card, (the River), is now dealt. Dealing the river is identical as dealing the turn with one card being burned face down followed by a single card dealt face up.

This is the final street and no more cards will be dealt in this hand. The final betting round is identical to the Texas Holdem round on the turn and players can their hole cards with the community cards to make the best possible hand. Remember not to reveal your hole cards before the last betting round is complete, this will in most cases “kill” your hand.

 

Showdown

Once all community cards have been dealt and the river betting round has been completed the players now enter into the showdown. At this point the best 5-card poker hand wins the pot. Here are the rules you need to know about a Hold’em showdown:

• The player who bet on the river is the default first player to reveal their hand. If any other players choose to show their hand first, that is OK.
• If no betting happened on the river (all players checked), the player closest to the left of the dealer must open their hand first, continuing clockwise around the table.
• If a player is holding a losing hand it is their option to reveal their cards or simply muck their hand and concede the pot.