Poker Rules: Texas Hold'em Explained for Beginners

6 min read

Poker rules take ten minutes to learn, and most of that time goes on one question: whose turn is it? This guide covers Texas Hold’em, the variant played at almost every table and in every televised tournament. Two private cards, five shared cards, four betting rounds. Once the sequence clicks, you can follow any hand.

The goal

You win the pot (all the chips bet during a hand) in one of two ways. Either everyone else folds, or you show the best five-card hand at the end. You build that hand from your two face-down “hole cards” and the five community cards in the middle. Use both of your cards, one, or none at all.

Blinds and the dealer button

The dealer button is a disc that moves one seat clockwise after every hand. It fixes the order of play.

The two players to its left post forced bets before any cards are dealt: the small blind and the big blind, which is twice the size. At a CHF 1/2 table there is always CHF 3 in the pot before anyone looks at a card. Without blinds, everybody could wait for aces at no cost and there would be no game.

Texas Hold’em poker rules: the four betting rounds

1. Pre-flop: every player gets two hole cards. Action starts with the player to the left of the big blind. Staying in costs at least the big blind.
2. Flop: three community cards are turned face up. From here on, the first active player to the left of the button acts first.
3. Turn: a fourth community card.
4. River: the fifth and final card, followed by the last round of betting.

A betting round is over when every remaining player has put in the same amount or folded.

Your options: check, bet, call, raise, fold

• Check: pass the action without betting. Only possible if nobody has bet before you in that round.
• Bet: put the first chips in.
• Call: match the current bet.
• Raise: increase it. A raise must be at least as big as the previous bet or raise, so if someone bets CHF 4, you make it CHF 8 or more.
• Fold: throw your cards away. Chips you have already put in stay in the pot.

In no-limit Hold’em you may bet all your chips at any point. If you are all-in for less than the bet, you only compete for the part of the pot you can cover.

Showdown and hand rankings

If two or more players remain after the river, cards are turned over. The best five-card hand takes the pot, and identical hands split it. Suits have no ranking against each other: a heart flush does not beat a spade flush of the same values.

From strongest to weakest: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card. For examples, probabilities and tie-break rules, see the poker hands ranking guide.

Poker against players vs poker against the house

Real Hold’em is played against other people. The casino versions borrow the name and the hand rankings, but little else:

• Casino Hold’em: you play alone against the dealer. After posting an ante you see your two cards and the flop, then make a single decision: call (twice the ante) or fold. No bluffing, no opponents to read. With sound strategy the house edge is roughly 2% of the ante. You can try it in the free Casino Hold’em demo.
• Video poker: a machine deals five cards, you swap once, and a fixed paytable decides the result. In Jacks or Better the lowest paying hand is a pair of jacks. Returns depend heavily on the paytable; the well-known 9/6 version reaches 99.54% with perfect play.

Both are handy for drilling hand rankings. Neither lets you beat the house edge over time.

Common beginner mistakes

• Playing too many hands. You are dealt a pocket pair only 5.9% of the time, and pocket aces once in 221 hands. Most starting hands are a fold.
• Paying to see every river. With two unpaired cards you flop a pair or better only about one time in three.
• Ignoring position. Acting last means acting with more information. You can play more hands on the button than straight after the big blind.
• Not reading the board. With four hearts face up, your three of a kind is often worthless.
• Forgetting the kicker. Ace-seven loses to ace-king when an ace lands.

FAQ

Do I have to use both hole cards in Texas Hold’em? No. Your hand is the best five out of the seven cards available. If the best hand is entirely on the board, everyone still in splits the pot.

What happens if two players have the same hand? The rank of the combination decides first, then the side cards (kickers). If all five cards match in value, the pot is split.

How many players can sit at a table? Between two and ten. Six-seat and nine-seat tables are the most common.

Can I practise poker rules for free? Yes. The table games section has play-money demos where you can run through the sequence and the hand rankings without any risk.