The games are intended for an adult audience. The games do not offer 'real money gambling' or an opportunity to win real money or prizes. Practice or success at social casino gaming does not imply future success at 'real money gambling.' Texas Hold ‘em is a popular poker variation in which players seek to put together a winning hand using a pair of hole cards dealt prior to the start of the game and five community cards turned over in stages during each round of betting. In a game of Texas Hold ‘em, the dealer duties rotate from one player to another between hands, which means that the dealer button will inevitably make its way around to you.
- Texas Holdem Poker Rules Dealing
- Official Texas Holdem Poker Rules
- Poker Texas Holdem Rules Wikipedia
- Texas Holdem Poker Rules Explained
- Texas Holdem Poker Rules Hands
The PDF rules of poker are provided below for Texas Hold'em, the most popular poker variant.
To get the PDF printable version of this post click on of the unlock buttons below:
Other popular game variants include Pot Limit Omaha and 5card draw.
Table Of Contents
- Texas Hold'em Rules
- Poker hand Ranking System
Texas Hold'em Rules
In Texas hold’em each player is dealt two cards called their ‘hole’ cards. Hole cards can only be seen and used by one person. The dealer button (denoted by a circular disc) is allocated before hands are dealt to allow for the positioning of the forced bets: small blind and big blind, and also to determine who will act first and last in the hand.
There are a total of four betting rounds: preflop, the flop, the turn and the river. The betting rounds will be detailed further on.
If you have a dedicated dealer (such as at a casino), the button will still move around the table so everybody will eventually have to pay the blinds. The button doesn't show who is dealing in a casino; the button shows who is seated the best position at the table and where the blinds are located.
If you just sat down (out of turn) you will have to pay the blinds in order get dealt a hand; otherwise, you can wait until the blinds come around to your seat. You should wait for the blinds as paying twice is unprofitable.
The size of the blinds depends on the limit; for example, a 1/2 No Limit Hold'em game would have a big blind of $2 and a small blind of 1$. The small blind and big blind are located to the left of the button.
This is shown in the case of a 6 handed game below:
The blinds are an important part of the rules of poker. These forced bets which give players an incentive to play; in other words ‘spice up' the game. Without the blinds, there would be no penalty for waiting and only playing strong hands. The only hand worth playing would be two aces!
Antes are another form of forced bets which are often used the increase the action in some game types such as tournaments and deep stacked cash games.
Pre-flop – The First Betting Round of Hold'em
The first round of betting takes places starting at the position to the left of the big blind (early position or EP). Each player has the following options:
Raise: you can raise the current bet to increase the stakes of the game. If someone has raised before you, you can still raise again – this is call a reraise. The minimum size you can raise is typically chosen to be twice that of the last bet or raise.
Call: When you do not want to raise the stakes but want to continue with your hand you can match the current bet.
Fold: If you feel your hand is not worth playing any further you can fold your hand and not commit any more bets.
Check: If there is no bet placed you can check in order to see the next card. This isn't applicable to preflop. The blinds are the first bet preflop which must be matched with a call or raised, if a player wishes to continue.
Players must act in sequence until all bets are settled. The button must always act last in the first sequence. This first round of betting called ‘pre-flop’ occurs before the flop is dealt.
The Flop – The Second Betting Round
The second round of betting takes places after the three community (shared) cards called the flop are dealt. The action will be to the first player to the left of the dealer. This is opposed to the action starting to the left of the big blind during the preflop betting round.
The first player to act has the option to check bet or fold; although you should not fold when you can check for free. The betting rounds after the flop is dealt is collectively known as ‘post-flop’.
The Turn – The Third Betting Round
The third round of betting occurs after the second community card has been dealt. This card is called the turn. Again, the action starts with the active player to the left of the dealer.
The River and Showdown – The Fourth Betting Round
The fourth and final round of betting occurs when the dealer turns over the river card. The hand ends with the showdown of hands or if there is only one live hand remaining (the other player(s) have folded).
At showdown, the player with the best five card combination from their hole cards and the community cards wins the final pot. Split pots occur when both players have the same best five cards.
After each hand, the button moves to the left of the dealer. This means everyone will have to play the blinds at some point.
Texas hold'em rules are quite simple; however the strategies involved in winning are ever evolving.
The rules of Texas Hold'em are just the beginning so head to our home page if you want to improve your poker game!
Other notes:home page if you want to improve your poker game!
home page if you want to improve your poker game!
Keep this printable PDF hand ranking sheet beside you when you play to make sure you don't make a mistake!
The strongest to weakest hands of them poker hand hierarchy are listed below with the poker hands probability listed in brackets. After reading there will be no debating with friends ‘who has the best poker hand'!
- Royal Flush (649,739:1)
Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten all of the same suit – the strongest poker hand.
- Straight flush (72,192:1)
Five sequential cards all of the same suit. The second strongest poker hand.
- Four of a kind (4,164:1)
Four cards of the same value. Also known as ‘quads’.
- Full House (693:1)
Three cards of the same value plus two cards of the same value. Usually a winner!
- Flush (508:1)
Five cards all of the same suit.
- Straight (254:1)
Five cards in sequential order. Also referred to as a run.
- Three of a kind (46:1)
Three cards of the same value.
- Two pair (20 : 1)
Two sets of two cards with the same value. A common hand which can sometimes win at showdown!
- One pair (1.37:1)
Two cards of the same value.
- High card
The player with the highest card wins. Unlikely to be a winner so play with care.
Kickers
A kicker is much like a decider when both players have similar hand types. For example, if player A has A♠Q♣and Player B has A♣J♠ and the board is A♥K♦5♠ 7♠ 2♦ both players will have top pair with an ace but player A will win because the Q♣ is a better kicker than the J♠. The best five cards in this scenario are AAQ75 whereas the losing hand has AAJ75. A kicker is a very important concept when trying to understand the poker hand ranking system.
Split pots
Split pots occur when both players get to showdown and have the same hand rank. The pot is divided up equally between each of the players.
To take an example, if player A has K♠J♥ and player B has K♣Q♠ on a A♥K♦5♠5♣2♠ board both players will have two pair and ace kicker as their best hand (A, K, K, 5, 5). Therefore the pot will be split between the two players.
Texas Holdem Poker Rules Dealing
Alternatively, if the neither player can improve the hand on the board it will also be a split pot. If the board is A♥K♦5♠5♣K♠ and player A has Q♠J♣ and player B has 4♣4♠ then both players will be playing the board and thus it will be a split pot. Hence, you cannot have three pair in poker and the best two pair will play.
Beyond hand rankings
The rules of poker and poker hand rankings are just the beginning for you on your poker journey. One of the core skills in poker is being able to determine whether your hand is strong or weak on a relative scale as opposed to an absolute scale. For example, three of a kind is extremely strong on a board with no flush or straight possibilities but very weak on a board with 4 to a flush or 4 to a straight (e.g. T♥9♥8♥7♥ – any heart or J or 6 beats three of a kind).
One key point to note is that in poker all suits are of the same value. An Ace high flush of hearts is the same value as an Ace high flush of spades.
The first step to this is remembering if a flush beats a straight, or whether a straight flush beats quads; the next stage is figuring out your hand's relative strength based on how your opponent is playing, his tendencies and most importantly the board texture as noted.
Additionally, we should take into account the following factors:
- How many players are in the pot
- The amount of chips in the pot
- The size of the bets made
If you can understand the poker hand rankings and relative hand strength you will be ahead of the game; get ready to beat all your friends and opponents at your home games and casinos! Want to accelerate your poker learning? Check out or poker training sites post for the quickest ways to improve your poker game.
If you are new to poker and are unsure of what hands you need to play, check out our starting hand charts over at the poker cheat sheet webpage.
Check out this poker hand ranking video for a more visual format of everything we said:
Make sure you check out the fan favorite posts:
Poker cheat sheet for beginners & Best Poker Books
Texas hold'em is a popularversion of the cardgamepoker.
How to play[change | change source]
Before any cards are dealt, two players to the left of the dealer make bets which are called the 'Small Blind' and 'Big Blind'. These forced bets must be at least matched by the other players in order to keep their hands. The big blind is twice as much as the small blind. If the big blind was $1000, then it is said that the blinds are 500 and 1000. This money is put into a place in the center of the table that is called the 'pot'
Each player is given two cards face down. These are called the player's 'Hole Cards' or what the player has 'in the hole'. Once all the players have their hole cards, the betting starts. The player to the left of the Big Blind player starts the betting. The lowest amount that can be bet is the amount of the big blind. Players can bet more than the minimum. This is called 'Raising'. The amount a player can raise is determined by the type of the game being played (see below) If a player raises, the amount he raised the bet to is the new minimum. Each player in turn may either 'Call' (pay the current bet amount), Raise, or 'Fold' (quit the hand). This action keeps going around the table until each player has called or folded his hand.
After the first turn of betting is over, the dealer lays three cards face up on the table. This is called the 'Flop'. These three cards are 'community cards'. This means they are used by every player in the game along with the two hole cards each player has. After the flop, another turn of betting takes place. There is no starting bet in this turn (no blinds) unless a player makes a bet. Players may 'Check' or bet nothing if no player before them in the turn has bet. If everyone checks, or if a player bets and all the others call or fold, then the round of betting is over.
Next the dealer lays another community card face up. This card is called 'the turn' (or 4th Street). Another series of betting comes after this. This betting is the same as after the Flop.
Finally the dealer lays the last community card known as 'the river' (or 5th Street). This card is again followed by a turn of betting, calling and folding by the players.
Official Texas Holdem Poker Rules
With the five community cards and their two hole cards, each player makes the best 5 card poker hand he can. The player with the best poker hand wins the round and the pot. If two or more players have the same hand, those players split the pot evenly. If one person bets and all other players have folded, the hand ends then and that player wins.
Styles of play[change | change source]
Texas Hold'em can be played several ways, including Limit, Pot Limit and No Limit games. The version of the game usually is the maximum a player can raise at any one time.
Poker Texas Holdem Rules Wikipedia
Limit[change | change source]
Limit games have a set amount that a player can raise at any time. If a game has a $10 limit, then a raise must be exactly $10. If more than one person raises, each one can only raise $10 more than the last raise. Typically, there is a 'cap' of 3 raises per round. Also, when playing limit, the bet and raise amount will usually double for the turn and river betting rounds.
Example[change | change source]
In a 4 player game, Player A bets $10. Player B raises $10 (puts in $20 total), Player C calls Player B (puts in $20). Player D at this point can either fold, pay $20 (call player B) or raise $10 to a total of $30. Player A would go next and either call (paying the difference between his $10 bet and the current bet). This would continue until all players either call or fold.
Pot Limit[change | change source]
In Pot Limit games, the most a player can bet or raise is the total amount in the pot. With each bet or raise, the amount in the pot gets larger. This allows for larger raises.
Spread Limit[change | change source]
In Spread Limit games, there is both a minimum and a maximum raise specified. For example, one could play $5–50 spread limit. The big blind would be $5 and the minimum raise would be $5 and the maximum raise would be $50.
No Limit[change | change source]
In No Limit, there is not a limit of how much can be bet at any time. That is, it is just like Spread Limit, but with no maximum. A player can bet up to all money as he has. If a player bets all of his money, he is said to be 'All In'. If a player bets more money than another player has, the second player can call by going All In. If only those two players stay in the hand (all other players fold), the first player takes back any money that is over the amount the player going All In has. At this point, all betting stops and the dealer deals out the rest of the cards.
Texas Holdem Poker Rules Explained
If a player goes All In and two or more players are still betting, the other betters can raise each other until they both call (or one of them also goes All In). A 'side pot' is made in this case. It is the difference between the final bet and the first person's All In. Only the two players were not All In can win this pot. If the All In player wins the hand, he wins the main pot (his money plus an equal amount from each other player) and which ever of the other two players had the better hand wins the side pot. In an eight player game, it is possible to have several side pots with several people being All In at the same time. If there are not two player left who can bet, betting stops and all players turn their hands over.
Example[change | change source]
Player A bets $5000. Player B only has $3000. He goes All In. Player C Raises $2000 (puts in a total of $7000). Player A calls (puts in $2000). At this point, the main pot is worth $9000 ($3000 from each player). The side pot is worth $8000 ($7000–3000 from Players A and C)
Texas Holdem Poker Rules Hands
If player A or C wins, he wins both the main pot and the side pot ($17,000) and Player B is out of the game since he is out of money. If player B wins, he wins the main pot and the side pot goes to which ever player has the best hand between players A and C.
Tournaments[change | change source]
Tournaments are what people often see when poker is shown on television. When a player enters a tournament, he pays an entry fee called the 'buy-in.' Most of his buy-in is placed with other player's money in the prize pool. Usually, a small portion of the buy-in is kept by the tournament officials for their expenses (and profit). The player is given a table and seat assignment, and a certain number of chips - the same amount as every other player. Unlike normal chips, these tournament chips have no cash value (though they often are referred to with dollar amounts). Players must continue to play until they run out of chips. The tournament continues until one player has accumulated all of the chips. The order in which people lose all their chips (or 'bust out'), is their finishing order. That is, the last player to bust out is the second-place finisher. The prize pool is divided amongst a fraction of the top finishers (usually about 10%). The first-place winner usually gets a much larger share, with the prizes diminishing until the prize pool is empty. The player who was the last player to finish without winning any prize is said to have finished 'on the bubble.'
As players bust out of the tournament, the average player's chip stack gets larger. In order to insure that the blinds do not become insignificant in the face of the growth in chip stacks, tournaments are played in timed 'rounds.' At the beginning of each round typically the blinds increase. Every few rounds there will be a short break between rounds. For tournaments that last longer than a day, there will be a last level for the day, and the tournament will resume the next day.
Most tournaments only allow a player to buy-in and receive chips once, at the beginning. These are called 'freeze out' tournaments. Some tournaments allow players to buy-in more than once for the first few levels of the tournament. These players are said to 're-buy' and the money they use to re-buy goes into the prize pool with the rest of the buy-ins.
Other websites[change | change source]
- Poker Hand - Poker hands list