How To Play Texas Holdem Poker - Poker Rules & Hand Rankings

If you ever wanted to learn how to play Texas Hold’em, there is no better time to start. Texas Hold’em is by far the most popular poker variant in the world right now, making up a majority of live poker tournaments including the most prestigious of them all – the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Texas Hold’em is found at absolutely every land-based and online poker room.

Texas Hold’em is a game for 2 to 10 players, using a standard 52-card deck of playing cards.

Object of Texas Hold’em
The object of Texas Hold’em is to develop the strongest ranking poker hand, higher than that of your opponent’s. You have 7 cards available to you - 2 Hole Card (face down) and 5 Community Card (face up) - which can be combined in any manner to develop the best 5-card poker hand. The player with the highest ranking poker hand wins the pot. (See “Poker Hand Ranks” at the bottom of this page.)

How To Play Texas Hold’em - Limits
Texas Hold’em can be played in all limits – Fixed Limit, No Limit and Pot Limit. For this tutorial on how to play Texas Hold’em, we’ll be using a Fixed Limit betting structure, but all three limits are detailed below.

Fixed Limit: The stakes of the game define exactly how much a player can bet/raise at any given time. For example, in $2/$4 stakes, the fixed bet amount in the first two betting rounds is $2, increased to $4 in the final two betting rounds.

No Limit: The stakes of the game define the lowest possible amount that you can bet/raise at any given time, with no limit on the maximum bet/raise. The only limitations are the size of your chip stack.

Pot Limit: Like No Limit, the stakes define the lowest possible amount that can you can bet/raise at any given time, but the highest amount you can bet/raise is always equal to how many chips are in the pot. For example, if the pot has $10 in it, you can bet/raise up to a maximum of $10.

How To Play Texas Hold’em – Blind Bets
Texas Hold’em uses Blind Bets to ensure there is always a little something worth winning in the pot (i.e. to prevent everyone from Folding). There are two Blind Bets, the Small Blind and the Big Blind.

Small Blind: The Small Blind is a forced bet placed by the player left of the Dealer Button. In a Fixed Limit game, it is equal to 50% of the low-end stakes. For example, $2/$4 stakes would require a $1 Small Blind. (Note: No Limit and Pot Limit games require a Small Blind equal to the low-end stakes.)

Big Blind: The Big Blind is a forced bet placed by the player left of the Small Blind Bettor. In a Fixed Limit game, it is equal to the low-end stakes. For example, $2/$4 stakes would require a $2 Big Blind. (Note: No Limit and Pot Limit games require a Big Blind equal to the high-end stakes.)

How To Play Texas Hold’em – Betting Options

Check: If no bet has been placed in the betting round, you may Check, declining to wager, but staying active in the hand.

Bet: The first wager placed in a betting round.

Call: To wager an amount equal to the current Bet.

Raise: To wager an amount higher than the current Bet.

Fold: To throw in your cards, forfeiting the current hand and pot.

All-In: To bet all remaining chips. Note that in a Fixed Limit game, this may only be done if your chips are equal to, or less than, the fixed bet/raise amount.

How To Play Texas Hold’em – Walk-Through of a Hand
Note that for this example of how to play Texas Hold’em, we are using a Fixed Limit betting Structure with $2/$4 stakes.

The hand begins with the placement of the Small Blind and Big Blind bets. Each player is then dealt 2 Hole cards, face down, that only they may see.

First Betting Round: The player left of the Big Blind starts out the betting round by Calling or Raising the Big Blind, or Folding. Each player, going clockwise around the table, will do the same. When it is the Small Blind bettors turn, he may Call/Raise by adding enough chips to his Small Blind bet to do so; or he may Fold. The Big Blind has the same options, except that if no player Raises, the Big Blind may Check, ending the round of betting. Once all players Call/Fold, the game continues.

The Flop: 3 Community Cards are dealt face-up in the center of the table. Community Cards are used by all players, in combination with their Hole cards, to develop the best possible poker hand.

Second Betting Round: This round of betting begins with the original Small Blind bettor. Remember that all bets/raises must be equal to the low-end stakes of $2.

The Turn: A 4th Community Card is dealt face-up.

Third Betting Round: Same as the last, except that all bets/raises increase to match the high-end stakes of $4 from here on out.

The River: A 5th and final Community Card is dealt face-up. Each player now has all 7 cards with which to develop the best possible 5-card poker hand.

Fourth Betting Round: This is the final round of betting, conducted in the same manner as the previous round.

The Showdown: Many times, all players will Fold by this point, revealing an instant winner. However, if two or more active players remain, the hand will go to a Showdown. Active players will combine 5 of the 7 cards available to develop the highest possible 5-card poker hand. The highest ranking hand wins the entire pot. In the case of an exact tie, the winners split the pot evenly.

Poker Hand Ranks (highest to lowest)
Royal Flush (Ace-high straight suited)
Straight Flush (straight suited)
4 of a Kind (4 cards of the same value)
Full House (3 of a Kind + 1 Pair)
Flush (all cards suited)
Straight (all cards in sequence)
3 of a Kind (3 cards of the same value)
2 Pair (1 Pair + 1 Pair)
1 Pair (2 cards of the same value)
High Card (none of the above combinations)