Texas Hold'em Poker Rules

Posting Blinds | Your Cards | First Betting Round | The Flop
The Turn | The River | The Showdown

A game of Texas Hold'em poker goes as follows:

The two players to the left of the dealer button place initial bets on the table. This is called posting the blinds. When you first sit down at a table, you must wait for the big blind to arrive at your position. This happens naturally, because the button moves one position to the left (clockwise) after each hand. Alternatively, to get dealt in immediately, you can post, that is, put in a blind the same size as the big blind. If you post, you get dealt in right away and on succeeding hands.

The blinds are live bets which must be called by the other players. Sometimes in tournaments, all players also are required to post a bet called an ante. These are both used to help stimulate action in the game.

The dealer shuffles up one complete deck of 52 playing cards and deals them out clockwise to the players. Each player is dealt two cards face down. These are called your hole or pocket cards.

There is a round of betting starting with the player to the left of the two who posted the blinds. This round is usually referred to as the pre-flop. The amount bet depends on what type of game it is. (Click here for more information about betting structures)

Much like most games of poker, players can check, raise, or fold. In limit games there is limit of how many bets and raises are allowed.

After the betting round ends, the dealer discards the top card of the deck. This is called a burn card. Historically, this was done to prevent players from cheating by marking the backs of cards, and subsequently being able to know what card is going to be flipped over next.

The dealer then flips the next three cards face up on the table. These cards are called the flop. These are community cards that anyone can use in combination with their two pocket cards to form a poker hand.

There is another round of betting starting with the player to the left of the dealer.

After the betting concludes, the dealer burns another card and flips one more onto the table. This is called the turn card or sometimes 4th street. Players can use this sixth card now to form a five card poker hand.

The player to the left of the dealer begins another round of betting. In limit poker games, this is where the bet size doubles.

Finally, the dealer burns a card and places a final card face up on the table. This is called the river. Players can now use any of the five cards on the table or the two cards in their pocket to form a five card poker hand.

There is one final round of betting starting with the player to the left of the dealer.

Finally, all of the players remaining in the game are given the chance to reveal their hands. This begins with the player to the left of the last player to call. This is called the showdown.

The player who shows the best hand wins the pot. Sometimes two or more players show equal hands and split the pot. Click here for more info on who wins and about split pots.

Posting Blinds | Your Cards | First Betting Round | The Flop
The Turn | The River | The Showdown