Welcome to the table. Texas Hold’em is the most common poker game in home games and casinos because the basic mechanics are simple enough to learn quickly. Still, if you are sitting down with friends for the first time, you need more than just the names of the cards. You need to know exactly what happens before a hand starts, who acts first, when the cards come out, and how a hand actually ends.
This guide focuses entirely on the rules. Once you understand how a hand flows, you can check out our hand rankings page to learn which hands win at showdown. I also highly recommend using EasyPokerPlay to play hands against bots for free. Practicing specific setups with custom parameters is the absolute fastest way to turn these rules into muscle memory.
Types of Hold’em games
The card game itself remains identical across these formats, but the betting limits change the strategy significantly.
| Game type | What it means |
|---|---|
| Limit Texas Hold’em | There is a strictly predetermined betting limit on each round |
| No Limit Texas Hold’em | A player can bet any amount up to all of their chips |
| Pot Limit Texas Hold’em | A player can bet any amount up to the current size of the pot |
The deck and card notation
Texas Hold’em uses a standard 52-card deck. There are four suits and thirteen ranks in each suit.
Ranks are 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (T), Jack (J), Queen (Q), King (K), and Ace (A).
The table setup
The dealer button (D) marks the nominal dealer. The two players to the left are the Small Blind (SB) and Big Blind (BB).
How a hand is dealt
The board is revealed in stages. After each stage, there is a round of betting.
What each player can do
| Action | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Check | Pass the action (only if no one has bet yet) |
| Bet | Put chips in when no bet exists yet |
| Call | Match the current highest bet |
| Raise | Increase the current bet |
| Fold | Discard your hand and leave the pot |
Who acts first?
Position is everything in Hold'em. The order of action depends on the street:
- Preflop: Action starts with the player to the left of the Big Blind.
- Postflop: Action starts with the first active player to the left of the Dealer.
How betting works
To stay in the hand, all players must match the highest bet on the table.
Showdown
If more than one player remains after the River betting round, cards are revealed. The best five-card hand wins. If you are beat, you can "muck" (fold face down) without showing.
All-in Rules
If you have fewer chips than required to call, you can go "All-in." You remain in the hand but can only win the portion of the pot you contributed to.
Quick Summary Checklist
- Blinds are posted.
- Hole cards are dealt.
- Preflop betting round.
- The Flop (3 cards) + betting.
- The Turn (1 card) + betting.
- The River (1 card) + betting.
- Showdown or awarding the pot.
Wrapping up
Now that you know the flow, practice is the next step. Use EasyPokerPlay to run through these streets against bots so the betting order and board stages become second nature.