How to play Texas Hold’em Poker

If you are visiting this Texas Holdem poker site, and/or curious about poker, don’t feel put off by the poker jargon and references you don’t understand. We all started somewhere, so for the uninitiated – an absolute beginners’ guide to Texas Hold ‘em, the most popular poker game in the world, which can be played at quality internet poker sites like Poker770.

Poker Hand Rankings

A poker hand is made up of the best five-card hand. In Texas Hold ‘em, you can use a combination of your two personal cards (also known as pocket cards, or hole cards) and the five community cards (the board) that everyone can share to make the best five-card hand.

Here are the hand rankings in poker, from high to low:

Straight Flush

Five suited cards in sequential order: T♥9♥8♥7♥6♥
The highest is an ace-high straight flush, called a Royal Flush.

Four-of-a-Kind

Four cards of the same rank: Q♥Q♦Q♣Q♠
This hand is commonly called “quads”.

Full House

Three cards of the same rank and two cards of another rank: 2♥2♦2♣9♥9♣
This hand is known as a “Boat” colloquially.

Flush

Five cards of any rank in the same suit: 4♣6♣J♣A♣9♣
If two players share a flush, the highest card determines the winner.

Straight

Five cards of any suit in sequential order: K♦Q♣J♥T♣9♠
The “nut straight” is A-K-Q-J-T and is known as “Broadway.”

Three-of-a-Kind

Three cards of the same rank in a five-card hand: 8♥8♣8♦XX
If you have a this hand with a pair in your hole cards, it is known as a set. If you have one card in your hand and two on the board, it is called trips.

Two Pair

Two cards of the same rank, and two of a different rank in a five-card hand: 5♦5♣K♠K♣Xx
Two pair is the most common winning hand at showdown in No-Limit Hold ‘em.

One Pair

Two cards of the same rank in a five-card hand: 9♥9♣XXX
The highest of the excess cards is known as the “kicker.” The highest kicker wins if two players have a pair. This applies to one pair and three-of-a-kind also.

High Card

Any five-card hand that does not correspond to the above rankings
The highest card in the hand determines the name. For example, a High Card hand of K♥9♦6♣3♠2♣ is called “King High.”

Texas Hold ‘em Betting Structure

In Texas Hold ‘em, there are four rounds of betting:

• Pre-flop, when players are dealt their first two hole cards.
• Flop, when the first three board cards are dealt.
• Turn, when the next board card is dealt.
• River, when the final board card is dealt.

In Limit Hold’em games, players have a fixed betting structure. A $5/$10 Limit Game, for example, has forced “blind” bets of $2 and $5 (small blind and big blind) and a small bet of $5 followed by a big bet of $10. Players can bet and raise in $5 increments until $20 before and on the flop; and in $10 increments up to $40 on the turn and river.

In No-Limit Hold’em games, players can bet and raise as much as they like at any point. For example, a $1/$2 game with blinds of $1 and $2 will have a minimum bet of $2 and a maximum bet of all your chips.

Pot-Limit Hold’em games play much like No-Limit, but players are restricted to betting and raising the size of the pot.

Before the flop, after the blinds have posted their chips and all players have two pocket cards, the player to the left of the big blind begins. After valuing your hand you can either fold, bet (if no-one has bet before you), call or raise.

• Fold: Discard your hand and put no further money in the pot.
• Call: Match the previous bet or raise.
• Raise: Increase the size of the bet by at least the size of the previous raise.
• Bet: If you are first to act, you may bet. This must be at least the size of the big blind or the big bet.
• Check: A check means you are still playing, but have not put in a bet. If all players on a post-flop betting round check, the next card is dealt.

A betting round is complete when all but one player has folded, or when at least two players have matched bets – by capping the pot or by calling a bet or raise.

A pot is won in two ways in Texas Holdem:

All players but one fold, leaving him to collect the pot without showing his cards (he may show them if he chooses).

Two or more players reach a showdown after the betting is complete on the river or two players have bet all their money on earlier rounds. In this situation the best five-card hand wins the pot.

Example Hand
Joe, Chris, Jack, Martin and Matt are playing a game of $10/$20 Fixed Limit Hold’em at a leading online poker room. Each player has $500.

Joe posts a $5 small blind and Chris a $10 big blind. Matt, as dealer (or “on the button,” a reference to the dealer button used to indicate the betting rotation) then deals two cards to each player, beginning with Joe and dealing clockwise. When each player has two cards, the betting commences.

Jack folds his cards but Martin likes his a little better and decides to call, matching the $10 big blind. Matt raises to $20 and Joe folds. Chris calls the extra $10 and so does Martin.

With the betting round complete, making a $65 pot, Matt “burns” the top card of the deck (discards it face-down) before dealing the first three community cards – the flop – on the table. The burn is used to prevent cheating.

The flop is: J♥ 2♣ 2♥

With the action going clockwise from the small blind, Chris is first to act and checks. Martin bets $10 and Matt raises to $20. Chris folds and Martin 3-bets to $30. Matt calls to create a pot of $125 and then burns a card before dealing the fourth card, the turn.

The turn makes a board of: J♥ 2♣ 2♥ 8♥

Martin checks and Matt bets $20 – on the turn and river, remember the betting is in increments of the big bet. Martin calls for a pot of $165 and the river is dealt.

The river completes the board: J♥ 2♣ 2♥ 8♥ 4 ♠

Martin bets $20 and Matt raises to $40. Martin 3-bets to $60 and Matt 4-bets to $80, which caps the betting. Martin cannot raise any further and calls for a final pot of $325 – since he has been called, Matt must showdown first. He turns over J♣J♦ for a full house, jacks over twos. Martin shows A♥ K♥ for an ace-high flush that loses to Matt’s boat.

More Texas Holdem Instructions

How to bet in poker
How to semi-bluff
How to steal blinds

Where to play online Texas Holdem