The rules of Texas Hold’em are not complicated. Any beginner can learn the basic principles of the game in just 10 minutes. This game can be described as “easy to learn, hard to master.” Essentially, it’s traditional poker, where each player starts with two face-down (“pocket”) cards. It’s typically played with 2 to 10 players at the table. The objective is to win chips by having the best five-card hand or by convincing other players to fold.
There are four betting rounds, with five community cards dealt face up to form the “board” and bets placed.
Community cards can be used by any player, along with their “hole” cards, to make the best five-card poker hand. The hole cards can be used in full, in part, or not at all.
According to poker rules, the winning hand is the best five-card combination from either five community cards or two private cards held by each player.
Brief rules of Texas Hold’em
- The button moves from right to left to the next player. This person is designated as the dealer for the current hand, and two players to his left make mandatory bets (small blind and big blind).
- All players are dealt two cards.
- Preflop. The first betting round takes place, where players see only their two cards.
- Flop. Three community cards are dealt to the table for all players to see. Another round of betting takes place.
- Turn. Another card is added to the community cards. Another round of betting takes place.
- River. One more card is added, bringing the total number of cards on the table to 5. A final round of betting takes place.
- At all stages of the betting, if there is only one player left in the hand and the others have folded, then he takes the pot, and the remaining rounds are not held.
- Showdown. If there are still players in the hand after the final round on the river, they must reveal their pocket cards one by one. The strongest poker combination is then determined to decide who takes the pot in this hand.
- The dealer’s button is then passed to the player sitting to the left, and the entire dealing process is repeated.
Complete rules of action at the table
Before the cards are dealt in a poker hand, two players sitting to the left of the button must place mandatory bets known as the small and big blinds. The small blind is half the size of the big blind.
These bets are needed so that the players in the hand have something to fight for. In a cash game, the size of the blinds is determined by the limit at which the game is played at a given table. Traditionally, the table limit is designated as 100 big blinds. For example, at an NL10 ($10 No Limit) table, the blinds will be $0.05 and $0.10. Thanks to the blinds, there is always money in the pot.
After this, each player is dealt two cards face down, and the game begins. In Hold’em, as in other types of online poker, players have the opportunity to take several different actions:
FOLD. “Folding” in poker means refusing to play a hand in response to a bet or raise from an opponent. When a player folds, they discard their cards, removing them from play. Once a player has folded, they cannot participate in the current hand.
CHECK. If no one has made a bet in the current round, a player can check. Basically, a check is when a player passes his turn to the next person sitting on the left without making a bet. It doesn’t mean he is giving up on the game, it’s just a decision not to bet in that round.
BET. If there are no bets in the current round, the player can make a bet. In this case, he sets the price for continuing the game. The players sitting after him decide what to do: throw away the cards (fold), equalize the bet (call), or raise again (raise). The minimum bet in the game is the big blind.
CALL. If a bet has been placed in the current round, a player can match it by calling and adding an equal number of chips to the pot, which should be equal to the last player’s bet or raise.
RAISE. In the current betting round, if a bet has already been made, a player can raise it by placing a higher bet. To be eligible to win the pot, all other players must either call the raise or re-raise. If they don’t want to do this, their only option is to fold their cards. In No-Limit Hold’em, there are no restrictions on the size and number of raises.
Betting rounds
There are four betting rounds in which players can take actions: preflop, flop, turn, and river.
Preflop
After all players have received their cards, each of them decides what they will do. They can choose to fold their cards and refuse to compete for the pot, make a call of one big blind, or raise by at least two big blinds to continue the game.
The first player to speak is the one to the left of the big blind. Then, the action moves from player to player in a clockwise direction. If no raises were made before the flop, then the last action belongs to the player in the big blind. If a player makes a raise, the game continues with each player taking their turn until all players have taken their action.
At the end of the betting round, all players’ bets are collected into one common pot, which will be used for the remaining streets – flop, turn, and river.
Flop
Three community cards are placed on the table, called the flop. As you can see in the picture, the community cards are located in the middle of the table and are available for everyone to see.
Players can use these cards to create their own combinations, but they cannot take them into their hand or exchange their cards for flop cards. These cards are available to all players who continue to play in the hand.
Betting on the flop starts with the first active player to the left of the button. This player could be the one in the small blind if they didn’t fold during the preflop. The button is the last player to act on the flop.
Players have the same options as on the preflop, with one exception: if no one has placed a bet, the player can check and pass the move to the next player without adding anything to the pot.
Turn
After the flop, a fourth community card, the turn, is dealt on the table, which all players also use to form their combinations.
Another round of betting follows the same scheme as on the flop. It starts with the first active player, located clockwise to the left of the player on the button.
Four cards placed face up on the table provide enough information for players to make decisions and evaluate their chances of winning.
River
Once the river card is revealed, players assess their final hands and proceed with a final round of betting.
All money invested by players in the pot is added to the current pot, and the game moves to the final stage.
Showdown in Texas Hold’em
In poker, players who have called all bets on the previous streets participate in the final round of the game known as the showdown. This is when the winner is determined and takes the pot. All players reveal their card combinations at this stage.
The winning hand in poker is the strongest five-card combination a player can make from all the cards available. In other words, a player can use all five community cards, one of their own cards and four community cards, or two pocket cards and three table cards to form their hand.
Important! The winning combination is always determined by five cards. If two players have the same combinations by four cards, the so-called Kicker comes into play – this is the highest unpaired card.
There are also situations when the game does not reach the showdown. This happens if a player bets or raises on one of the streets, but none of their opponents dare to call. In this case, the player who made the last bet takes the pot, and they may not have to show their cards.
Who shows their cards first in a poker showdown?
When there are multiple players remaining in the game, the player who placed the last bet is the first to reveal their cards. If there were no bets made on the final round of betting (the river), the first player clockwise from the dealer button shows their hand first.
After the pot is awarded to the player who wins the hand, the next hand begins. The dealer button moves clockwise to the next player, blinds are posted, new cards are dealt face down, and new betting for the pot begins.
