A step-by-step guide to Texas Hold'em, the game you will find in almost every card room and app. Read the six steps, follow one hand from the deal to the showdown, then see which hands to play and three numbers worth knowing when you start.
Take a seat and post the blinds. The two players left of the button put in the small and big blinds, forced bets that start the pot.
Get your two cards. Everyone is dealt two cards face down. Only you see yours.
Bet before the flop. Starting left of the big blind, each player folds, calls the big blind or raises.
The flop. Three cards go face up in the middle. Everyone uses them. Another round of betting follows, starting left of the button.
The turn and the river. A fourth card, then a fifth, each followed by a round of betting.
The showdown. Players still in show their cards. Each makes the best five-card hand from their two and the five on the board, and the best hand wins the pot.
On your turn you can fold, check when nobody has bet, call a bet or raise. The poker rules cover betting limits, all-ins and ties.
One hand, start to finish
Six players at a $1/$2 table. You are on the button.
Each street adds cards and then a round of betting. The new card on each street has a gold edge. Your two cards are yours alone; the five on the board are shared by everyone.
PreflopThe small blind posts $1 and the big blind posts $2. You are dealt A♥ J♠ on the button. The three players before you fold, and you raise to $5.pot $8
PreflopThe small blind folds. The big blind calls, adding $3 to the $2 already in.pot $11
FlopThe flop is K♦ J♥ 7♣, giving you a pair of jacks. The big blind checks, you bet $6 and the big blind calls.pot $23
TurnThe turn is the 2♠. Both of you check.pot $23
RiverThe river is the A♣, and you now hold two pair, aces and jacks. The big blind bets $12 and you call.pot $47
ShowdownThe big blind shows K♣ Q♦, a pair of kings. Your two pair is the better hand, so the pot is yours.pot $47
You win the $47 pot. On the flop your pair of jacks was behind the big blind's pair of kings; the ace on the river gave you a second pair. The best hand can change on every street until the last card.
Which hands to play
Most of your two-card starts should be folded. How many you play depends on your seat: the later you act, the more players have already folded and the fewer can still wake up with a better hand. Here is the share of the 1,326 starting hands each seat raises when everyone before it has folded, from the six-handed preflop charts at 100 big blinds:
The share of hands each seat raises first in, from the solved six-handed charts. The big blind is left out: it only acts first in when everyone else folds, and then the hand is over.
You are dealt a pocket pair 1 time in 17, and pocket aces 1 time in 221. Waiting for big pairs means folding almost every hand.
tell you how often a call has to win. Facing a bet of half the pot you need to win 25% of the time; facing a bet the size of the pot, 33%. The pot odds calculator works out any bet.
With one card to come, multiply your outs, the cards that would give you the best hand, by 2 to get your rough chance in percent; with two cards to come, multiply by 4. A flush draw has 9 outs, so about 36% on the flop. The outs calculator gives the exact figure.
Where to go from here
Learn the hand rankings until you can name the winner at a glance, then try the daily puzzle: five preflop decisions graded against the charts, the same for everyone each day.
