Texas Hold'Em Rules

Texas Hold'Em is the most popular form of poker played today, both online and on land. It’s a seven card poker game with simple rules, but in spite of this, the game is fast, complex and takes a lot of practice to master. If you are not familiar with basic poker rules, check out our Rules of Poker section and explore the rest of this site further, as this page assumes you know how to play basic poker.

Texas Hold’Em rules are little more complex than a basic draw poker game. Most Texas Hold 'Em games start with the two players to the left of the dealer putting a predetermined amount of money into the pot before any cards are dealt. This is known as "posting the blinds." Most of the time the "first blind" (the player to the left of the dealer) puts up half the minimum bet, followed by the "second blind" putting up the full minimum bet.

Each player is then dealt two cards, face down, known as "hole cards." A round of betting then begins, starting with the player to the left of the blind bets and continuing clockwise around the table. During this and all subsequent betting rounds, players can check, call, raise, or fold on their turn. After the first round of betting three community cards, known as the “flop” are dealt face up in the center of the table and another round of betting ensues, beginning with the player to the left of the dealer. Then, another card, known as the “turn” or “Fourth Street”, is dealt face up, followed by another round of betting. After this, a fifth and final card, the “river” or “Fifth Street”, is dealt face up and a final round of betting takes place.

Players use any combination of the seven cards available to them - the five community cards as well as their two hole cards - to form a five card poker hand using their two hole cards and three of the community cards. After the final betting, all remaining players reveal their hands, beginning with the player who made the first bet or the player who made the last raise if that player is no longer in.