How to Play Texas Hold'em
Texas Hold'em looks complicated from the outside but a single hand follows a simple, repeatable shape. You get two private cards, five shared cards arrive on the table in stages, and you bet between each stage. Your job is to make the best five-card hand, or to convince everyone else to fold before the cards are shown. Here is exactly how a round unfolds.
The cards: hole cards and community cards
Every player is dealt two face-down hole cards that only they can see. Over the course of the hand, five community cards are dealt face-up in the middle and shared by everyone. At the end you build your best five-card hand from any combination of your two hole cards and the five community cards. You can use both hole cards, one, or even none (playing "the board") if that makes your strongest hand.
Not sure which five-card hands beat which? See Poker Hand Rankings.
The blinds and the four betting rounds
To start the action, the two players left of the dealer button post forced bets called the small blind and big blind (for example R5 and R10). These seed the pot so there is always something to play for. The hand then runs through four betting rounds: preflop (after the hole cards), the flop (first three community cards), the turn (fourth card) and the river (fifth card). On your turn you can check (pass when no bet is owed), bet, call (match a bet), raise (increase it) or fold (give up the hand). A full round-by-round breakdown is in Poker Betting Rounds.
The showdown
If two or more players are still in after the river betting, the hand goes to a showdown: remaining players reveal their cards and the best five-card hand wins the pot. If everyone else folds at any point, the last player standing wins without showing anything. Once you have the basics, sharpen your decisions with Texas Hold'em Strategy Basics, and browse more in the casino games guides, the wider guides library or back to the Poker Guide.
Frequently asked questions
How many cards do I get in Texas Hold'em?
You are dealt two private hole cards. Five community cards are shared in the middle, and you make your best five-card hand from any combination of your two cards and those five.
What are the blinds?
The small blind and big blind are forced bets posted by the two players to the left of the dealer button before any cards are seen. They create an initial pot so there is always something to compete for.
What does it mean to check?
Checking means passing the action to the next player without betting, which is only allowed when no one has bet ahead of you in that round. If a bet is owed, you must call, raise or fold instead.