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How to play › Texas Hold'em

How to Play Texas Hold'em

Two cards in your hand, five in the middle — make your best five-card hand. No-limit tables, play free.

The goal

Make the best five-card poker hand — or bet hard enough that everyone else folds. You're dealt two private cards (your "hole" cards). Then five community cards are turned face-up in the middle, shared by everyone. Your final hand is the best five cards you can make from your two plus the five in the middle.

Blinds and the deal

Before the cards, two players post forced bets to build a pot: the small blind and the big blind (on our bot tables, 1 and 2). The dealer button rotates each hand so everyone takes their turn posting.

The four betting rounds

• Pre-flop — after you see your two hole cards.
• The flop — the first three community cards are dealt, then betting.
• The turn — a fourth community card, then betting.
• The river — the fifth and final community card, then the last round of betting.

On your turn you can check (bet nothing, if no one has bet), call (match the current bet), bet or raise, go all-in with your whole stack, or fold and give up the hand. Because our tables are no-limit, you can push your entire stack in on any betting round. If players are all-in for different amounts, the extra chips form side pots automatically.

Showdown

If two or more players are still in after the river, hands are revealed and the best five-card hand takes the pot. If everyone folds to a bet, the last player standing wins without showing.

Hand rankings (strongest first)

Hand	What it is
Straight flush	Five in a row, all one suit
Four of a kind	All four of one rank
Full house	Three of a kind + a pair
Flush	Five of one suit
Straight	Five in a row, mixed suits
Three of a kind	Three of one rank
Two pair	Two different pairs
One pair	Two of one rank
High card	None of the above

The Ace is the highest card, but it also plays low to make the smallest straight, A-2-3-4-5 (the "wheel").