How to Play Texas Hold’em

In Texas Hold’em each player gets two private cards, and five shared cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table: three on the flop, one on the turn and one on the river. There is a betting round before the flop and after each of those three deals. At the showdown, every remaining player makes the best five-card hand from their two hole cards plus the five community cards, using both, one or none of their own cards. The best hand wins the pot, unless one player bets and everyone else folds first. ^[2]

Players	2 to 10 per table [2]
Hole cards	2 per player, face down
Community cards	5: flop (3), turn (1), river (1)
Betting rounds	4: preflop, flop, turn, river [2]
Your hand	The best 5 of 7 cards, using 2, 1 or 0 of your hole cards [2]
Starting hands	1,326 two-card combinations, 169 different types [2][4]

Texas Hold’em rules in five steps

New to poker? Start with our poker basic rules, which explain betting actions, antes and side pots.

1. Post the blinds. The two players to the left of the dealer button post the small blind and the big blind. ^[2]
2. Deal two hole cards. Each player gets two cards face down, starting with the small blind; the button gets the last card. ^[2]
3. Bet preflop. The player to the left of the big blind acts first. The big blind counts as the opening bet, so you call it, raise or fold. ^[1]
4. Deal the flop, turn and river. After each one there is a betting round, started by the first active player to the left of the button. ^[2]
5. Show down. If two or more players are left after the river betting, they show their cards and the best five-card hand takes the pot. Then the button moves one seat to the left.

The button, the blinds and the positions

Where you sit in relation to the button decides when you act, and it changes every hand. Before the flop the blinds act last. From the flop on, the order resets: the first active player to the left of the button acts first and the button acts last. Players who act later see what the others did before deciding, which is why position is an important part of Hold’em strategy. ^[2]

The table below shows a full nine-player table, with seats counted clockwise from the button. The position names are the ones in the Poker TDA glossary. The order assumes nobody has folded yet. ^[1]

Seat	Position	Acts preflop	Acts after the flop
1	Small blind (SB)	8th	1st
2	Big blind (BB)	9th (last)	2nd
3	Under the gun (UTG)	1st	3rd
4	UTG+1	2nd	4th
5	Middle position (MP)	3rd	5th
6	Middle position (MP)	4th	6th
7	Hijack (HJ)	5th	7th
8	Cutoff (CO)	6th	8th
9	Button (BTN)	7th	9th (last)

With fewer players, early and middle positions are the first to go, while the button, the cutoff (the seat to the right of the button) and the blinds keep their names. ^[1] Heads-up (two players) is different: the button posts the small blind, gets the last card, acts first before the flop and last on every later round. ^[1]

The small blind is usually half the big blind, and the big blind is the minimum bet. If everyone just calls before the flop, the big blind still has the option to check or raise, because the blind is “live”. ^[2]

Example hand: Texas Hold’em street by street

This is a fictional no-limit hand at a six-player table. The blinds are 50 and 100 chips and every player starts with 10,000 chips. Player A is on the button, Player B is in the small blind and Player C is in the big blind. The other three players fold before the flop.

Preflop

Player A looks down at A♦ K♥ and raises to 300. That is a raise of 200 over the big blind, more than the minimum of 100. Player B holds K♠ Q♣ and calls by adding 250 to the 50 already posted. Player C holds 7♥ 6♥ and calls by adding 200. Each player has put in 300, so the pot is 900.

Flop: K♦ 8♣ 4♥

The dealer burns a card and deals three cards face up. Now Player B, the first active player to the left of the button, acts first. Player B checks and Player C checks. Player A bets 450, half the pot. Player B calls with a pair of kings. Player C has only a gutshot straight draw (a 5 would make 8-7-6-5-4) and folds. The pot is 1,800.

Turn: 2♠

Another burn, then one card. Player B checks. Player A bets 1,000 and Player B calls. The pot is 3,800.

River: J♣

The final board is K♦ 8♣ 4♥ 2♠ J♣. Player B checks, Player A bets 2,000 and Player B calls. The pot is 7,800 and the hand goes to a showdown.

Street	Board	Action	Pot after
Preflop	none	A raises to 300, B and C call	900
Flop	K♦ 8♣ 4♥	B, C check; A bets 450; B calls, C folds	1,800
Turn	2♠	B checks; A bets 1,000; B calls	3,800
River	J♣	B checks; A bets 2,000; B calls	7,800

Showdown

Player A made the last bet, so Player A shows first. ^[1] Each player picks the best five of their seven cards:

Player	Hole cards	Best five cards	Hand
A	A♦ K♥	K♥ K♦ A♦ J♣ 8♣	Pair of kings, ace kicker
B	K♠ Q♣	K♠ K♦ Q♣ J♣ 8♣	Pair of kings, queen kicker

Both players have a pair of kings, so the next-highest card decides: Player A’s ace beats Player B’s queen. The 4♥ and 2♠ do not play for either player, because only five cards count. Player B’s Q♣ and the two clubs on the board make only three clubs, two short of a flush. Player A wins the 7,800-chip pot and ends the hand with 14,050 chips; Player B is left with 6,250 and Player C with 9,700.

How the winning hand is chosen

Because everyone shares the same five board cards, Hold’em hands are often close, and many showdowns come down to which five cards actually play. Three rules cover almost every case:

• Only five cards count. A sixth or seventh card never breaks a tie, even if it is higher than your opponent’s.
• Your hole cards are optional. You can use both, one or none of them. ^[2]
• Suits never rank. Two hands made of the same ranks split the pot. ^[2]

These two boards show what that means in practice:

Board	Outcome	Hole cards
9♠ 9♦ 7♣ 7♥ A♣	Split pot: both play 9 9 7 7 A. The board’s ace is the kicker, so the king does not play	A: K♠ Q♦ B: J♥ 10♥
A♠ K♣ Q♦ J♥ 10♠	Split pot: both play the straight on the board	A: 5♦ 5♣ B: 9♥ 2♣

On the first board the king looks like a winning kicker, but two pair already uses four cards and the board’s ace is the fifth for both players. A player holding an ace would have won with two pair, aces and nines.

When you play the board, you still have to turn both hole cards face up to get your share. Throwing them away face down, even with a winning board, gives up your claim. ^[1] If a split pot leaves an odd chip, it goes to the first player to the left of the button. ^[1] The full order of hands and how kickers work in every category is in our poker hand rankings guide.

Limit, pot-limit and no-limit Hold’em

The cards and the order of play are the same in all three forms. What changes is how much you can bet. No-limit is the form played in the World Series of Poker Main Event, and limit was for many years the form usually found in live cash games in United States casinos. ^[2]

Structure	Bets and raises	Raise cap	At 50/100 blinds
Fixed limit	Fixed size: one big blind preflop and on the flop, two on the turn and river [2]	Yes, set by the house [1]	Bets of 100, then 200
Pot-limit	From one big blind up to the size of the pot after you call	No	First raise preflop: up to 350
No-limit	From one big blind up to all your chips	No	Any amount from 100 to all-in

In pot-limit the largest raise is the size of the pot including your call. ^[2] At 50/100 that works out as follows: the first player calls 100, which makes the pot 250, and can then raise by 250 more, for 350 in total. The Poker TDA example for blinds of 100 and 200 gives 700, the same calculation doubled. ^[1]

In no-limit and pot-limit, a raise must be at least as large as the largest full bet or raise already made in that round. ^[1] Our guide to betting structures in poker covers all three in more detail.

Hold’em rulings: what happens when something goes wrong

Many tournaments use the rules of the Poker Tournament Directors Association (TDA), a trade association that works toward a uniform set of tournament rules worldwide. These are Hold’em situations that come up often, with the 2026 TDA rule that settles each one. Cash games follow house rules, which are often similar but can differ. ^[1]

• A card is exposed during the deal (Rule 37-A). It is a misdeal if the dealer exposes one of the first two cards off the deck, or any two hole cards. Once there has been substantial action (two actions in turn where at least one puts chips in, or any three actions), a misdeal can no longer be called (Rules 37-D and 38).
• The flop has four cards (Rule 41-A). The floor is called, the four cards are mixed face down, one is picked at random as the next burn card and the other three are the flop.
• The flop was dealt without a burn (Rule 41-B). If nobody has acted yet, the three cards are mixed face down, one becomes the burn, and the flop is the other two plus the next card. If anyone has acted, even a single check, the flop stands.
• The flop, turn or river is dealt too early (Recommended Procedure 5). The burn card stays, the early card or cards go back into the remaining deck, which is reshuffled, and the street is dealt again without another burn.
• A short all-in does not reopen the betting (Rule 49-A). In no-limit and pot-limit, an all-in that is less than a full raise does not let players who already acted raise again. Example: with blinds of 50 and 100, Player A bets 1,000 on the flop and Player B calls. Player C goes all-in for 1,300, a raise of only 300. Players A and B may call the extra 300 or fold, but cannot re-raise.
• Raising in limit (Rules 49-B and 50). In limit, a short all-in reopens the betting for players who already acted only if it is at least half a full bet or raise. The house sets a cap on the number of raises, which applies even in a heads-up pot until only two players are left in the tournament.
• Playing the board (Rules 14-A and 20). You must turn both hole cards face up to win part of the pot.
• No “rabbit hunting” (Rule 30). When a hand ends early, the cards that would have come are not shown.
• The button in tournaments (Rules 34 and 36-B). Tournaments use a dead button: after a player is knocked out, the button can end up in front of an empty seat, so that the blinds keep moving in order and no player misses the big blind or posts it twice in a row.

General rules that apply to every poker game, such as acting in turn, string bets and the showdown order, are in our poker basic rules guide.

Cash games and tournaments

The rules of the hand are identical. The differences are around it:

	Cash game	Tournament
Chips	Worth their face value	Everyone starts with the same stack [2]
Blinds	Stay the same	Rise at the start of each new level [1]
Antes	Set by the house	Often added in later levels; the TDA recommends a single big blind ante [1][2]
Leaving	Any time	When you lose all your chips or win them all [2]
Rules	House rules	Often the Poker TDA rules

Some cash games also allow a straddle: the player to the left of the big blind voluntarily posts a live bet, usually twice the big blind. That player then acts as the big blind and gets the option to raise when the action comes back. ^[2]

Texas Hold’em vs Omaha

Omaha uses the same blinds, betting rounds and board as Hold’em. The difference is in the hole cards and how you must use them. ^[3]

	Texas Hold’em	Omaha
Hole cards	2	4
Cards you must use	Any 5 of 7: two, one or none of your own	Exactly 2 of your own plus 3 from the board
Common form	No-limit Hold’em (NLH)	Pot-limit Omaha (PLO)
Possible starting hands	1,326	270,725

The “exactly two” rule is the one to watch when you move from Hold’em to Omaha. If the board shows four hearts and you hold one heart, you have a flush in Hold’em but not in Omaha. Learn the rest in our guide to how to play Pot Limit Omaha.

A short history of Texas Hold’em

Little is known about who invented the game. According to Wikipedia, the Texas Legislature officially recognizes Robstown, Texas, as its birthplace and dates it to the early 20th century. Hold’em reached Las Vegas in 1963, when Corky McCorquodale introduced it at the California Club. After the World Series of Poker began in 1970, no-limit Texas Hold’em became the game of its Main Event. Television coverage with hole-card cameras, online poker and the 2003 Main Event win of online qualifier Chris Moneymaker are credited by many observers with a surge of interest in the 2000s. The Main Event had 839 entrants in 2003 and 8,773 in 2006. ^[2] For the wider story, read our history of poker.

Frequently asked questions

Do you have to use both hole cards in Texas Hold’em?

No. You make the best five-card hand from all seven cards, using both of your hole cards, one of them or none. That is the main rule that separates Hold’em from Omaha, where you must use exactly two. ^[2]

What happens if the board is the best hand?

Everyone still in the hand who cannot beat it “plays the board” and the pot is split between them. To get your share you must show both hole cards. ^[1]

What is the minimum raise in no-limit Hold’em?

The size of the largest full bet or raise already made in the round. With a 100 big blind, the minimum raise preflop is to 200. If someone raises to 300 (a raise of 200), the next raise must be to at least 500. ^[1]

What are the odds of being dealt pocket aces?

1 in 221. There are 6 ways to be dealt two aces out of 1,326 possible two-card hands. Any pocket pair comes 1 in 17 times (78 of 1,326), and two suited cards about 23.5% of the time (312 of 1,326). ^[4]

Can the big blind raise if everyone calls?

Yes. The big blind is a live bet, so when the action reaches it with no raise, the big blind can check or raise. ^[2]

Why does the dealer burn a card?

A card is burned before the flop, the turn and the river so that nobody can see the back of the next card to be dealt, in case it is marked. The burn is always one card per street. ^[1][2]

Keep learning

• Poker basic rules and gameplay: betting actions, antes, all-ins and side pots.
• Poker hand rankings, with the odds of each hand.
• Pot odds in poker: when a call is worth it.
• Short Deck Hold’em, the 36-card version of the game.
• Poker terms and slang.

Sources

1. Poker Tournament Directors Association, 2026 Poker TDA Rules, Version 1.0, September 7, 2026 (Rules 14, 18, 20, 21, 25, 30, 34, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 45, 49, 50, 53 and 56, Recommended Procedures 5 and 11, and the glossary of table positions).
2. Wikipedia, Texas hold ’em, accessed October 9, 2026.
3. Wikipedia, Omaha hold ’em, accessed October 9, 2026.
4. World Poker Federation, calculation of two-card and four-card starting hand combinations from a 52-card deck, October 9, 2026.

Written by the WPF Editorial Team with the help of AI tools, then checked and edited by our team. Last verified: October 9, 2026. Poker should be played for fun and within your means; you must be of legal age in your country to play for money.