• How To Play Poker Texas Holdem For Beginners
• How To Play Texas Holdem Poker Simple
• How Do You Play Texas Holdem For Beginners

Starting with Opening Hands. The hands that you choose to go into battle with in Texas Hold’em are. Poker is a beautiful game. It’s not simply about the cards; you play the player, read the body language, analyse betting patterns, take risks and make tough decisions. Stay ahead of the game, be sure to read the other poker guides or view the basics of Texas hold ‘em poker video to recap. How to determine the winning hand in Texas Hold'em.

How to Play Poker

The basic rules of poker are quite easy to understand. Mastering it, is an ongoing challenge. This article will look at the basic rules of how to play Texas Holdem, the most popular form of poker played today, online and in casinos.

BasicBetting Options

In Texas Hold’em, you have the a range of betting options available.

Bet

You can put money in the pot, as much as you want. The maximum you can bet is what you have in front of you. The minimum is the size of the big blind.

Check

This is where you invest nothing but are still involved. You’re “checking” to the next person to see what action they take.

Call

This is where you match your opponents bet or call the big blind, depending on what has happened in front of you.

Fold

This is where you get out of the hand and pot. Your cards go into the muck and you cannot win the pot.

Raise

This is where you invest more than the bet in front of you. For example, Player A raises to $20 and you decide to re-raise to $50.

The Blinds

The blinds are forced bets, to the left of the dealer button before a hand is played. They are known as the small blind and big blind with the big blind typically double the small blind. These forced bets create a pot and entice action. This is especially true for tournaments where blinds will increase at timed intervals. This is not the case for cash games where the blinds will remain the same.

Rounds of Texas Hold’em

Texas Hold’em has four rounds of betting. As you progress through the different stages, your hand strength can change based on the community cards.

Pre-Flop

Everyone at the table is dealt two cards, face down. Do not reveal these to anyone else at the table. You will use these cards in combination with the 5 community cards to make the best 5 card poker hand. This round if betting is known as pre flop as it is before the first 3 community cards are dealt. The best possible hand at this point is two aces aka pocket aces.

The Flop

After the 1^st round of betting is completed, and there are at least 2 matched bets, 3 community cards are dealt face up. The active players use these cards in combination with their hole cards to make the best hand. Players can bet, check or fold.

The Turn

A 4^th community card is dealt face up, and another round of betting is completed. There are now 6 possible cards available to you and you’re making the best possible five card hand. The turn is considered the most important part of Texas Hold’em as the bet sizing is larger and there is only one card left to come.

The River

The 5^th and final community card is dealt face up. If bets are called between at least 2 players – the hole cards are turned face up to reveal who has the best 5 card poker hand. The river is where the action concludes. Players need to calculate whether they think their hand is stronger than their opponents or not.

Poker Hand Rankings

There are many different hand strengths in poker. The groups below highlight the different strengths. The best groups very rarely occur so don’t worry if you don’t get them when you play.

Royal Flush

Ten to ace in sequential order and of the same suit.

Straight Flush

Any other sequential order and of same suit.

Four of a Kind

Four cards of the same rank.

Full House

Three of a kind and a pair.

Flush

Any five cards of the same suit but not in sequence.

Straight

Any fives cards in sequence but not same suit.

Three of a Kind

Three cards of the same rank.

Two Pair

Two different pairs.

One Pair

Two cards of the same rank.

High Card

No pair so the highest card plays.

Basic Poker Tips

• Ace is both high and low for straight but highest pair.
• Two aces in the hole aka pocket aces are the best hand mathematically before the flop is dealt.
• Position is key in Texas Hold’em as you get to see how the action happens before you make a decision. For this reason, experts are keen to play their button as often as possible.
• Play selectively, play few hands but bet them aggressively when you are starting out. The best hands are 8-8 through to A-A, Ace Jack, Ace Queen, Ace King and King Queen.

Learning how to play poker is quite easy but becoming a long term winner is very difficult. We are keen to help players improve their game and bankroll through different forms of poker training based on the individuals needs.

If you’re keen to learn without spending much, register for a no deposit bonus or play on soft poker sites. We recently completed a Unibet Poker review, they’re site is very beatable. We also have a free downloadable poker cheat sheet for you.

The PDF rules of poker are provided below for Texas Hold'em, the most popular poker variant.

To get the PDF printable version of this post click on of the unlock buttons below:

Other popular game variants include Pot Limit Omaha and 5card draw.

Table Of Contents

• Texas Hold'em Rules
• Poker hand Ranking System

Texas Hold'em Rules

In Texas hold’em each player is dealt two cards called their ‘hole’ cards. Hole cards can only be seen and used by one person. The dealer button (denoted by a circular disc) is allocated before hands are dealt to allow for the positioning of the forced bets: small blind and big blind, and also to determine who will act first and last in the hand.

There are a total of four betting rounds: preflop, the flop, the turn and the river. The betting rounds will be detailed further on.

If you have a dedicated dealer (such as at a casino), the button will still move around the table so everybody will eventually have to pay the blinds. The button doesn't show who is dealing in a casino; the button shows who is seated the best position at the table and where the blinds are located.

If you just sat down (out of turn) you will have to pay the blinds in order get dealt a hand; otherwise, you can wait until the blinds come around to your seat. You should wait for the blinds as paying twice is unprofitable.

The size of the blinds depends on the limit; for example, a 1/2 No Limit Hold'em game would have a big blind of $2 and a small blind of 1$. The small blind and big blind are located to the left of the button.

This is shown in the case of a 6 handed game below:

The blinds are an important part of the rules of poker. These forced bets which give players an incentive to play; in other words ‘spice up' the game. Without the blinds, there would be no penalty for waiting and only playing strong hands. The only hand worth playing would be two aces!

Antes are another form of forced bets which are often used the increase the action in some game types such as tournaments and deep stacked cash games.

Pre-flop – The First Betting Round of Hold'em

The first round of betting takes places starting at the position to the left of the big blind (early position or EP). Each player has the following options:

Raise: you can raise the current bet to increase the stakes of the game. If someone has raised before you, you can still raise again – this is call a reraise. The minimum size you can raise is typically chosen to be twice that of the last bet or raise.

Call: When you do not want to raise the stakes but want to continue with your hand you can match the current bet.

Fold: If you feel your hand is not worth playing any further you can fold your hand and not commit any more bets.

Check: If there is no bet placed you can check in order to see the next card. This isn't applicable to preflop. The blinds are the first bet preflop which must be matched with a call or raised, if a player wishes to continue.

Players must act in sequence until all bets are settled. The button must always act last in the first sequence. This first round of betting called ‘pre-flop’ occurs before the flop is dealt.

The Flop – The Second Betting Round

The second round of betting takes places after the three community (shared) cards called the flop are dealt. The action will be to the first player to the left of the dealer. This is opposed to the action starting to the left of the big blind during the preflop betting round.

The first player to act has the option to check bet or fold; although you should not fold when you can check for free. The betting rounds after the flop is dealt is collectively known as ‘post-flop’.

The Turn – The Third Betting Round

The third round of betting occurs after the second community card has been dealt. This card is called the turn. Again, the action starts with the active player to the left of the dealer.

The River and Showdown – The Fourth Betting Round

The fourth and final round of betting occurs when the dealer turns over the river card. The hand ends with the showdown of hands or if there is only one live hand remaining (the other player(s) have folded).

At showdown, the player with the best five card combination from their hole cards and the community cards wins the final pot. Split pots occur when both players have the same best five cards.

After each hand, the button moves to the left of the dealer. This means everyone will have to play the blinds at some point.

Texas hold'em rules are quite simple; however the strategies involved in winning are ever evolving.

The rules of Texas Hold'em are just the beginning so head to our home page if you want to improve your poker game!

home page if you want to improve your poker game!

home page if you want to improve your poker game!

Keep this printable PDF hand ranking sheet beside you when you play to make sure you don't make a mistake!

The strongest to weakest hands of them poker hand hierarchy are listed below with the poker hands probability listed in brackets. After reading there will be no debating with friends ‘who has the best poker hand'!

1. Royal Flush (649,739:1)
   Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten all of the same suit – the strongest poker hand.

2. Straight flush (72,192:1)
   Five sequential cards all of the same suit. The second strongest poker hand.

3. Four of a kind (4,164:1)
   Four cards of the same value. Also known as ‘quads’.

4. Full House (693:1)
   Three cards of the same value plus two cards of the same value. Usually a winner!

5. Flush (508:1)
   Five cards all of the same suit.

6. Straight (254:1)
   Five cards in sequential order. Also referred to as a run.

7. Three of a kind (46:1)
   Three cards of the same value.

8. Two pair (20 : 1)
   Two sets of two cards with the same value. A common hand which can sometimes win at showdown!

9. One pair (1.37:1)
   Two cards of the same value.

10. High card
    The player with the highest card wins. Unlikely to be a winner so play with care.

Kickers

A kicker is much like a decider when both players have similar hand types. For example, if player A has A♠Q♣and Player B has A♣J♠ and the board is A♥K♦5♠ 7♠ 2♦ both players will have top pair with an ace but player A will win because the Q♣ is a better kicker than the J♠. The best five cards in this scenario are AAQ75 whereas the losing hand has AAJ75. A kicker is a very important concept when trying to understand the poker hand ranking system.

Split pots

Split pots occur when both players get to showdown and have the same hand rank. The pot is divided up equally between each of the players.

To take an example, if player A has K♠J♥ and player B has K♣Q♠ on a A♥K♦5♠5♣2♠ board both players will have two pair and ace kicker as their best hand (A, K, K, 5, 5). Therefore the pot will be split between the two players.

Alternatively, if the neither player can improve the hand on the board it will also be a split pot. If the board is A♥K♦5♠5♣K♠ and player A has Q♠J♣ and player B has 4♣4♠ then both players will be playing the board and thus it will be a split pot. Hence, you cannot have three pair in poker and the best two pair will play.

Beyond hand rankings

How To Play Poker Texas Holdem For Beginners

The rules of poker and poker hand rankings are just the beginning for you on your poker journey. One of the core skills in poker is being able to determine whether your hand is strong or weak on a relative scale as opposed to an absolute scale. For example, three of a kind is extremely strong on a board with no flush or straight possibilities but very weak on a board with 4 to a flush or 4 to a straight (e.g. T♥9♥8♥7♥ – any heart or J or 6 beats three of a kind).

One key point to note is that in poker all suits are of the same value. An Ace high flush of hearts is the same value as an Ace high flush of spades.

The first step to this is remembering if a flush beats a straight, or whether a straight flush beats quads; the next stage is figuring out your hand's relative strength based on how your opponent is playing, his tendencies and most importantly the board texture as noted.

How To Play Texas Holdem Poker Simple

Additionally, we should take into account the following factors:

• How many players are in the pot
• The amount of chips in the pot
• The size of the bets made

If you can understand the poker hand rankings and relative hand strength you will be ahead of the game; get ready to beat all your friends and opponents at your home games and casinos! Want to accelerate your poker learning? Check out or poker training sites post for the quickest ways to improve your poker game.

If you are new to poker and are unsure of what hands you need to play, check out our starting hand charts over at the poker cheat sheet webpage.

Check out this poker hand ranking video for a more visual format of everything we said:

Make sure you check out the fan favorite posts:

How Do You Play Texas Holdem For Beginners

Poker cheat sheet for beginners & Best Poker Books