Texas Hold'em rules for beginners

The setup

A standard 52-card deck is used, with four suits that are all equal in value. A dealer button moves one seat clockwise after every hand. The two players to the left of the button post forced bets called the small blind and the big blind. These blinds create a pot worth fighting for before anyone sees a card.

Every player receives two face-down cards, called hole cards. Only you see yours.

The four betting rounds

1. Preflop. After the hole cards are dealt, betting starts with the player to the left of the big blind and moves clockwise. The big blind is the amount to match to stay in.
2. Flop. Three community cards are dealt face up. A round of betting follows, starting with the first remaining player to the left of the button.
3. Turn. A fourth community card is dealt, followed by another betting round. Bets are usually larger now.
4. River. The fifth and final community card is dealt, followed by the last betting round.

If two or more players remain after the river betting, there is a showdown and they reveal their hands. If everyone else folds at any point, the last player takes the pot without showing anything.

Your options when it is your turn

• Fold: give up your hand and your claim to the pot. You put in nothing more.
• Check: pass without adding chips. This is possible when you face no outstanding bet, including the big blind preflop if nobody has raised.
• Bet: put chips in first during a round.
• Call: match the current bet.
• Raise: increase the current bet. Others must then call, raise again, or fold. Table rules set the minimum raise, which is generally at least the size of the previous bet or raise.

Practice play in AI Poker Teacher uses practice chips only. Nothing here involves real money.

Position and the button

Position means where you sit relative to the button, and so when you act. After the flop, the player closest to the left of the button acts first and the button acts last. Acting last is an advantage because you see what everyone else does before you decide. Beginners often ignore this, but it is a good reason to play more cautiously from early seats and a little more freely from late ones.

Heads-up caveat: when only two players are dealt into a hand, the button posts the small blind and acts first preflop, then acts last on every later round. This does not change the order in a multi-player hand just because everyone except two players folds.

Best five of seven

You have seven cards available at showdown: your two hole cards and the five community cards. Your hand is the best five of those seven. You may use both hole cards, one, or none.

Playing the board: if the five community cards make a hand that none of your hole cards improve, you "play the board." If every remaining player is also playing the board, they all have the same hand and split the pot evenly. If the best hand is shared by several players, the pot is split, and any chip that cannot be divided equally is awarded according to house rules. Suits never break ties. See poker hand rankings for how kickers decide close hands.

A worked hand

You hold Ah Kd. The flop is Ks 7c 2d. You have a pair of kings with an ace kicker. A player bets and you call. The turn is 9h and both players check. The river is Kc, giving you three kings. Your opponent shows Qs Jh, whose best five cards are K K Q J 9, a pair of kings. Your three of a kind beats one pair, so you win the pot.

Notice you did not need to use your ace in the final hand's category, but it still matters as a kicker: your five cards are K K K A 9.

Common beginner mistakes

• Forgetting that you can use fewer than two hole cards, and missing a better board hand.
• Thinking a higher suit wins a tie. It does not.
• Calling because you have already put chips in. Chips already in the pot belong to the pot, not to you.
• Ignoring position and acting without noticing who is still to act behind you.
• Misreading a flush or straight on the board that anyone can use.