These are the standard published rules (Bicycle Cards' Texas Hold'em page), rewritten in plain words. This page explains how the game works — the betting limits and table rules of any real game are set by the house running it.
What the game is
Texas Hold'em is the most played poker game in the world. Each player gets two private cards, and five shared cards are dealt face up in the middle. Everybody builds the best five-card poker hand they can out of the seven cards available to them. The last player left in the hand — or the best hand at the showdown — wins the pot, the pile of chips bet during the hand.
Players: 2–10 at one table. What you need: one standard 52-card deck, chips, and a marker (the "button") to show the dealer position.
The order of a hand
- The button. A marker shows who "deals" this hand. It moves one seat clockwise after every hand. In a home game the player with the button usually shuffles and deals; in a casino a house dealer deals and the button just marks position.
- The blinds. Before any cards are dealt, the player immediately clockwise from the button posts the small blind, and the next player posts the big blind, usually twice the small blind. These are forced bets that give every hand a pot worth playing for.
- Hole cards. Each player is dealt two cards face down. Only you may look at yours.
- First betting round (pre-flop). Betting starts with the player clockwise from the big blind. Each player in turn may fold (give up and lose what they have put in), call (match the biggest bet so far), or raise (match it and add more). The round ends when every player still in the hand has put in the same amount, or only one player is left.
- The flop. The dealer sets the top card of the deck aside face down (the "burn card") and deals three cards face up in the middle. These are community cards — they belong to everybody. A new betting round runs, starting with the first player still in the hand clockwise from the button. From here on, a player may also check — bet nothing and pass the turn — if nobody has bet yet in that round.
- The turn. One more burn card, then a fourth community card face up. Another betting round.
- The river. One more burn card, then the fifth and last community card face up. The final betting round.
- The showdown. Players still in the hand turn their cards up. Each makes the best five-card hand from any mix of their two hole cards and the five community cards — both, one, or even neither (playing the board). The best hand wins the pot. Identical hands split it.
The poker hands, best to worst
- Royal flush: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, all one suit.
- Straight flush: five cards in a row, all one suit.
- Four of a kind: four cards of one rank.
- Full house: three of a kind plus a pair.
- Flush: five cards of one suit, not in a row.
- Straight: five cards in a row, mixed suits. (An Ace can be low: 5-4-3-2-Ace is a straight.)
- Three of a kind.
- Two pair.
- One pair.
- High card: no hand at all — your highest card plays. Ties are broken by the next cards in the hand, the "kickers."
Ways to play it differently
- Omaha (labeled variant): each player is dealt four hole cards instead of two, and your final hand must use exactly two of your hole cards and exactly three of the community cards — never one, never four.
- Pineapple (labeled variant): each player is dealt three hole cards and throws one away right after the flop betting round. In Crazy Pineapple, players hold all three until after the turn betting round, then discard one.
- Betting structure (table setting, not a different game): in no-limit games a player may bet any amount up to all their chips; in limit games bets and raises come in fixed sizes; pot-limit caps a raise at the current size of the pot. Most home games are no-limit with small blinds.
Official rule or house rule?
An ante instead of blinds: House custom for home games. Some kitchen-table games skip blinds and have everyone put a small fixed ante in each hand. The published game runs on blinds; an ante-only game is a friendly simplification.
"I have to use both my hole cards": Not in Hold'em. You may build your hand from any five of the seven cards — including all five community cards, which means everybody plays the board and the pot is split. (Needing exactly two hole cards is Omaha's rule, not this game's.)
Showing your cards when everyone else folds: Your choice. If all other players fold, the winner takes the pot without ever showing their cards.
String bets: In formal games, a bet must be announced or pushed forward in one motion — dribbling chips in one at a time is not allowed. Home games are usually relaxed about it. That is a house standard, not part of the core rules.
Common questions
Can the dealer also play?
Yes, in home games the player with the button plays a normal hand while dealing. In casinos the button is only a position marker and an employee deals.
What does the big blind do if nobody raises?
The big blind still gets a turn: they may check (their blind already matches the bet) or raise.
Two of us have the same pair. Who wins?
The pair is compared first, then the side cards (kickers) from highest down. If all five cards match exactly, the pot is split.
What is "all in"?
A player who bets all their remaining chips. They can win only the part of the pot they have matched; bets beyond that form a side pot for the other players. A player can never be forced out of a hand merely for having fewer chips.
Source: Bicycle Cards, "Texas Hold'em Poker" — bicyclecards.com/how-to-play/texas-holdem-poker/ — read in full and rewritten in our own plain words. Variants are labeled with their names as published in the standard poker references.