Texas Hold’em Rules
Driven by the popularity of televised poker, Texas Hold’em (more commonly, ‘Hold’em’) has become the world’s most popular poker game, both in live casinos and online at PokerStars. We’ll go into more detail below, but here are the key points you need to know:
- Every player is dealt two cards, for their eyes only
- The dealer spreads five cards – three at once, then another, then another – which can be used by all players to make their best possible five-card hand
- Before and after each card(s) is revealed, players take turns to bet. To stay in the hand and see the next card, all players must have put the same amount of chips in the pot as each other
- The best poker hand wins the pot
It’s a simple game to learn, yet has the potential to be played with a seemingly infinite variety of strategies, tactics and nuance.
The Rules of Texas Hold’em
Before you begin playing Hold’em, you’ll want to learn the rules. In Hold’em, each player is dealt two private cards (known as ‘hole cards’) that belong to them alone. Five community cards are dealt face-up, to form the ‘board’. All players in the game use these shared community cards in conjunction with their own hole cards to each make their best possible five-card poker hand. In Hold’em, a player may use any combination of the seven cards available to make the best possible five-card poker hand, using zero, one or two of their private hole cards. To view the rankings of poker hands, visit the poker hand ranks page.
The four major variations of Hold’em are distinguished from each other by their betting limits:
- Limit Texas Hold’em:There is a pre-determined betting limit on each round of betting.
- No Limit Texas Hold’em: A player can bet any amount, up to all of their chips.
- Pot Limit Texas Hold’em: A player can bet any amount, up to the size of the pot.
- Mixed Texas Hold’em: The game switches between rounds of Limit Texas Hold’em and No Limit Texas Hold’em.
Each of these Hold’em variations are available to play on PokerStars for free (play money) or for real money.
How to Play Texas Hold’em
To learn to play Hold’em using a hands-on method, PokerStars offers free poker games in the poker room. To start practicing your poker skills, just visit the free poker download page, install the award-winning poker software, and you’ll be learning Hold’em in no time.
However, if you’d rather familiarize yourself with the rules of Hold’em first, then these instructions should help.
The Blinds
In Hold’em, a marker called ‘the button’ or ‘the dealer button’ indicates which player is the nominal dealer for the current game. Before the game begins, the player immediately clockwise from the button posts the “small blind”, the first forced bet. The player immediately clockwise from the small blind posts the “big blind”, which is typically twice the size of the small blind, but the blinds can vary depending on the stakes and betting structure being played.
In Limit games, the big blind is the same as the small bet, and the small blind is typically half the size of the big blind but may be larger depending on the stakes. For example, in a $2/$4 Limit game the small blind is $1 and the big blind is $2. In a $15/$30 Limit game, the small blind is $10 and the big blind is $15.
In Pot Limit and No Limit games, the games are referred to by the size of their blinds (for example, a $1/$2 Hold’em game has a small blind of $1 and a big blind of $2).
Depending on the exact structure of the game, each player may also be required to post an ‘ante’ (another type of forced bet, usually smaller than either blind, posted by all players at the table) into the pot.
Now, each player receives his or her two hole cards. Betting action proceeds clockwise around the table, starting with the player ‘under the gun’ (immediately clockwise from the big blind).
Player Betting Options
In Hold’em, as with other forms of poker, the available actions are ‘fold’, ‘check’, ‘bet’, ‘call’ or ‘raise’. Exactly which options are available depends on the action taken by the previous players. If nobody has yet made a bet, then a player may either check (decline to bet, but keep their cards) or bet. If a player has bet, then subsequent players can fold, call or raise. To call is to match the amount the previous player has bet. To raise is to not only match the previous bet, but to also increase it.
Pre-Flop
After seeing his or her hole cards, each player now has the option to play his or her hand by calling or raising the big blind. The action begins to the left of the big blind, which is considered a ‘live’ bet on this round. That player has the option to fold, call or raise. For example, if the big blind was $2, it would cost $2 to call, or at least $4 to raise. Action then proceeds clockwise around the table.
Note: The betting structure varies with different variations of the game. Explanations of the betting action in Limit Hold’em, No Limit Hold’em, and Pot Limit Hold’em can be found below.
Betting continues on each betting round until all active players (who have not folded) have placed equal bets in the pot.