Rules of Texas Hold'em

Texas Hold'em is the most played form of poker in the world, and the rules fit on one page. Each player gets two private cards. Five shared cards are dealt face up in the middle. You make the best five-card hand you can from those seven, and either show down the best hand or get everyone else to fold.

What you need

2 to 9 players. Six is a comfortable home game; nine is a full table.
One 52-card deck. No jokers.
Chips. Everyone starts with the same number. In a home game they are just a way of keeping score.
A dealer button. A disc that marks who deals. It moves one seat to the left after every hand, so everyone takes a turn in each position.

The blinds

Before any cards are dealt, the two players to the left of the button put in forced bets called blinds:

the small blind, usually half the big blind;
the big blind, the base unit of the game. Blinds of 25/50 mean a small blind of 25 and a big blind of 50.

The blinds make sure every hand has something in the pot to fight over. Without them, everyone could wait for aces forever.

How a hand is played

A hand has up to four betting rounds, called streets.

1. Preflop

Everyone gets two cards face down: your hole cards. Betting starts with the player to the left of the big blind and moves clockwise. Each player can fold (give up the hand), call (match the big blind or the current bet) or raise (increase it). The big blind acts last, and may check if nobody raised.

2. The flop

Three community cards are dealt face up. From now on, betting starts with the first player still in the hand to the left of the button. If nobody has bet yet, you can check (pass the action on) or bet.

3. The turn

A fourth community card, then another round of betting.

4. The river

The fifth and last community card, then the final round of betting.

The showdown

If two or more players are still in after the river betting, they show their cards. Each makes the best possible five-card hand from their two hole cards and the five on the board, using both, one or even none of their own cards. The best hand wins the pot. If hands are exactly equal, the pot is split.

The board plays. If the best five cards are all on the table, everyone still in the hand has the same hand, and the pot is split.

If everyone but one player folds at any point, that player wins the pot without showing their cards.

A worked example

You are dealt A♠K♠ and raise. Ana calls with Q♥Q♣. The flop comes K♦7♠2♠: you have a pair of kings and four spades. The turn is 9♥. The river is Q♠, which gives you a flush (A♠K♠Q♠7♠2♠) and Ana three queens. A flush beats three of a kind, so you win.

You can step through this exact hand, card by card, on the Home Game front page.

Betting rules worth knowing

Minimum bet is one big blind.
Minimum raise is the size of the previous bet or raise. If someone bets 100, you can raise to at least 200.
No-limit means you may bet all your chips at any time. That is called going all in.
All in and side pots. You can only win from each opponent as much as you put in. If a short stack goes all in and two bigger stacks keep betting, the extra chips go into a separate side pot that the short stack cannot win.
Acting in turn. Wait for your turn. Acting early gives information away, and in a casino your action may be binding.