How to Play Texas Hold 'Em

Guide Note: How to Play Texas Hold 'Em contains tips, tricks and advice on how to play Texas Hold 'Em poker.

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Thanks to Celebrity Poker Showdown and the World Series of Poker, Texas Hold 'Em is the most popular type of poker played in the United States. Unlike draw or stub games, Texas Hold 'Em is a community game in which players hands are made up of a shared set of community cards and two "hole cards," which only the player sees.

What You'll Need

All you need to stage a poker game is a deck of cards and a convincing poker face. There are, however, a few other accessories you might consider to make your home game more like the ones you see on TV or at the casino:

Poker Chips and Playing Cards (Photo by Lance Palmer)

One Deck of Playing Cards: They don't need to be "casino quality." The standard 52-card deck found at any drug or grocery store is more than adequate for even the most serious poker lovers.
Poker Chips: In many poker games, betting is done with colored chips standing in for different cash amounts. You can also bet cash, potato chips, M&Ms, your clothes or whatever else you have available. Poker chips can be purchased at most Wal-Marts, Targets and game stores.
Dealer Button: A "dealer" button is a white chip that shifts from player to player every time a new round of playing starts. In a home game, it indicates who the dealer is for the next round as the responsibility for dealing shifts from person to person. In a casino, the button indicates who bets last. A dealer button is not essential to home play, but you will see the buttons used in casinos.

Texas Hold 'Em Basics

Poker is a general term which encompasses several types of card games. All poker games, however, adhere to the same basic rules and use similar terminology:

Playing poker with friends. (Creative Commons photo by Thomas Duesing)

Number of Players: 2-10
Goal: To win the "pot" based on the best possible combination of 5 cards.
Dealing: Each player is "dealt" a certain number of cards. The number of cards dealt depends on the type of poker game being played. Dealing can occur all at once or over a series of rounds between which betting takes place.
Hands: A hand refers to your cards and the best combination you make from those cards. A "hand" also refers to a round of dealing and betting over a single pot. Once someone wins the pot, a new hand begins.
Betting: Players either bet or fold (quit playing) based on the quality of their hand versus their best guess as to what other players are holding.
The Pot: The aim of poker is to win the pot. The pot is all the money bet over the course of a hand. Once a pot is won, a new hand begins.

Texas Hold 'Em Hand Rankings

The following poker hand rankings determine who the winner of a round of Texas Hold 'Em poker is:

Suits

There are four suits - diamonds, hearts, spades and clubs.

The suits are of equal value.
Suits come into play in flushes and straights. The type of flush or straight you have and its worth is dependent on whether the cards in your hand are of the same or different suits.

Suits: Hearts, Diamonds, Spades, Clubs

Rank

Every card is marked by a letter or number which determines its rank.

The highest ranking card is the Ace (A).
There are numbered cards (2-10) and face cards.
The face cards include the Jack, Queen and King (J, Q, K).
The Ace (A) can stand-in as the lowest card in the hand A-2-3-4-5.
The cards are ranked from highest to lowest as follows: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.
The rank of cards will help determine the winner of a tie when two players have similar hands.

Card Rank: Highest (Ace) to Lowest (2).

Hand Rankings

Just as individual cards have ranks, hands or combinations of cards have ranks. These hand rankings determine who is the winner of a round of poker:

1st: Royal Flush: Five highest ranking sequential cards of the same suit.

2nd: Straight Flush: Five sequential cards of the same suit.

3rd: Four of a Kind: Four cards of the same rank. Any suit.

4th: Full House: Three cards of the same rank, plus two of the same rank. Any suit.

5th: Flush: Any five cards of the same suit.

6th: Straight: Five cards of sequential rank. Any suit.

7th: Three of a Kind: Three cards of the same rank. Any suit.

8th: Two Pair: Two pairs of cards of the same rank. Any suit.

9th: One Pair: Two of the same cards. Any suit.

10th: High Card: When no one has a pair or higher, the highest card wins.

Note: If two players have the same hand, the player with the higher ranking cards wins. For instance, a full house with Aces high (A-A-A-8-8) beats a full house with 9s high (9-9-9-2-2).

Five of a Kind

If you are playing a variant of poker which uses a "wild card," a "five of a kind" hand is possible. The "wild" card is typically a joker or a random card called at the beginning of the game. Five of a Kind is the highest ranking hand. It even beats the almighty Royal Flush.

Five of a Kind: Four of a Kind plus a Wild Card.

Kickers

When there is a tie between hands with the exact same cards, the "kicker" or the highest ranking card that does not make up the hand serves as a tiebreaker. For instance, an A-A-K-6-8 beats A-A-9-5-3 because the King is higher than a 9.

Kickers: King beats the 9.

Texas Hold 'Em Dealing

The person who deals the cards to other players is called the "dealer." Casinos have designated dealers. At home, each player takes a turn dealing. How many cards are dealt and whether those cards are dealt face up or down depends on the game being played. The following rules guide the dealing ritual:

The cards are shuffled before they are dealt. (Photo by Ajay Singh)

Shuffling: Before dealing the cards, the dealer shuffles them thoroughly. You can read up on a variety of shuffling techniques at Pokerology.com.
Cutting: After shuffling the cards, the dealer hands the cards to the person sitting on his or her left. That person cuts the cards - meaning he or she picks up approximately half of the cards from the top of the deck and places them next to the lower half. The dealer restacks the cards - completing the cut. The top half of the card deck is now at the bottom.
Dealing Order: The dealer deals the first round of cards clockwise, beginning with the person to his or her left. Each player is dealt one card at a time.
Betting: In a home game, the dealer always bets last. At a casino, the dealer does not play. The betting order shifts between each round with the person betting last indicated by a dealer chip.

Texas Hold 'Em Betting

Betting in poker starts before the cards are dealt and continues with each round. Any limits on the amount that can be bet or raised vary from game to game.

How much will you bet? (Creative Commons photo by Zanaca)

Blinds: The First Bet

The first bet occurs before any cards are dealt. Each player must put some money into the pot to begin the game.

Blinds: A blind is a mandatory bet that the two players sitting immediately to the dealer's left must make to start play. The person immediately next to the dealer puts in the "small blind." The person to that person's left puts in the "big blind," which is twice the amount of the small blind. After the cards are dealt, every player, including the one who put in the small blind, must bet at least the amount of the big blind to stay in the game.

Your Turn to Bet

When it's your turn to bet, you can do one of the following:

Fold: If you have a weak hand or the betting is too high, you should fold. Folding is dropping out of play. You surrender your cards by placing them face down on the table and sliding them to the dealer.
Check: If no one else has bet yet, you can check, which is essentially passing on your turn without folding. If everyone checks in the first round of draw game, it gives you the opportunity to draw a new card without risking any money or dropping out of the game. To check, simply say "check" or tap the table.
Call: Calling means that you bet the same amount as the previous player. If other players have already bet, the minimum you can do to stay in a hand is call the previous bet.
Raise: Raising means you bet more than the previous player.