How to Play Texas Hold’em | Texas Hold’em Rules
Learning how to play Texas Hold’em poker online? Texas Hold’em rules make it easily the most popular poker variation on the internet. Typically, poker players will gain most of their experience, and the education and bumps in the road that entails, through playing Hold’em poker.
Texas Hold’em rules are straightforward but not necessarily easy to grasp if you have never played poker or a community cards game before. Once you’ve grasped the rules, you’ll be ready to go find the best online poker sites and try your hand at fast-paced Texas Hold’em action online!
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How to Play Texas Hold’em Poker
Want to learn about the gameplay and Texas Hold’em rules? This section will be a brief introduction to how the game advances. Every hand will be different but the same steps will occur each time!
Posting Blinds
At every Texas Hold’em table, the dealer rotates clockwise from hand to hand. For any given hand, the two players directly to the left of the dealer are forced to make a minimal bet, known as blinds (because you are betting without seeing your cards).
The player to the dealer’s immediate left is the small blind, which is an amount that is half of the big blind, posted by the person sitting to the small blind’s left. Who posts the blind rotates each hand, but when you are the small or big blind, the hand’s strategy changes.
Pre-Flop
Once the blinds are posted, the dealer will give every player two cards, face down. These are known as your “hole” cards and will be the only ones that differentiate your hand from any other opponents.
After hole cards are dealt, the first round of betting commences. To stay in the hand, a player must at least match the amount of the big blind already on the table. They can also choose to raise the starting amount, requiring any challenger at least match the amount of the raise.
Non-blinds can fold at this stage without committing any bets to the pot.
The Flop
Once the first round of betting is complete, the dealer with place three cards in the middle of the table, face up. These three cards are called “the flop” and are community cards. Therefore, these any of these three cards can be combined with one or both of a players hole cards to make the best poker hand possible.
After the flop, there is another round of betting. Each player can fold without risking any more chips, can check the current pot and stay in the hand so long as no other player bets, or can raise the pot. Once someone has bet, to see another card, each player must at least match that amount of chips.
The Turn
After the flop and subsequent betting round, if more than one player is still in the hand, the dealer will show another card, face-up, in the center of the table. This card is known as “The Turn” or “Fourth Street.” It is also a community card that can help any remaining players hand.
Another round of betting begins, where players can fold, check, or bet, based on table position and the action before them.
The River
Finally, the dealer will place a fifth community card in the middle, face up. This is “The River.” Each remaining player at the table now compiles the best five-card poker hand they can from their two hole card and the five community cards.
After the river card, there is a final round of betting. If more than one player calls the last bet, those players will reveal their cards and determine who has the strongest hand and therefore wins all the chips in the pot.
Hand Rankings in Texas Hold’em Poker
Texas Hold’em poker rules uses the same hand ranking as standard poker, with no wild cards. However, aces can be high or low, and start a straight running A-2-3-4-5. The following chart indicates the ranking of five-card poker hands, starting with the strongest:
| Texas Hold’em Online Hand Name | Cards | Example Hand |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | A, K, Q, J, 10 – same suit | 
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| Straight Flush | Five sequential cards – same suit |
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| Four of a Kind | Four cards of the same value, one of each suit – fifth card doesn’t matter |
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| Full House | Three cards of the same value, and a pair of an additional value |
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| Flush | Five cards of the same suit – any order |
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| Straight | Five sequential cards – any suit |
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| Three of a Kind | Three cards of the same value – other two cards don’t matter |
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| Two Pair | Two cards of the same value and two cards of a different value – fifth card doesn’t matter |
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| One Pair | Two cards of the same value – other three cards don’t matter |
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| No Pair | All five cards of different values and not all the same suit |
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Online Texas Hold’em Poker Games
Texas Hold’em poker is the most popular type of poker game available on the internet. But there are various ways the best online card rooms set up their Texas Hold’em games, each with slightly different gameplay and strategy.
Tournaments
The World Series of Poker Main Event tournament made Texas Hold’em famous and playing an online poker tournament is still a great way to win real money.
Because of the rules and set up, Texas Hold’em is especially well-suited to no-limit online tournaments.
Cash Games
The classic poker format, enjoyed between friends for decades, makes a smooth transition to online Texas Hold’em. Start and leave when you feel like it, at your own leisure.
Sit N Goes
A Sit N Go, or SNG, is an online poker creation that launches a game as soon as your table is full. You’ll play until are the last player standing or are out of chips.
Fast-Fold Poker
Interested in playing a lot of online Texas Hold’em poker hands in a short period of time? Fast-fold set ups mean you jump to a new table (and hand) as soon as you muck the cards in front of you.
Lottery Sit N Go
Lottery SNGs move rapidly, with a whole table starting and a winner being determined within 10 minutes. The twist is that the online poker site reveals a bonus prize for the winner that can be many times the buy-in, aka a lottery.
