Texas Hold’em Poker

Goal

This is Texas Hold'em, no limit, at a table of six: you and five opponents. Win chips by having the best hand at the end, or by making everyone else fold.

How a hand goes

• Before the cards, two players post forced bets called blinds: the small blind (SB, 5) and the big blind (BB, 10). The button (BTN) moves one seat clockwise every hand.
• Everyone gets two private cards, face down. Yours are shown to you only.
• Preflop: betting starts with the player left of the big blind and goes clockwise.
• Flop: three shared cards are turned up, then a second round of betting.
• Turn: a fourth shared card, then betting. River: a fifth shared card, then the last betting.
• Showdown: the players still in show their cards. The best five-card hand, made from any of the seven cards (your two and the five shared), takes the pot.
• If everyone else folds, the last player left wins the pot without showing cards.

Hand ranks, best first

• Straight flush: five cards in a row, all the same suit (an Ace-high one is a royal flush).
• Four of a kind: four cards of the same rank.
• Full house: three of one rank and two of another.
• Flush: five cards of the same suit.
• Straight: five cards in a row of mixed suits. The Ace counts high (10 to Ace) or low (Ace to 5).
• Three of a kind: three cards of the same rank.
• Two pair: two different pairs.
• One pair: two cards of the same rank.
• High card: none of the above; the highest card counts.
• When hands are equal the highest remaining card (the kicker) decides. A hand that is still equal splits the pot.

Your moves

• Fold: give up the hand. You lose what you already put in.
• Check: pass without betting, when nobody has bet in this round.
• Call: match the current bet.
• Raise: make the bet bigger. Stack chips on the pile (5, 10, 25 or 50) and press Raise; the number under the Raise chip is the total you will have in this round. The shortcuts set Min, half the pot, the pot or All in.
• A raise must be at least as big as the last raise in the round (before the flop, the first raise is at least the big blind). If you cannot afford that, you can still go all in.
• All in: bet every chip you have. You cannot be forced out and you can only win from each player as much as you put in.

The tags next to the names

• BTN: the dealer button. This player acts last after the flop, the best place to be.
• SB: the small blind, left of the button. BB: the big blind, next to it. Both post their bet before the cards.
• With only two players left, the button is also the small blind. It acts first before the flop and last after it.

All in and side pots

• When a player is all in for less than the others, the pot splits. The main pot is the part everyone put in; only the players in it can win it.
• Chips bet beyond that go into a side pot for the players who can still call. Each pot goes to the best hand among the players in it.
• A bet that nobody can call is returned to the player who made it.
• When hands tie, the pot is split. A chip that cannot be divided goes to the first winner left of the button.

Free play

• Everyone starts with 1000 chips (100 big blinds). Chips are only for fun: if you go broke you are topped up to 1000 for the next hand, and so are the opponents.
• The opponents play differently from each other. Nobody tells you how; learn it by playing.

Keyboard shortcuts

• F fold, C check or call, R raise.
• 1, 2, 3, 4 add a 5, 10, 25 or 50 chip to the raise; Backspace takes one back.
• M, H, P, A pick the minimum, half the pot, the pot or all in.
• Enter or Space deals the next hand.