The rulebook

How to play Texas Hold'em

Two cards of your own, five shared on the board, and four rounds of betting decide who takes the pot.

Step 1

The blinds and the deal

Before any cards go out, two seats post a forced bet — the 10 small blind and, to its left, the 20 big blind (always double the small). Every seat is then dealt two cards face-down, seen by nobody else, and starts the match on 200 chips.

Step 2

Preflop betting

Starting left of the big blind, each player in turn may call the big blind, raise it by 20, or fold. The big blind gets the last word on this street even if everyone else has only called — their own blind wasn't a voluntary bet, so they still get to check or raise it.

Step 3

The flop

Three shared community cards are dealt face-up in the middle of the table — the board, which every seat still in the hand can use. A round of betting follows: check (pass, only while nobody has bet), bet, call, raise, or fold.

Step 4

The turn

A fourth community card joins the board. Betting doubles from here — the same actions, at 40.

Step 5

The river

The fifth and final community card. One more round of betting at 40.

Step 6

Showdown

Two or more players still in once the betting closes means the best 5-card hand — built from any combination of your 2 hole cards and the board's 5 — wins the pot; the quick-reference drawer at the table has the full ranking, high card up to straight flush. If everyone else has folded, the last player left takes the pot without needing to show their hand at all.

Step 7

Winning the match

Chips carry from hand to hand, and the button (and both blinds) rotate one seat every hand. A seat that runs out sits out further hands but keeps its place at the table; play continues until one seat holds every chip, or — on the rare table that runs very long — 1000 hands are reached and the largest stack takes it. Betting is fixed-limit: 20 preflop and on the flop, 40 on the turn and river, capped at 4 raises a street, so it can never run away. No-limit betting is a real way to play this game — it just isn't offered here. Only a contested showdown reveals hands here — a hand nobody called stays face-down forever.