Texas Hold’em is the poker variant that most people picture when they picture poker: two cards you keep to yourself, five in the middle for everybody, and a table full of players insisting their poker face is world class.
It is one of the most popular poker variants in the world, and while the structure is simple to learn, it leaves room for a seemingly endless variety of strategies and tactics. Texas Hold’em sits among the poker games available through the PokerStars software, and different ways to play it can be found via the online poker homepage, alongside other poker variants on the Poker Games page.
Bets, Payouts & Rules
Every hand of Texas Hold’em follows the same shape. Learn the sequence once and the rest becomes familiar.
- Each player is dealt two private cards, known as hole cards.
- The dealer spreads five community cards: three at once, then another, then another. These are available to every player still in the hand.
- Before and after cards are revealed, players take turns to act. To stay in the hand and see the next card, players must have matched the action of the others, unless a player is already all-in.
- The best five-card poker hand wins the pot. Any combination of the seven available cards may be used, including zero, one or two hole cards.
The Blinds and the Button
A marker called the button (or the dealer button) shows which player is nominally the dealer for the current hand. The player immediately clockwise from the button posts the small blind, the first forced bet, and the next player clockwise posts the big blind, typically the larger of the two forced bets.
Depending on the structure, players may also be required to post an ante, another type of forced bet placed by everyone at the table. Once the blinds are posted, hole cards are dealt and action begins with the player under the gun, immediately clockwise from the big blind.
Player Betting Options
As with other forms of poker, the available actions are fold, check, bet, call and raise. Which ones are open to you depends on what the players before you have done.
- If nobody has bet, you may check (decline to bet while keeping your cards) or bet.
- If someone has bet, you may fold, call or raise.
- To call is to match the previous bet. To raise is to match it and increase it.
The Betting Rounds
- Pre-Flop: after seeing their hole cards, players may fold, call or raise the big blind. Action begins to the left of the big blind and moves clockwise.
- The Flop: three community cards are dealt face-up. Betting begins with the active player immediately clockwise from the button, with checking available if nobody has bet.
- The Turn: a fourth community card, sometimes called Fourth Street, is dealt face-up, followed by another round of betting.
- The River: the fifth and final community card, also known as Fifth Street, is dealt face-up, and the same betting rules apply as on the flop and turn.
- The Showdown: if more than one player remains, the last person to bet or raise shows their cards first. If there was no bet on the final round, the player immediately clockwise from the button shows first.
The best five-card hand takes the pot, and identical hands split it equally, because Hold'em rules state that all suits are equal. The button then moves clockwise, blinds and antes are posted again, and a new hand is dealt.
Hand Rankings
Texas Hold’em uses traditional high poker hand ranks, from strongest down:
- Royal Flush - 10 to A of the same suit
- Straight Flush - five cards of the same suit in consecutive numerical order
- Four of a Kind - four cards of the same rank, plus a side card or kicker
- Full House - three cards of one rank, plus two cards of another matching rank
- Flush - five cards of the same suit
- Straight - five cards in numerical sequence
- Three of a Kind - three cards of the same rank, plus two unrelated side cards
- Two Pair - two matching pairs, plus one side card
- One Pair - two cards of matching rank, plus three unrelated side cards
- High Card - no matching cards and no other hand type
Features & Bonus Rounds
Hold'em rules stay the same across betting structures, with a few differences in how betting works.
Limit Texas Hold'em
Betting follows pre-determined, structured amounts. Pre-flop and on the flop, bets and raises match the big blind, then increase on the turn and the river. Up to four bets are allowed per player in each betting round: a bet, a raise, a re-raise and a cap, which is the final raise.
No Limit Texas Hold'em
The minimum bet matches the big blind, and a raise must be at least as much as the previous bet or raise in the same round. There is no cap on the number of raises allowed.
Pot Limit Texas Hold'em
The minimum bet again matches the big blind, while the maximum is tied to the size of the pot, calculated as the active pot plus all bets on the table plus the amount the acting player must first call. There is no cap on the number of raises allowed.
Mixed Texas Hold'em
Here the game alternates between rounds of Limit Hold'em and No Limit Hold'em, with the blinds typically increased on the switch from No Limit to Limit for consistency. Just as you settle into one rhythm, the table changes the tune on you.
Starting Hand Notes
Suits carry no value pre-flop, so many opening combinations share the same value. A few hand groups are described as having generally strong playability:
- Top pairs - AA and KK are the premium starting hands, with QQ and JJ next, though caution is advised against heavy pre-flop action or when over cards appear on the flop.
- Small pairs - small to middle pairs such as 44 or 66 are often played in late position with the aim of hitting a set on the flop, and folding is recommended against a lot of pre-flop action or after missing the flop.
- Suited connectors - consecutive cards of the same suit, which can develop into straights or flushes post-flop.
- Suited aces - holdings with the potential to make straights and the nut flush, while blocking some of the ace combinations an opponent could hold.
Table position and the actions of opponents matter too. Heads up play against a single opponent typically involves a much wider range of starting hands than a multi-way pot.
Taste & Feel at Paddy’s
Texas Hold’em is all rhythm: hole cards, a pause, three cards on the felt, another pause, and the dealer button shuffling clockwise like it owns the place. Between the deals there is the quiet business of reading the board and watching how the action unfolds.
It suits players who enjoy clear structure with plenty of texture. The sequence is short enough to learn in one sitting, the situations rarely repeat, and the same five community cards mean something different to everyone looking at them.