Texas Hold’em Poker Rules  

Texas Holdem is played using a standard 52-card deck and is usually played by between two to ten players. Players in Texas Hold’em are dealt two hole cards, facing down, followed by five community cards, facing up. To create the strongest five-card hand possible, players can use any combination of the board and hole cards. 

Texas Holdem Poker Hand Rankings 

To understand how to win in Texas Holdem Poker, you need to know and understand what are the poker hand rankings. This system is used in most poker games, including Texas Holdem, Omaha Poker, and many others. Once you get familiarized with poker hand rankings, you will know what beats what in most types of poker. 

The list of poker hands is ranked from the stronger to the weakest possible hand: 

1. Royal Flush 
2. Straight Flush 
3. Four of a Kind 
4. Full House 
5. Flush 
6. Straight 
7. Three of a Kind 
8. Two Pair 
9. One Pair 
10. High Card 

Royal Flush is the highest hand in poker while the High Card is the lowest hand in poker. You may learn more about the poker hand rules with our poker hands chart here. 

Dealing of a Hand in Texas Holdem Poker 

The Blind  

In Texas Hold’em, there is a marker known as the “button” or “dealer button” to indicate which player is the nominal dealer of the current game. The person immediately clockwise from the button posts the “small blind,” the first compulsory wager, to start the game. The “big blind,” which is normally twice as large as the small blind but can vary depending on the stakes and betting structure being used, is posted by the player who is immediately clockwise from the small blind.  

Each player is now dealt two hole cards. Starting with the player “under the gun,” betting activity moves clockwise around the table clockwise from the big blind. 

The Betting Options 

Like other variations of poker, Hold’em allows players to fold, check, bet, call, or raise. Which alternatives are actually available dependent on what the previous players did. 

• Fold — To give up on your current bets by folding your cards face down on the table and giving up. Only fold if you believe your hand is too feeble to stand a chance against the others. 
• Check — To pass. If you don’t take any action (bet), there is nothing to call. You can choose to “check” if you don’t feel like placing a bet. The action will return to you to call, fold, or raise if there is further action from your fellow players in the betting round. 
• Bet —  Depending on the quality of the hand, the player places a specified quantity of bets (or bluff if they are feeling adventurous). The amount must exceed the big blind. 
• Call — To put in the bare minimum of bet amount into the pot required to keep a hand active. 

• Raise — To bet more than what is necessary to call, requiring other players to do the same. 

Pre-Flop 

After receiving the hole cards, each player has the option to call or raise the big blind with his hand. The big blind, which is a “live” bet in this round, is where the action starts to the left of it. The choice is the player’s to fold, call, or raise. For instance, if the huge blind was $2, calling would cost $2, and raising would cost at least $4. After that, the table is circled clockwise. 

The Flop 

On the board, three cards are now dealt face-up. This is referred to as “the flop.” The three cards that appear on the flop in Hold’em are community cards that can be used by any remaining players in the hand. Starting immediately clockwise from the button, bets on the flop are placed by the active players. The betting options are the same as pre-flop, but if no one has placed a bet before, players may choose to check, which moves the action clockwise to the next player. 

The Turn  

The “turn” is dealt face-up on the board after the betting for the flop round is over. The turn is the fourth community card in Hold’em. The next betting round starts with the player who is currently active and moves clockwise from the button. 

The River  

The “river”, which is the fifth and last community card is dealt face-up on the board once all betting for the turn round has concluded. The same betting guidelines that were described above for the flop and turn also apply for this round of betting, starting with the active player immediately clockwise from the button. 

The Showdown  

If more than one player remains after the final betting round, the remaining players reveal and compare their hands to decide who the winner or winners are. Players can use any five of the seven cards they have at showdown (two hole cards and five community cards) to form the highest hand and win the pot. The pot will be split equally between the players with the best hands if there are identical hands. According to the poker rules of Texas Hold’em, all suits are equal. 

A new hand of Hold’em is ready to be played when the pot is given. New hands are dealt to each player, the button now advances clockwise to the following player, and blinds and antes are once more posted. 

Betting limits of Texas Hold’em  

Just like most poker games, there are three different betting limits for Texas Hold’em too. However, the general rules of playing Texas Hold’em are the same in these three betting limits.  

1. Limit Texas Hold’em 

In Limit Hold’em, bets are placed in pre-set, structured amount. All bets and raises both before the flop and after it are the same size as the big blind. All bets and raises double in size on the turn and river. Each betting round in Limit Hold’em allows each player to place a maximum of four bets. This consists of a bet, a raise, a re-raise, and a cap (final raise). 

2. No Limit Texas Hold’em 

This is the most played version of Texas Hold’em around the world. The big blind amount serves as the minimum bet in No Limit Hold’em, but players are always free to place additional wagers up to their whole stack. 

No Limit Hold’em requires that the minimum raise be at least equal to the preceding bet or raise from the same round. For instance, if the first person to act wagers $5, the second person must match that wager with a minimum of $5 (for a total wager of $10). There is no cap on the number of raises permitted. The maximum raise that you can make is determined by your stack size, which means you are allowed to “all in” your chips, which makes this version of Texas Hold’em so exciting.  

3. Pot Limit Texas Hold’em 

The smallest bet in Pot Limit The big blind in Hold’em is the same size as the pot size, although players can always bet more. 

Minimum raise: In the same round, the raise must be at least equal to the prior bet or raise. For instance, if the first person to act wagers $5, the second person must match that wager with a minimum of $5 (for a total wager of $10). 

Maximum raise: The pot’s size, which is determined by adding the active pot to any other bets made at the table as well as the amount that the active player must call before raising.