How to play Texas Hold'em
Build the best five-card poker hand—or win the pot before showdown by making everyone fold.
- Seats
- 2–9
- Private cards
- 2 per player
- Community cards
- 5
- Modes
- Straight play or Sit & Go
Setup and hand flow
Choose 2–9 seats and a $25, $50, $100, $250, or $500 buy-in. The dealer button rotates among funded players. Blinds post automatically, two private cards are dealt, and betting occurs before the flop, after the three-card flop, after the turn, and after the river.
Actions and all-ins
Fold gives up the pot; Check is legal when nothing is owed; Call matches the current bet but is capped by your stack. Bet or Raise to accepts a legal whole-chip target. Bet the Pot offers a legal pot-sized target. All in commits the remaining stack, including a short call. All-ins create side pots, so a player can win only chips matched at their contribution level.
Hand rankings
From highest to lowest: straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, and high card. Use the best five cards from any combination of your two hole cards and the five community cards. Ace may be low in A–2–3–4–5.
Showdown and table modes
Contested hands reveal automatically at showdown. Folded or uncontested cards remain hidden unless their owner chooses Show Cards. Straight play allows cashing out between hands and a full rebuy at $0. Sit & Go has no rebuys after the first hand and pays the entire prize to the last player with chips.
Beginner strategy
- Play fewer, stronger starting hands from early position.
- Use later position to make decisions with more information.
- Compare the call with the pot and your remaining stack.
- Use Bet the Pot deliberately rather than as an automatic choice.
- Protect a Sit & Go stack because elimination has no rebuy.
- Fold marginal one-pair hands when heavy betting and the board suggest stronger holdings.