Texas Hold'em: Rules and How to Play
Texas Hold'em is a poker game for 2 to 9 players that takes about 20 minutes. Make your best five cards from your two and the five on the table. Free. In-browser. No account.
Objective
Texas Hold'em is the most widely played form of poker. Each player gets two private cards (hole cards), and five community cards are dealt face up in the middle. Over four rounds of betting you try to win the pot, either by holding the best five-card hand at the showdown or by betting so that everyone else folds. This site plays no-limit hold'em with points instead of money.
Setup
- Chips are points. They cannot be bought, cashed out or carried over.
- Two to nine players and a standard 52-card deck, no jokers.
- Everyone starts with the same number of chips — 2,000 by default.
- One player holds the dealer button (D). The player to their left posts the small blind and the next player the big blind — 10 and 20 by default — before any cards are dealt. The button moves one seat to the left after each hand. With two players, the button posts the small blind.
How to play
- Everyone is dealt two hole cards that only they can see.
- Pre-flop betting starts with the player to the left of the big blind. On your turn you fold, call (match the current bet) or raise. If there is nothing to match, you may check. A betting round ends when everyone still in has put in the same amount.
- Then come the flop (three community cards), the turn (a fourth) and the river (a fifth), each followed by a round of betting that starts with the first active player to the left of the button.
- This is no-limit: you may bet or raise any amount up to your whole stack. The minimum raise is the size of the last bet or raise, and at the start of a round it is the big blind.
- Putting your whole stack in is going all in. You cannot be forced out of the hand, and you can win only as much from each player as you put in yourself; the rest forms a side pot.
Winning and scoring
- If two or more players are still in after the river, the cards are shown. Each player makes the best five-card hand from their two hole cards and the five community cards, and the best hand takes the pot.
- From strongest: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card. A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest straight.
- If everyone else folds, the last player left takes the pot without showing.
- Equal hands split the pot. An odd chip goes to the first of the winners to the left of the button.
- After the agreed number of hands (20 by default), the biggest stack wins. A player who runs out of chips is out, unless the table switches on top-ups.
Common variants
- Limit and pot-limit: in limit hold'em, bets and raises come in fixed sizes; in pot-limit, a raise can be no bigger than the pot. This site plays no-limit only.
- Tournaments vs cash games: tournaments raise the blinds on a schedule and often add antes; players are out when their chips are gone. Here "Blinds go up" gives a tournament-style schedule, and a table can allow top-ups instead of knockouts.
- Omaha: players get four hole cards and must use exactly two of them with exactly three community cards.
Defaults on this site
| Item | Default on this site |
|---|---|
| Players | 2–9 players (set automatically by the party size) |
| Turn time limit | None by default (the host can set 30 or 60 seconds) |
| If someone drops mid-game | Reopening on the same device returns you to your seat. If you do not return, the CPU plays in your place. |
| Draws | In ranked play, a draw counts as halfway between a win and a loss for your rating. |
| Source of the rules | Based on the standard reference rules |
Rules supervised by Qdan, Inc. (based on the standard reference rules)
House rules
Defaults follow the standard reference rules. The party can change these.
| Name | Description | Default | Changeable |
|---|---|---|---|
| BlindsBlindsBlinds are forced bets two players put in before seeing their cards; who pays them moves around each hand. Because of them, folding every hand still costs chips. The bigger the blinds compared with the starting chips, the more changes hands each time and the sooner the game ends. | The two fixed bets posted at the start of a hand — small, then big. | 10 / 20 | Yes |
| Starting chips | What everyone starts with. Chips are points and cannot be bought or cashed out. | 2,000 | Yes |
| Top upTop upWith Back to the starting chips, a player who runs out is topped back up at the next hand and keeps playing to the end. The final settlement subtracts what was topped up. Good when someone is new or when everyone wants to play to the end. | What happens to a player who runs out of chips. Without it, they are out. | Off | Yes |
| Blinds go upBlinds go upEvery so many hands, the blinds (the forced bets before the cards are seen) double: 10/20, then 20/40, then 40/80. Short stacks can no longer wait, so the game ends sooner. It is close to how tournaments are played. | The blinds double every so many hands, so the game does not drag on. | Off | Yes |
| Time per turn | When it runs out you check if you can, and fold if you cannot. | Off | Yes |
| Game ends after | The game ends once this many hands have been played. The biggest pile of chips wins. | 20 hands | Yes |
Terms
- Pot
- The chips (points) everyone has put in. Whoever wins the hand takes them.
- Blinds
- The two fixed bets posted at the start of a hand — the small blind and the big blind.
- Flop, turn, river
- The first three table cards, the fourth and the fifth.
- All in
- Putting in every chip (point) you have. You cannot put in more and you stay in to the end.
- Check, call, raise
- Check passes it on without betting, call matches the bet, raise puts in more.
- Kicker
- A card in your five that is not part of the combination itself. Equal hands are separated by it.
FAQ
What beats what?
From strongest: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card.
What if two hands are the same?
Compare the five cards from the top down. If they are still equal the pot is split — which happens when the five table cards are the best hand for everyone.
Is A-2-3-4-5 a straight?
Yes. The ace plays low and the straight is five high, so it loses to every other straight.
What if I cannot cover a bet?
Go all in. You put in what you have, stay in to the end, and can win up to what everyone else matched of your bet.
How small can a raise be?
The last raise is the minimum. At the start of a street that is the big blind. Going all in is the one exception and may be smaller.
What happens when I run out of chips?
You are out at the end of that hand. A party can turn on Top up to put you back to the starting chips and keep playing.
Play now with these rules
Last updated 2026-09-22 · Run by Qdan, Inc.