Texas Hold’em: from the deal to showdown

01The objective of a hand

At a showdown with multiple players, make the strongest five-card hand from the available cards. You can also win when every other player folds. Standard Hold’em uses a 52-card deck without jokers.

If you searched for “Texas poker” rules, this page covers Texas Hold’em. Check whether the betting structure is no-limit, pot-limit or fixed-limit; NLHE specifically means No-Limit Texas Hold’em.

02How a hand unfolds

At a multi-player table, the small blind and big blind are usually the first two seats to the left of the button. Each player receives two hole cards before pre-flop action begins.

• Pre-flop: action starts with the first active player to the left of the big blind.
• Flop: reveal three community cards and play the second betting round.
• Turn: add a fourth community card and play the third betting round.
• River: add the fifth community card and play the final betting round.
• Showdown: if multiple players remain, compare their best five-card hands.

03You do not have to use both hole cards

In Hold’em, you may use two, one or zero hole cards. The board itself may be your best five-card hand. Do not include a sixth or seventh card in the final comparison.

For example, if the board makes an Ace-high straight and nobody can make a higher hand category, eligible players split the pot. An extra pair in your hand does not automatically win.

04Action order and common misconceptions

After the flop, action usually starts with the first active player to the left of the button. Heads-up is different: the button posts the small blind, acts first before the flop and last after the flop.

Check whether the table uses no-limit, pot-limit or fixed-limit betting. Betting caps differ, but the principle of comparing five-card hands stays the same.

05NLHE: no-limit still has a minimum raise

NLHE means No-Limit Texas Hold’em. A legal action can commit your remaining stack, but a raise must still meet the applicable rules.

Example: big blind 100; A raises to 300, an increase of 200. B’s next full raise must reach at least 500. If B can only go all-in to 400, that is a short raise. A’s right to raise again depends on subsequent action, the cumulative increase and the event rules.

Having four betting rounds does not mean “at most four raises.” Under common no-limit rules, there is no fixed cap on the number of raises in one betting round. A player must still act in turn, retain the right to raise and meet the minimum-raise or legal all-in requirements. Fixed-limit games have separate raise-count caps set by the table or event rules.

Teaching example: after the flop, the minimum bet is 100, and A, B and C each start this round with 1,000 chips. A bets 100, B raises to 200, C to 300, A to 400, B to 500 and C to 600: that is one opening bet and five raises, each increasing the total by 100. Further action is still pending; the round does not end merely because there have been five raises.

06How do NLHE, cash games and MTTs differ?

NLHE identifies the game and betting structure. Cash games and MTTs describe how play is organised. Both an MTT and a cash game can use NLHE. A Texas Hold’em label alone does not tell you the betting limit or format.

A cash table follows its own blind, buy-in and leaving rules. An MTT is a multi-table tournament that progresses through its structure and combines tables as the field shrinks. Tournament chips do not represent an equal amount of cash. Before entering, check fees, starting chips, blind levels and what happens after elimination.