How to play Texas Hold'em: a beginner's guide

Texas Hold'em is the most popular poker game in the world, and it is easier to learn than it looks. Each player gets two private cards, five shared cards are dealt in the middle, and the best five-card hand wins. Everything else is about when to bet and when to let a hand go.

This guide walks through one full hand, then covers the moves you can make and a few habits that help beginners. You can practise everything here free on All In with virtual chips.

The goal

You win chips by winning pots. There are two ways to win a pot: have the best five-card hand when the cards are shown at the end (the showdown), or make a bet that every other player folds to. Your five-card hand can use both, one or none of your own two cards together with the five shared cards.

The blinds and the dealer button

Before any cards are dealt, the two players to the left of the dealer button post forced bets called blinds. The small blind is usually half the big blind. On All In's Bronze tables the blinds are 0.25 and 0.50 chips. The button moves one seat to the left after every hand, so everyone takes turns paying the blinds.

One hand, step by step

1. Pre-flop: everyone gets two private cards (hole cards). The player to the left of the big blind acts first and can fold, call the big blind or raise. Action goes around the table.
2. The flop: three shared cards are dealt face up. Another round of betting starts with the first active player to the left of the button.
3. The turn: a fourth shared card. Another betting round.
4. The river: the fifth and final shared card. A last betting round.
5. Showdown: if two or more players are still in, cards are shown and the best five-card hand wins the pot. Equal hands split it.

Your options on each turn

In no-limit Hold'em, which is what All In plays, you can bet any amount up to the chips in front of you. A raise must be at least the size of the previous bet or raise.

Which hand wins?

From best to worst: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card. Our poker hand rankings guide has examples of each and the tie-break rules. Suits never rank above one another.

Habits that help beginners

• Play fewer hands. Strong starting hands like big pairs and two high cards of the same suit win far more often than random ones. Our starting hands guide has a simple chart.
• Position matters. Acting last, on or near the button, lets you see what everyone else does first.
• Fold more than feels natural. Folding a weak hand costs nothing; calling with it adds up.
• Watch the shared cards. Before you bet on the turn or river, check whether three or four cards of one suit or a run of connected cards could give someone a flush or straight.
• Bet with a reason. Ask whether you are betting because you think you have the best hand, or to make a better hand fold.

Practise free

The best way to learn is to play. On All In you can sit at a public table, or make a private room and send your friends a code so you all learn together. Computer players fill empty seats and are always marked, so you can get a feel for the game at your own pace.

Chips are virtual and have no cash value; they can't be cashed out or exchanged for anything. Poker on All In is for adults 18 and over and is just for fun.