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How to Play Texas Holdem

Texas Holdem is a popular form of poker. Each player receives two private hole cards, and five community cards are dealt face-up on the board. You make the best five-card hand using any combination of your hole cards and the community cards.

In this game, you play heads-up against a computer program through four betting rounds: pre-flop, flop, turn, and river.

Game Play

• Deal - starts a new hand. Players ante 1 point each so the pot starts at 2. You receive two hole cards face-up and the computer program opponent receives two cards face-down.
• Check - pass the action without betting. Costs nothing.
• Bet - wager 1 point into the pot. Your opponent must call or fold.
• Call - match a bet made by the computer. Adds 1 point to the pot.
• Fold - surrender your hand. The opponent wins the pot.

Texas Holdem Rules

• Both player and computer receive two private hole cards. This is the pre-flop stage.
• Five total community cards are dealt in stages. After pre-flop the 3rd card dealt is flop. The 4th card is turn, and the 5th card is river.
• There is a betting round at pre-flop and after each additional community card is dealt
• In each betting round, you can check, bet, call, or fold
• If either player folds, the other wins the pot immediately
• After four betting rounds there is a showdown
• At showdown, the best five-card hand from the seven available cards wins
• If both hands are equal, the pot is split
• A new 52-card deck is shuffled before each hand

Scoring

Each Texas holdem hand starts with both players contributing a 1-point ante, creating a pot of 2. Each bet or call adds 1 point to the pot. The winner takes the full pot. On a tie, the pot is split evenly.

Action	Points Added to Pot
Ante, automatic	2
Each Bet	1
Each Call	1
Each Check	0
Fold	Opponent wins pot

In this online Texas holdem game the pot starts at 2 points and maxes out at 10 points. The minimum 2 is when both players ante and no further bets are made - on each new community card the players check and place no bets. The maximum 10 points in the pot happens when both players ante and both players bet and/or call every round.

Win Rate - in the Hands analysis below the game table, win rate is the percentage of decided hands won by the human player. Ties are excluded.

Risked - in the Points analysis, Risked is the total points you have put into pots — your ante each hand plus every bet and call.

Won is the total points you have collected from pots.

Net is Won minus Risked: Net is positive when you are ahead overall and negative when you are behind, and it is the truest measure of how your hands are performing.

Return is Won divided by Risked, shown as a percentage — above 100% means you are winning more than you stake.

Texas Holdem Hand Rankings

Texas Holdem uses standard five-card poker hand rankings, from highest to lowest.

#	Hand	Description	Example
1	Royal Flush	A, K, Q, J, 10, same suit	A♥ K♥ Q♥ J♥ 10♥
2	Straight Flush	Five consecutive, same suit	5♠ 6♠ 7♠ 8♠ 9♠
3	Four of a Kind	Four cards of the same rank	9♣ 9♦ 9♥ 9♠ K♥
4	Full House	Three of a kind plus a pair	J♣ J♦ J♠ 4♥ 4♣
5	Flush	Five cards of the same suit	2♦ 5♦ 8♦ J♦ A♦
6	Straight	Five consecutive, any suits	4♣ 5♦ 6♥ 7♠ 8♣
7	Three of a Kind	Three cards of the same rank	7♣ 7♦ 7♥ 2♠ K♣
8	Two Pair	Two different pairs	A♣ A♦ 8♥ 8♠ Q♣
9	One Pair	Two cards of the same rank	K♥ K♠ 3♦ 7♣ J♥
10	High Card	No matching cards	A♠ J♦ 8♣ 5♥ 3♠

If two players have the same hand the winner is determined by the highest card value. For example, a pair of 9's beats a pair of 7's. A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest straight, (5 high) and gets beaten by 10-J-Q-K-A the highest (ace-high).

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Strategy Tips

Starting hand selection is the most important decision in Texas Holdem. Here are guidelines for beginners:

Hand Type	Examples	Action
Premium pairs	AA, KK, QQ, JJ	Always bet
Strong hands	AK, AQ, TT, 99	Bet most of the time
Playable hands	AJ, KQ, 88-55, suited connectors	Check or bet, always call
Marginal hands	Small pairs, suited aces	Check, call sometimes
Weak hands	Low unsuited cards	Check and fold to bets

After the flop, the strength of your hand relative to the community cards matters most. A pair of aces pre-flop can become worthless if the board shows a possible flush or straight for your opponent.

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