Texas Hold’em Poker

Texas Hold'Em - or Texas Hold em - is one of the most popular variants of the card game poker and is featured in all marquee tournaments worldwide such as the World Series of Poker, World Poker Tour and European Poker Tour.

Online casino games and apps featuring poker are growing in popularity and there are a number of different variants of Texas Hold'Em Poker for players to try. In this comprehensive guide we will outline how these poker games work with hand rankings and a glossary of terms as well as odds, strategies, history and more.

How to Play: Texas Hold'Em Poker Rules

The aim of Texas Hold'Em is to use your two hole cards in combination with the five community cards on the table in order to make the best possible five-card poker hand you can.

First players are dealt two hole cards face down so other players cannot see them and then over several betting rounds five more community cards are eventually dealt face up on the table.

Each player is allowed to use the community cards with their hole cards to build the best possible five-card hand.

The five community cards and dealt in three stages:

1. The Flop: The first three community cards.
2. The Turn: The fourth community card.
3. The River: The fifth and final community card.

Players are aiming to build the best five-card hand out of the total seven cards available to them, in whatever order they like.

If every player bar one decides to fold that final remaining player will win the pot without having to show any of their cards.

This leads to many players bluffing their way to victory and proving that you don't always have to have the best hand in order to win the pot - just play the betting the best.

If two or more players get all the way to the final betting round after the last community card has been dealt and all the betting has finished then the only win to win the pot is to have the highest-ranking five-card hand.

That is a basic summary of Texas Hold'Em rules and how games work, but there are a number of Hold'Em variants you can also play.

Pot-Limit Hold'Em

Less popular than it once was but still widely played and was the game of choice in parts of Europe - notably the UK - until No-Limit Texas Hold'Em took over.

The rules and structure of Pot-Limit Hold'Em are similar to other Hold'Em formats, except that the game uses a pot-limit betting structure which means the largest bet you are allowed to make is governed by the pot size in front of you.

Fixed-Limit Hold'Em

Fixed-Limit Hold'Em is rarely seen at online casinos these days due to the popularity of the No-Limit Poker format but is still sometimes seen in live poker rooms in the US.

Fixed Limit refers to the game's betting rules that your bets are limited to predefined sizes that the blinds dictate, for example a raise is always exactly twice the big blind.

No-Limit Hold'Em

No-Limit Hold'Em - which you may see abbreviated to NLHE or NLH - is the most widely-used Hold'Em game format and gives players the ultimate flexibility regarding how much or how little they want to bet.

Players must make minimum opening raises of at least twice the big blind but can bet any maximum amount they wish including their entire stacks which is known as going "all-in". Betting any amount you want helps create large pots and drive the action forward.

How to Win at Texas Hold'Em

To win at Texas Hold'Em you either need to have the best hand on the table or bluff your way to victory with all the other players folding allowing you to win without showing your hole cards.

The player with the best combination of five cards will win the pot, according to official poker hand rankings.

Hand Rankings in Texas Hold'Em Poker

• Royal Flush: The best possible hand containing five cards of the same suit ranked Ace through 10 such as A-K-Q-J-10 of Hearts. The odds are one in 650,000.
• Straight Flush: Another very rare hand containing five cards of the same suit consecutively ranked such as 9-8-7-6-5 of Spades. The odds are one in 65,000.
• Four of a Kind: Four cards of the same value along with a side card/kicker that breaks ties such as J of Hearts, J of Diamonds, J of Spades, J of Clubs and Ace of Hearts. The odds are one in 4,000.
• Full House: A combination of three of a kind and a pair of the same value such as K of Clubs, K of Hearts, K of Diamonds, 5 of Spades and 5 of Clubs. The higher ranking set of three wins and if two players have the same set of three the player with the higher pair wins. The odds are one in 700.
• Flush: Any five cards of the same suit such as Ace of Spades, 10 of Spades, 7 of Spades, 3 of Spades and 2 of Spades. High card wins. The odds are one in 500.
• Straight: Any five cards consecutively ranked but with different suits such as 10 of Hearts, 9 of Clubs, 8 of Spades, 7 of Diamonds and 6 of Hearts. Every possible straight contains either a 5 or 10. The odds are one in 250.
• Three of a Kind: Three cards of the same value and two side cards of different values such as 10 of Spades, 10 of Clubs, 10 of Hearts, 5 of Spades and 2 of Clubs. Highest set wins. Also known as 'trips', with odds of one in 50.
• Two Pair: Two cards of the same value and another two cards of the same value as well as one side card such as Ace of Hearts, Ace of Spades, J of Diamonds, J of Clubs and 2 of Diamonds. High pair wins, with odds of one in 20.
• One Pair: Two cards of the same value, plus three unmatching cards such as Ace of Spades, Ace of Hearts, J of Hearts, 5 of Spades and 3 of Clubs. High pair wins, with odds of one in 2.33.
• High Card: One card high plus four unmatched lower-ranking cards such as Ace of Spades, J of Diamonds, 7 of Hearts, 6 of Spades and 4 of Clubs. Ace is the highest card and the kicker breaks ties. The odds are one in one.

Texas Hold'Em Glossary of Terms

• Community cards: Also known as shared cards, these are cards dealt face up in the center of the table and are shared by all players.
• Hole cards: Also referred to as private cards, these are two cards players receive face down so only they can see before the betting starts.
• Small blind/big blind: Forced bet that must be made before you see any cards.
• Bluffing: When a player pretends to have a hand that is better than their cards
• The button: A marker that indicates the dealer position at the table. Also called dealer button.
• The pot: Refers to the sum of money that players wager during a single hand or game.
• Flop: The dealing of the first three community cards to the table and also refers to those three cards themselves.
• Turn: The fourth community card out of five that is dealt to the table, constituting one face-up card that each of the players can use to make their final hand. Happens after the flop and before the river betting round.
• River: The fifth and final card community card dealt to the table, followed by a final round of betting and if necessary a showdown. Happens after the flop and turn rounds.
• Showdown: If more than one player remains active after the final betting round then those remaining players will show their hands to determine the winner.
• Streets: Refers to the round of play such as fourth street for the turn and fifth street for the river.
• Limping: To enter a pot by simply calling a bet instead of raising it.
• Under the gun: This is the playing position directly to the left of the blinds and is the first to act on the first round of betting.
• The muck: To fold or discard one's hand without revealing the cards. Can be done after winning without a showdown or at a showdown when a better hand has already been revealed.

Texas Hold'Em Odds

Players can learn the odds and probabilities within the game to put them at an advantage over other players or use an odds calculator when playing online.

Pot Odds

Pot odds are the ratio of the current size of the pot to the cost of a contemplated call, with pot odds compared to the odds of winning a hand with a future card in order to estimate the call's respected value.

The purpose of this is to statistically guide a player's decision between the options of call or fold, while raising is an alternative to place this decision on the opponent.

Implied Odds

Implied odds - or implied pot odds - are calculated the same way as pot odds but also take into consideration estimated future betting. These are calculated in situations where players expect to fold in the next round if the draw is missed, so losing no additional bets, but expect to gain additional bets when the draw is made.

As players expect to always gain additional bets in later rounds when the draw is made - not losing any additional bets when the draw is missed - these extra bets players expect to gain excluding their own can be fairly added to the current size of the pot. This adjusted pot value is known as the implied pot.

Basic Hold'Em Strategies

In this section we will touch on a few basic poker strategy options that players can learn for Texas Hold'Em and while there are lots more these are a good place to start:

Starting Hand Selection

The hands you are dealt are vital to your chances of success and there are numerous charts you can find online which tell you statistically what you should do when you receive any given two cards. Study these and get them to become second nature for you to process when you are given your two hole cards. The odds will vary depending on how many players are in a game but it is a great basic poker strategy to nail down.

Position Awareness

Another easy way to boost your chances of winning is to play more hands in position after the flop - which means being the last to act in a betting round. This provides a couple of huge benefits as you have an informational advantage over your opponents, can control the size of the pot and can bluff more effectively.

To do this you just open-raise less hands from earlier positions at the table and more hands in late positions - namely the cutoff and the button. When playing on the button you will always be in position post-flop and this will be your most profitable seat in the long term by far, with the cutoff being the second most profitable.

Similarly when you play out of the blinds you will always have a positional disadvantage post-flop, with the only exception being playing in the big blind against the small blind.

Knowing When to Fold

Players need to know when to fold and not be afraid to fold a lot as poker is as much about the bets you save as the ones you make. Beginners should only play about 20% of their starting hands, which means folding four times out of five. Folding this much may not seem fun, but it is something you need to be comfortable with if you are going to succeed.

Once players are experienced you should fold around 30% of your hands but not above 50% - remember it's the act of folding that keeps your bankroll intact.

Knowing Common 'Tells' From Other Players

It's easy to focus on your own hand and not pay enough attention to other players but you need to be aware of how many chips they have (rough count is fine), what cards they could have and what their best could be given the community cards everyone can see.

Watching for players can also be useful - figuring out who bluffs and who plays a straighter game. If one player consistently bets around $20 and then comes in with a $100 bet you should be cautious as they probably have a strong hand.

Also if a player loses a pretty big hand and comes back instantly with a large bet that could be reckless play and borne out of frustration so don't immediately be put off competing as long as you have a solid hand yourself.

The History of Texas Hold'Em Poker

The Texas Legislature officially recognizes the city of Robstown in Nueces Country, Texas as the birthplace of Texas Hold'em which dates back to the early 20th century.

After the game spread throughout Texas, it was introduced to Las Vegas in 1963 and became a quick hit in Sin City with Crandell Addington - a key contributor to Vegas poker culture - describing it as a "thinking man's game".

For several years the Golden Nugget Casino in Downtown Las Vegas was the only place in Vegas where you could play the game but in 1969 Dunes Casino announced a Texas Hold'Em tournament which is often hailed as the start of the game's illustrious rise in popularity.

In 1970 father and son Benny and Jack Binion rebranded the former Gambling Fraternity Convention into the World Series of Poker and a year later showcased Texas Hold'Em as the main event of the tournament.

Online Poker Rooms with Texas Hold'Em Poker

Players can choose from a host of different sites offering online poker rooms with Texas Hold'Em where you can sign up and play for real money.

You can jump into tournaments to play poker with other players or opt for video poker games against just the dealer across a number of variants.

Here are some of the most popular Texas Hold'Em online casinos:

• Party Poker: Offers Texas Holdem/PLO, fast-forward or standard and a rakeback system that is good for cash game players.
• PokerStars: Offers Texas Hold'Em and other poker variants as well as 24/7 support, multi-player, multi-lingual and safe payment methods.
• 888Poker: Offers Texas Hold'Em, Omaha and other variants plus Poker8 which has a mobile portrait interface.
• GGPoker: Offers Texas Hold'Em and other legendary games as well as less popular variations.
• WSOP: Offers a number of poker variants including Texas Hold'Em and is considered one of the most comprehensive online poker rooms in terms of ongoing tournament action.
• Unibet Poker: Offers Texas Hold'Em and other seasoned games.
• BetMGM Poker: Games broken down into three categories - cash games, sit-and-go tournaments and multi-table tournaments.

Responsible Gambling

Responsible gambling is essential for players playing Texas Holdem at poker rooms and online casinos, with the best sites dedicating a page to this practice and outlining a number of useful tools such as:

• Deposit Limits: Allow players to set a maximum amount of money they are allowed to deposit into their poker account at any given time.
• Timeout: Take a timeout from a poker website to give yourself a break from gambling ranging from 24 hours to six weeks depending on the site.
• Self-Exclusion: Allows players to take a longer break or even permanently exclude themselves from poker sites.

Pokers sites should also include resources for players struggling with gambling addiction such as links to external organizations that provide help.

Texas Hold'Em FAQ

In this section we are answering the most important FAQs revolving around the game of Texas Hold'Em poker.

What is a chopped pot in Texas Hold'Em?

A chopped pot - also known as a split pot or tie - occurs when two or more players have the same winning hand and the chips are divided equally among the winners and usually happens in games like high only or lowball games.

How many players can play Texas Hold'Em?

Texas Hold'Em is usually played with two to 10 players at a table and although games with more than 11 players are rare but do happen. The ideal maximum number of players is nine but in theory you could play with a maximum of 22 players.

When should I fold in Texas Hold'Em?

You must wait until it's your turn to act before folding in Texas Hold'Em and you should also consider your position at the table as this can impact whether you should fold or not. If you're in the early position or blinds you should fold all weak hands but if you're playing in the middle position and have strong pocket pairs or suited high card hands you may want to continue. On average you should fold around 30% of your hands but not above 50%.

What is the most common winning hand in Texas Hold'Em?

Most often two pairs (31% of the time) or a simple pair (27%) will win the game in Texas Hold'Em. The Royal Flush is the highest potential winning hand in the game but the odds of getting this are just one in 649,740 before cards are dealt.

Why is it called Texas Hold'Em?

Texas Hold'Em is named after the state of Texas which is officially recognized as its birthplace in the city of Robstown in the early 20th century. It is sometimes spelled Texas Hold em.

Where can I play Texas Hold'Em poker online?

You can play poker games like Texas Hold'Em online at a host of online casinos such as Party Poker, PokerStars, 888Poker and many more.

Can I play Texas Hold'Em poker online for real money?

You can play Texas Hold'Em poker online for real money at a host of sites in the US.

Is there an age limit for online poker?

Online betting sites and casinos have a legal age of 21 in most states in the US.

Is online poker legal in the United States?

Online poker is legal in the US but as of early 2024 only six states have legalized online poker - Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan and West Virginia.