Texas Hold'em

Direct Answer

Texas Hold'em is the world's standard poker variant where players receive two private hole cards and share five community cards to construct the best 5-card hand. Play proceeds through four distinct betting rounds: Pre-flop, Flop (3 cards), Turn (1 card), and River (1 card), governed by blind positions and table action rules.

Source: Poker Tournament Directors Association (TDA) Rules 2024 · Last reviewed Aug 28, 2026

Specs

Governing Standard	Poker TDA / WSOP
Private Hole Cards	2 cards per player
Community Cards	5 cards on board
Total Betting Rounds	4 rounds
Starting Forced Bets	Small Blind (SB) & Big Blind (BB)
Community Flop Cards	3 cards face-up
Community Turn Card	1 card face-up
Community River Card	1 card face-up
Standard Limit Styles	No-Limit (NLH), Pot-Limit (PLH), Fixed-Limit (FLH)
Showdown Hand Size	Best 5 of 7 available cards

Game Structure & Deal Progression

Texas Hold'em uses a standard 52-card deck without jokers. A dealer button rotates clockwise after every hand to determine forced blinds and betting order:

Blinds: The player directly left of the button posts the Small Blind; the next player posts the Big Blind (typically twice the small blind).
Hole Cards: Each player is dealt two private cards face-down.
Pre-Flop: Action begins with the player to the left of the Big Blind ('Under the Gun') who may Call, Raise, or Fold.
The Flop: The dealer burns one card and deals three community cards face-up. Betting round follows.
The Turn: The dealer burns one card and deals a fourth community card. Betting round follows.
The River: The dealer burns one card and deals the fifth and final community card. Final betting round follows.
Showdown: Remaining players reveal cards; the best 5-card combination wins.

Table Positions & Strategic Order

Position is the single most critical tactical factor in Hold'em:

Early Position (UTG, UTG+1): Acts first pre-flop; requires tightest starting hand ranges.
Middle Position (MP, Lojack, Hijack): Acts after early position.
Late Position (Cutoff, Button): The Button acts last on all post-flop rounds, providing maximum information on opponents' actions.
Blinds (SB, BB): Act last pre-flop, but must act first on all post-flop streets.

All-In & Side Pot Calculation Rules

When a player wagers all their chips and has fewer chips than opponents who continue betting, a Side Pot is created:

Main Pot: Contains the all-in player's bet multiplied by all callers. The all-in player is only eligible to win the Main Pot.
Side Pot: Contains all subsequent chips bet by players with larger stacks. Only active players who contributed to the side pot compete for it.