Poker Rules and Variants

Robert's Rules of Poker | Version 6

Sixty pages of poker rules from the leading authority on poker rules.
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Texas Holdem Rules | Basic Instructions

1. Texas Hold'em can be played with as few as two players or as many as ten, at a single table. Each player randomly selects a card from the playing deck. The player who has selected the highest card will be the dealer for the first hand.

2. The game begins with the two players to the left of the dealer placing a forced initial bet before they receive any cards. This is called posting the blinds. The player one position to the left of the dealer posts a bet called the small blind, usually equal to half the amount of the big blind. The player to the left of the small blind then posts the big blind, which is equal to the full minimum bet of the game.

3. The dealer shuffles the deck and deals, starting with the player to his left, two face-down cards to each player.

4. When all the players have their cards, the person to the left of the two players who posted the blinds is first to act. This player can fold (not play the hand and not contribute to the pot), call (stay in the hand by matching the big blind) or raise (add an amount equivalent to the big blind then raise an amount equivalent to the big blind).

5. Players can bet, raise or re-raise any amount equal to the minimum bet, which should also equal the amount of the big blind.

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6. In No-Limit Hold'em, the player can bet as many chips as they have in front of them. A player may go "all-in" by betting the rest of their chips on a hand. At this point the dealer should determine the amount of the all-in bet. To call, the other players in the hand must match the value of the chips. If a player wants to call, but does not have enough chips to match the all-in bet, he or she can go all-in and play for a portion of the pot. Should this happen, the dealer divides the original bet into two stacks: the first stack should match the caller's all-in bet. This stack is pushed into the original pot along with the caller's all-in bet. The second stack is placed into a side pot - for which the all-in caller is not eligible. This allows the rest of the players to keep betting and raising as they normally could.

7. After the initial betting round ends and all bets are called the dealer removes and sets aside the top card of the deck face down on the table, to prevent cheating. This is called a burn card. The dealer then flips the next three cards in the deck face up on the table. These are communal cards, referred to as the flop, that anyone can use in combination with their two pocket cards to form a five card poker hand.

8. Next, the player to the left of the dealer starts another round of betting.

9. After the round of betting is complete the dealer burns another card and flips one more face up onto the table. This is called the turn card, and can be used to make the best possible five card poker hand.

10. Again, the player to the left of the dealer starts another round of betting. On fourth street(the turn card) the minimum bet is often double the amount of the big blind.

11. After the round of betting the dealer burns a card and places the final card, called the river, face up on the table. Players can now use any of the five cards on the table combined with their two pocket cards to form the best five card poker hand.

12. There is now a final round of betting, starting always with the player to the left of the dealer. The minimum bet is still double that of the big blind.

13. After this round of betting the remaining players show their two pocket cards, starting with the player whose bet was called.

14. The player who is able to form the highest ranked hand wins the pot. If two or more players have the same hand, then the pot is split between them. Check out our Hand Rankings section for more information.

15.The dealer position then moves clockwise to the next player and another round of play begins.