Hold’em Tutorial
How to play No Limit Texas Hold’em
If you are having difficulties understanding some of the following, we recommend you go to our Poker Terms Page for a detailed explanation of all terms.
No Limit Texas Hold’em is a card game, using a standard 52 card deck, which can be played with a minimum of two, and a maximum of ten players. The goal is to ’show the best hand consisting of 5 out of 7 available cards’ at the end of a hand, or to have all other players ‘Fold’ their cards which means they choose to not play with you for that round, leaving all put in money for you.
First, one player is assigned the ‘Dealer Button’, or ‘Button’. This can be done in several ways, to be determined by the players or casino. The Dealer Button symbolizes the player who deals the cards. The Button rotates clockwise after the end of each hand. Players can actually deal the cards themselves, but most casinos use a professional dealer to make sure there is no cheating.
The two players to the left of the dealer button are the ‘Small Blind’ and the ‘Big Blind’. These are called Blinds because they have to make a bet ‘in the blind’ which means they put in money before they have seen their cards. The Big Blind is generally two times the small blind, but this can vary. The value of the blinds is to be pre-determined by the players or the casino. This can vary anywhere from 1ct. (small blind), 2ct. (big blind), to any unlimited amount of money.
Every player gets dealt two cards, clockwise, face down by the dealer (first everybody one card, then everybody a second). These are called ‘Pocket Cards’, or ‘Hole Cards’ The player to the left of the BB (Big Blind) is the first one to decide on one of three actions. He can:
Fold
Folding means that a player chooses not to play with these cards. This means he does not have to pay any money, but also doesn’t have any chance anymore to win it.
Call
In order to call the player has to pay the same amount as the BB has already paid. Calling the BB is often referred to as ‘limping in’. The player can now stay in the hand and have a chance of winning the money.
Raise
Raising or betting means betting more than the BB has already put in. The minimum raise is often the BB itself, meaning that with a BB of €2,- the minimum bet would be to make it €4,-. In No Limit Hold’em you may raise the pot to as much chips or money you have in front of you.
Check
During the first betting round the only player allowed to check is the player in the BB, but only if nobody has raised the pot before him. You can only check if nobody has bet before you, and you don’t intend to bet as well.
This is the decision every player has to make at every betting round, at all times. In essence Texas Hold’em is all about checking, folding, calling or raising at the right times. Even though this may sound simple, it is far from that!
If one player raises it up to, let’s say, €8,- the price of calling is raised to 8 euro, except for the Blinds because they have already put a certain amount in the pot. If the BB would want to call, he would have to put in €6 more to match the total of €8. Once the money has been put into the pot, the only way to get it is to:
Get all other players to fold, or
Show the best five card combination at the end of the hand.
Even the players in the blinds, who have already put in some money, have to equal 8 euros in order to stay in the hand (providing the pot was raised, otherwise the BB would only have to check). But when it’s your turn to call, you’re also allowed to raise again. And any player that has a choice to call your bet can also raise you again. And so on, and so on.
After all players have folded or matched each other’s bet, all money is ‘in the pot’ and the dealer will deal the first three ‘Community Cards’ face up. Every player can use these in order to strengthen his or her hand. These first three cards are called ‘The Flop’.
Another round of betting follows, similar to the above, with the difference being that the first player to make a decision now is the player to the left of the dealerbutton, the one that was in the small blind before the flop. The only players eligible of betting, checking, raising or folding are the players that matched each other’s bet after the first round. If you’ve folded before the Flop, you’ve already laid down your cards, so you can’t play anymore.
Now the dealer will deal a fourth community card, called ‘The Turn’ or ‘Fourth Street’
Another round of betting follows.
Now the dealer will deal a fifth community card, called ‘The River’ or ‘Fifth Street’
Another round of betting follows. After this round of betting, all remaining players who have matched each other’s bet turn over their cards and the player with the best hand takes down the pot.
For an overview on what hand beats what, go to our Hand Ranking Page.
The above is a situation where the best hand wins, but it could very well be that a player makes a bet which no other player wants to match. In that case everybody folds and the remaining (betting) player wins the pot.
