Everything you need to run a real hand of Hold’em — the button and the blinds, the four betting rounds, showdown, and who wins what. Clear, complete, and checked against the rulebooks tournament directors actually use.
The object of the game
Win pots — either by holding the best five-card hand at showdown, or by making every opponent fold before it. Both count the same.
| Street | Cards on the table | First to act |
|---|---|---|
| Preflop | 0 | Left of the big blind |
| Flop | 3 | First active player left of the button |
| Turn | 4 | First active player left of the button |
| River | 5 | First active player left of the button |
The button acts last on the flop, turn and river — the most valuable seat at the table. More on positions.
A round disc — the dealer button — marks the nominal dealer and moves one seat clockwise after every hand, so every position rotates around the table.
Before anything is dealt, two players post forced bets:
Blinds are live bets: the money counts toward calling, and if nobody raises before the action returns to the big blind, the BB may check — or raise. That last word is the famous “option”.
Playing with two players?
Heads-up, the blinds swap around: the button posts the small blind and acts first before the flop. It trips up experienced players — the heads-up page covers it.
Starting with the small blind and moving clockwise, each player receives two cards face down, one at a time; the button gets the last card. These are your hole cards — the only cards in the game that belong to you alone.
In live play, the dealer also burns (discards face down) the top card of the deck immediately before dealing the flop, the turn and the river — three burn cards per hand. It protects the game against a marked or accidentally glimpsed top card; it has no effect on the odds.
A hand of Hold’em is four betting rounds wrapped around five community cards. Same rules every round; only the first-to-act seat and the cards on the table change.
After the hole cards. The player left of the big blind — “under the gun” — acts first: fold, call the big blind, or raise. Action moves clockwise; the big blind closes the round with the option to check or raise if nobody raised.
Three community cards are dealt face up in the middle. They belong to everyone. A new betting round starts with the first active player left of the button; since no bet is out yet, checking is allowed.
A fourth community card. Another betting round, same order. In fixed-limit games the bet size doubles from here; in no-limit nothing changes — you can always bet up to your whole stack.
The fifth and last community card, and the final betting round. When it ends, remaining players go to showdown — unless one last bet has already made everyone fold.
Flop, turn, river: five community cards, dealt in three stages with betting in between.
When does a betting round end?
When every player still in the hand has either matched the largest bet or checked (if there was no bet), the round is over and the next card comes. A raise re-opens the action for everyone still in.
Yes, check-raising is completely legal — checking and then raising after an opponent bets is a normal Hold’em play, not a rules violation.
Running out of chips ≠ out of the hand
You can never be bet out of a pot for lack of chips. If an opponent bets more than you have, you go all-in for your stack; a side pot forms for the amount you can’t cover. The betting page works through the numbers.
Table stakes
Only the chips on the table at the start of a hand play. Nobody can reach into their pocket mid-hand — and nobody has to match a wallet, only a stack.
After the final betting round, players still in the hand table their cards:
Cards speak. A tabled hand counts for its true value, even if its owner misreads it. Your best five cards from the seven available — both hole cards, one, or none — decide everything.
Using no hole cards at all is called playing the board; the best you can then do is split the pot with everyone else who stayed in. If two players’ best five cards are identical, the pot is split — suits never break ties in Hold’em.
Mucking = giving up the pot
You may always throw your hand away unseen at showdown (“muck”) — but a mucked hand is dead and can win nothing, so never muck a hand that might win or split. Losing players who must not show may muck quietly; in tournaments, all-in hands are usually turned face up.
Winning without a showdown
If a bet makes every opponent fold — on any street — the last player standing takes the pot immediately and never has to show their cards.
A $1/$2 no-limit cash game, six players. Anna has the button; Ben posts the $1 small blind, Carla the $2 big blind.
Note the order of everything: action always clockwise, the button acting last after the flop, the last aggressor showing first. Those small procedures are most of what “knowing the rules” means at a real table.
One oversized chip
Tossing in a single big chip without saying anything is a call, not a raise. If you want to raise, say so before the chip lands.
Arguments at the table are usually about betting mechanics and split pots. The betting rules and FAQ pages settle the common ones with the actual rulings.