Summary

Texas Hold'em is a card game played with a standard 52-card deck. In each hand, every player is dealt two cards, called the "hole cards", and then several betting rounds commence, where five community cards are eventually dealt face-up on the table.

In each betting round, players take turns adding points to the pot. Each player must meet or exceed the bet to remain in the hand and keep playing for the pot.

A player wins a hand in two situations:

• Every other player has given up ("folded")
• When the final community card is revealed, each remaining player reveals their hole cards ("showdown"). The player who makes the strongest five-card poker hand out of seven cards (five community cards plus their two) wins.

The player who wins the hand collects the points in the pot. All cards are shuffled, and a new hand is dealt.

When a player runs out of points, they are eliminated from the game. The winner is the last player remaining, who has won all the points from all the other players!

Terminology

All-in

To bet all the points you have left.

Call

To increase your own bet so that it matches the highest current bet.

Check

To pass without betting more, when your bet already matches the highest current bet.

Community cards

The cards face-up on the table that all players can use to make their poker hands.

Flop

The first three community cards (which are dealt all at once).

Fold

To give up the hand. You are out of the hand and lose all points you have already bet to the pot.

Hole cards

A player's two cards in hand, hidden from all other players.

Pot

The collective points that have been bet by all players this hand. The winner of the hand will take those points.

Raise

To increase the current bet.

River

The fifth and final community card.

Showdown

When hole cards are revealed at the end of a hand.

Stack

An individual player's total amount of points.

Turn

The fourth community card.

Betting

Pre-Flop (start of round)

At the start of the game, a random player is designated as the dealer (indicated by the dealer button). The role of dealer rotates clockwise after every hand and indicates the players who will post the blinds. Blinds are mandatory bets that always begin the first betting round. The player to the dealer's left (clockwise) posts the small blind. The next player clockwise posts the big blind, which is always 2x the small blind. (You can see the blind level below the play area.)

Each player is dealt two cards, then pre-flop betting commences. The player left of the big blind chooses whether to call, raise, or fold.

If your current bet is smaller than the highest bet someone has made this round, you must call or raise to meet or exceed that bet to stay in the hand. If you do not wish to do so, you must fold. The big blind is considered a bet. So if you are the first to act after the big blind, you must either call (bet equal to the big blind), raise (bet more than the big blind), or fold (give up).

Betting ends when each player has either bet the same amount, gone "all in", or folded.

Example:

The game has three players: Alice, Bob, and Charlie. Alice is the dealer. To her left sits Bob, who is the small blind (1 point). Charlie is on his left and is the big blind (2 points). Because Alice sits to the left of the big blind, she begins the betting round.

1. Alice calls and puts 2 points in front of her.
2. Bob has a bet of 1 but needs 2 total to stay in the hand. But he has a good feeling and chooses to raise instead. He adds 3 more points to the small blind bet, making his bet a total of 4.
3. Charlie (big blind) has a bet of 2 but needs 4 to stay in. Charlie folds. He does not need to pay any points, but the 2 he already bet must stay in the pot.
4. Back to Alice, who has bet 2 but needs 4 to stay in. She calls again, increasing her bet to 4.
5. Now all remaining players (Alice and Charlie) have a bet of 4 on the table. Since Alice did not raise, Bob does not get to act again. All the points that were bet are placed in the pot.

Flop

Three cards on the table are turned face up. A new betting round starts, but there are no further blinds. The player after the dealer begins by calling, raising, folding, or checking.

Turn

The fourth community card is turned face up, followed by a new betting round.

River

The fifth and final community card is turned face up, followed by a final betting round.

If the final betting round ends with more than one player still in the hand, each remaining player must show their hole cards and make the best poker hand they can. The best hand wins all the points in the pot!

Hands

BGA will automatically select the cards that make your best possible hand. Multiple players can have the same card(s) "in their hand". For example, if A♥ is a community card, perhaps every player uses A♥ in their showdown hand. The hand can use one, both, or none of your hole cards.

Hand rankings

An Ace is considered the highest ranking card, except in an A 2 3 4 5 straight.

Among hands of the same type, the hand with the higher-ranking cards wins. (Example: a K♥K♦6♥6♦6♠Full House is higher than K♠K♣5♥5♦5♠Full House)

Additional Rules and Details

Blind Increases

The blinds double in value after a set number of hands. This increases the stakes and makes sure the game eventually ends.

Folding

When you fold, nobody else sees what cards you had. If every player but one folds, the remaining player wins the pot, but does not have to reveal their hand. This allows you to "bluff" and pretend you have a stronger hand than you actually do.

Bet Limits

The minimum raise is equal to the big blind. You cannot raise by a smaller amount unless you go all-in. There is no upper limit except your amount of points. You are allowed to bet your entire stack at any time (called "going all in").

If you have fewer points than the current bet, you can still bet by going "all-in". Other players can raise against one another, while you don't have to pay any more into the pot. But if you win the hand, you cannot win more from each opponent than you have bet. When other players bet more than the player who went all-in, the pot will be split into side pots, where certain players are only able to win certain pots.

Example:

At the beginning of the betting round, Alice has 20 points, Bob has 100, and Charlie has 100.

1. Alice goes all-in with her 20.
2. Bob calls.
3. Charlie feels like he has a better hand than Bob, so he raises up to 50.
4. It would be Alice's turn, but she is already all-in and cannot make any further choices. So it is Bob's turn. He chooses to call.

The betting round ends. Alice has bet 20, Bob has bet 50, and Charlie has bet 50. Even though Alice did not meet the bet, she can stay in the hand because she went all-in.

The pot contains 120, but this is split into two side pots--Alice's pot and Bob & Charlie's pot. Alice can only win back 60 points--her own 20 plus 20 from each other player. The first pot contains these 60 points and the remaining 60 go into the second pot.

• If either Bob or Charlie wins, he would receive both pots (120 points). Alice will have no more points and will be eliminated from the game.
• If Alice wins, she wins 60 points (the first pot). The second pot goes to whoever has the best hand between Bob and Charlie. Alice remains in the game with 60 points.