TEXAS HOLD'EM RULES

Play begins with each player being dealt two cards face down. These cards are the player's hole or pocket cards. These are the only cards each player will receive individually, and they will only (possibly) be revealed at the showdown, making Texas hold 'em a closed poker game. The hand begins with a "pre-flop" betting round, beginning with the player to the left of the big blind (or the player to the left of the dealer, if no blinds are used) and continuing clockwise.

After the pre-flop betting round, assuming there remain at least two players taking part in the hand, the dealer deals a flop, three face-up community cards. The flop is followed by a second betting round. This and all subsequent betting rounds begin with the player to the dealer's left and continue clockwise.

After the flop betting round ends a single community card (called the turn or fourth street) is dealt, followed by a third betting round. A final single community card (called the river or fifth street) is then dealt, followed by a fourth betting round and the showdown, if necessary.

If a player bets and all other players fold, then the remaining player is awarded the pot and is not required to show his hole cards. If two or more players remain after the final betting round, a showdown occurs. On the showdown, each player plays the best five-card hand he can make from the seven cards comprising his two hole cards and the board (the five community cards). A player may use both of his own two hole cards, only one, or none at all, to form his final five-card hand. If the five community cards form the player's best hand, then the player is said to be playing the board and can only hope to split the pot, since the other player can also use the same five cards to construct the same hand.

If the best hand is shared by more than one player, then the pot is split equally among them, with any extra chips going to the first players after the button in clockwise order. It is common for players to have closely-valued, but not identically ranked hands. Nevertheless, one must be careful in determining the best hand; if the hand involves fewer than five cards, (such as two pair or three of a kind), then kickers (the unmatched cards) are used to settle ties.

• Royal flush: a hand containing an ace-high straight flush (i.e. A♣ K♣ Q♣ J♣ 10♣)
• Straight flush: a hand which contains five cards in sequence, all of the same suit.
• Four of a kind: a hand containing four cards of one rank, and an unmatched card.
• Full house: also known as a boat or a full boat, is a hand which contains three matching cards of one rank, plus two matching cards of another rank.
• Flush: a hand which contains five cards of the same suit, not in rank sequence.
• Straight: a hand containing five cards of sequential rank, of varying suits.
• Three of a kind: also called trips, is a hand which contains three cards of the same rank, plus two unmatched cards.
• Two pair: a hand containing two cards of the same rank, plus two cards of another rank (that match each other but not the first pair), plus one unmatched card.
• One Pair: a hand containing two cards of the same rank, plus three unmatched cards.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia articles "Texas hold 'em" and "Rank of hands (poker)".
 

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