Texas Hold'em Rules, Hand Rankings and Blinds Explained

The Core Rules: Hole Cards, Community Cards & Streets

Texas Hold'em is played with a standard 52-card deck. Before any cards are dealt, two players post the small blind and big blind to seed the pot with initial action.

Each player receives two private hole cards. A preflop betting round ensues. Then the dealer places the first three community cards face-up (the flop), followed by another betting round. A single fourth card (the turn) and fifth card (the river) follow with respective betting intervals.

Players make the best possible five-card poker hand using any combination of their two hole cards and the five community cards.

The 10 Hand Rankings from Royal Flush to High Card

Memorize these rankings: Royal Flush (A-K-Q-J-10 suited), Straight Flush, Four of a Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, Three of a Kind, Two Pair, One Pair, and High Card.

On Poker id, our tables feature built-in hand strength indicators to help beginners recognize their made hands in real time while making betting decisions.