How a hand of hold'em works
Everything the lessons assume you know, in one place. Read it once, then come back whenever a word stops you.
The goal
Each hand, players put chips into the middle of the table. That pile is the pot. You win it in one of two ways: you have the best hand when the cards are turned over at the end, or you bet and everybody else gives up. The second way is why betting matters as much as cards.
Before the cards: the button and the blinds
A marker called the button sits in front of one player and moves one seat to the left after every hand. It marks who the dealer is for that hand, and it decides the order everyone acts in.
The two players to the left of the button must put money in before they see their cards. These forced bets are the blinds. In your game the first player posts the small blind, 25¢, and the next posts the big blind, 50¢. They make sure every pot has something in it worth winning.
A nine-player table. D is the dealer button, SB and BB are the two blinds, and play runs clockwise. The other labels are seat names, explained below.
Then everyone is dealt two cards face down. Only you see yours.
Four rounds of betting
| Round | What happens |
|---|---|
| Before the flop (preflop) | You have only your two cards. The player to the left of the big blind acts first, and it goes round to the big blind, who acts last. |
| The flop | Three cards are dealt face up in the middle. Everyone shares them. From here on, the first player still in to the left of the button acts first, and the button acts last. |
| The turn | A fourth shared card. |
| The river | The fifth and last shared card. |
| Showdown | If two or more players are left after the river betting, they show their cards. Each makes the best five-card hand they can from their two cards and the five in the middle. Best hand takes the pot. |
A six-player table after the river. From the left: the three flop cards, the turn, then the river.
The five shared cards are called the board. Most hands never reach a showdown, because somebody bets and everyone else folds.
What you can do on your turn
| Action | What it means |
|---|---|
| Fold | Throw your cards away. You are out of this hand and lose only what you already put in. |
| Check | Pass without betting. Only allowed if nobody has bet in this round. |
| Bet | Put chips in when nobody else has yet this round. Everyone after you must match it, raise it or fold. |
| Call | Match the bet in front of you to stay in. |
| Raise | Increase the bet. If someone bet $2 and you make it $6, everyone has to match $6 to continue. |
| All-in | Bet every chip you have. "No-limit" means you may do this at any time. |
Before the flop, the 50¢ big blind counts as the first bet. Just matching it is called limping. Making it more, say $1.50, is a raise.
The seats have names
Your seat is named by where it is compared with the button. It changes every hand as the button moves. The later you act, the more you know before you have to decide, so later seats are better.
| Seat | Where it is |
|---|---|
| Small blind | First seat left of the button. Posts 25¢. Acts first after the flop. |
| Big blind | Next seat. Posts 50¢. |
| Early position UTG, UTG+1, UTG+2 | The next seats round. The very first is "under the gun" (UTG), because it has to act first before the flop. |
| Middle position LJ, HJ | The seats after that, sometimes called the lojack and hijack. |
| Cutoff CO | The seat just before the button. |
| Button BTN | The dealer. Acts last after the flop. The best seat at the table. |
Which hand beats which
Strongest at the top. You always use the best five cards out of your two and the five on the board.
| Hand | What it is |
|---|---|
| Straight flush | Five cards in a row, all one suit. Ace-high is called a royal flush. |
| Four of a kind | Four cards of the same rank. |
| Full house | Three of one rank and two of another. |
| Flush | Five cards of one suit, in any order. |
| Straight | Five cards in a row, mixed suits. An ace can be high or low. |
| Three of a kind | Three cards of the same rank. With a pair in your hand it is called a set. |
| Two pair | Two different pairs. |
| One pair | Two cards of the same rank. Most pots are won by one pair or two pair. |
| High card | None of the above. The highest card plays. |
When two players have the same kind of hand, the higher cards win. If both have a pair of aces, the next highest card decides it. That side card is called the kicker, and it is why ace-king beats ace-nine so often.
How hands are written down
- Ranks are A, K, Q, J, T (ten), then 9 down to 2.
- 77 is a pair of sevens.
- AKs is ace-king suited: both cards the same suit, like . Suited hands can make a flush, so they are a little stronger.
- AKo is ace-king offsuit: two different suits, like .
- A plus sign means "and better". 77+ is sevens and every higher pair. ATs+ is ace-ten suited, ace-jack suited, and so on up.
Words the lessons use
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Big blind | Also a unit of size. In your game one big blind is 50¢, so a $50 stack is 100 big blinds. |
| Stack | The chips you have in front of you. |
| Effective stack | The smaller of your stack and your opponent's. It is the most either of you can win from the other. |
| Rebuy, top up | Buying more chips after losing some or all of yours. |
| Open | To be the first player to raise before the flop. |
| Limp, limper | Just calling the big blind before the flop, and a player who does it. |
| Straddle | An optional third blind of $1, posted before the cards are dealt by the player left of the big blind. Covered in lesson 5. |
| The 7-2 game | A house rule: win a pot holding seven-two in different suits and every other player pays you a bounty, $2 each at your table. |
| Range | All the hands a player could have in a spot. You rarely know their exact cards, so you think about the whole set. |
| Position | Where you act in the order. "In position" means you act after your opponent. |
| Heads-up | Only two players in the hand, or at the table. |
| Multiway | Three or more players in the hand. |
| Short-handed | A table with six players or fewer. |
| Draw | A hand that is not good yet but can become good with the right card. |
| Flush draw | Four cards of one suit, needing a fifth. |
| Straight draw | Four cards toward a straight. Open-ended means either end completes it. A gutshot needs one exact rank in the middle. |
| Outs | The cards still in the deck that would make your hand the winner. |
| Equity | Your chance of winning the pot, as a percentage. |
| Pot odds | The price of a call compared with the size of the pot. |
| Expected value (EV) | What a play wins or loses on average if you made it many times. |
| Implied odds | Extra money you expect to win on later rounds if you hit your hand. |
| Value bet | A bet you want called, because you expect to have the best hand. |
| Bluff | A bet you want folded to, because you expect to have the worst hand. |
| Continuation bet | Betting the flop after you were the one who raised before it. |
| Top pair | A pair made with the highest card on the board. |
| Overpair | A pair in your hand that is higher than every card on the board. |
| Overcards | Cards in your hand higher than the board, or higher than an opponent's pair. |
| Set | Three of a kind made with a pair in your hand and one card on the board. |
| Dominated | Sharing one card with a better hand, like ace-nine against ace-king. You need the nine to win. |
| The nuts | The best possible hand on this board. |
| Wet and dry boards | A wet board has many possible straights and flushes. A dry board has few. |
| Stack-to-pot ratio | The effective stack divided by the pot. It tells you how much is left to play for. |
| Calling station | A player who calls far too often and rarely folds or raises. |
| Street | Another word for a betting round: flop, turn or river. |
| Tilt | Playing worse because you are angry or chasing losses. |
- You win by having the best hand or by making everyone else fold.
- The button acts last after the flop. Later seats are better seats.
- Blinds are 25¢ and 50¢. Just calling the 50¢ is limping, and making it more is raising.