NN777 Texas Hold Em — From the Blinds to the Showdown
Texas hold em gives each player two private cards, then deals five shared cards in three stages: the flop, the turn and the river.
- NN777 Baccarat Card Counting
- Baccarat card counting does not work the way blackjack counting does.
- NN777 Card Suits
- A standard deck has four card suits, spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs, with 13 cards each.
- NN777 Five Card Draw
- Five card draw deals every player five private cards, runs a betting round, lets each player discard and replace some cards in the draw, then runs a second betting round and a showdown.
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- In a hi lo card game you bet whether the next card is higher or lower than the one showing.
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- To play pusoy, you take 13 cards and arrange into a 3-card front hand and two 5-card hands, middle and back.
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- NN777 Pontoon Card Game
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Texas hold em is the most widely played poker game: two private cards, five shared ones and the best five-card hand wins. This page follows one hand from the blinds to the showdown, lists the ten hand ranks, and shows how a house-banked table differs from a poker room. It is one entry on the table games list for card rooms, so the rules here carry over to any poker variant you meet.
A hand of Texas hold em, street by street
A “street” is one stage of the deal. The table below lists the four of them, with what is dealt and when betting happens.
| Street | Cards dealt | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-flop | 2 hole cards to each player | The blinds are posted, then betting starts left of the big blind |
| Flop | 3 community cards face up | A betting round |
| Turn | 1 community card | A betting round |
| River | 1 community card | The last betting round, then the showdown |
The dealer button moves one seat left after every hand. The small blind sits left of the button and the big blind next to it. At each betting round you may fold, call the current bet, or raise.
The ten Texas hold em hand ranks
Your hand is the best five cards from your two hole cards and the five on the board. Ranks run from weakest to strongest.
- High card
- One pair
- Two pair
- Three of a kind
- Straight
- Flush
- Full house
- Four of a kind
- Straight flush
- Royal flush, the ace-high straight flush
Because there are 52 cards, any five-card hand is one of 2,598,960 combinations. Hold em lets you choose from seven cards, so strong hands appear more often than in games where you only hold five. Suits never rank, so if two players tie, they split the pot; compare that with do card suits matter in poker, where the Filipino pusoy dos order does the opposite.
Online poker Philippines: the casino version versus the room
Searching for online poker Philippines brings up two different products under one name. One is a poker room where players sit against each other. The other is a house-banked poker game, where you play against the dealer under a fixed paytable.
| Poker room | House-banked poker | |
|---|---|---|
| Who you beat | Other players | The dealer’s hand |
| Where the operator earns | A rake from each pot | The paytable |
| Decisions | Bet, call, raise or fold each street | Usually bet before the deal, then continue or fold |
| What to read | Blind sizes and rake | The table’s paytable |
If a lobby tile carries a poker game, open the game’s own rules screen. It states which type it is and what each hand pays. The CARD Games menu lists eight tiles, and live tables sit under LIVE Casino; the rules screen is where the answer lives, so read it before the first bet.
Paano maglaro ng poker: your first hand
Paano maglaro ng poker? Start with these steps.
- Learn the ten hand ranks above until you can name them without looking.
- Watch the blinds and the button for a few hands.
- Fold weak starting cards instead of calling by habit.
- Keep every bet a small fraction of your session budget.
Poker rewards patience more than a betting system does. A progression such as the one tested in why martingale baccarat strains bankrolls is a different animal: poker has no fixed odds to chase, only the players in front of you.
Related guides
- NN777 Baccarat Card Countingbaccarat card counting
- NN777 Card Suitscard suits
- NN777 Five Card Drawfive card draw
- NN777 Hi Lo Card Gamehi lo card game
- NN777 How to Play Pusoyhow to play pusoy
- NN777 Martingale Baccaratmartingale baccarat
- NN777 Pontoon Card Gamepontoon card game
- NN777 Sic Bo Strategysic bo strategy
FAQ
How many cards do you get in Texas hold em?
Two private hole cards each. Five shared community cards are dealt face up in the middle. Your hand is the best five cards from those seven.
What are the blinds in Texas hold em?
The blinds are forced bets posted before the cards are dealt: the small blind by the player left of the dealer button and the big blind by the next player. They make sure there is always something to play for.
Ano ang flop, turn at river?
Ang flop ay ang unang tatlong community cards, ang turn ay ang ika-apat at ang river ay ang ikalima. May betting round bago ang flop at pagkatapos ng bawat isa.
Do suits matter in Texas hold em?
Suits matter only for making a flush. No suit outranks another, so two equal hands split the pot. The page on card suits shows how that differs from Filipino games where suits break ties.