Texas Hold'em Poker
Poker is a family of card games with many variations. You may have heard of Omaha, Seven Card Stud, Razz, or Five Card Draw. The one we play here is Texas Hold'em, by far the most popular variant today. It is the game you see in the World Series of Poker, in most online rooms, and in the movies. If you learn one version of poker, learn this one.
The rules are simple. Each player gets 2 private cards. Up to 5 community cards are dealt face up over three rounds. Make the best 5 card hand from any combination of your 2 hole cards and the 5 on the board.
Betting rounds
Preflop happens after seeing your 2 hole cards. Flop deals 3 community cards. Turn adds a 4th card. River adds the 5th. Showdown is when remaining players reveal.
Your options at each round. Fold (surrender), Check (pass when no bet is facing you), Call (match the current bet), Raise (increase the bet), All in (bet everything you have).
Hand rankings
Starting hand tiers
Premium includes AA, KK, QQ, AKs. Always raise.
Strong includes JJ, TT, AQs, AKo, KQs. Raise from most positions.
Playable includes 99, 88, AJs, ATs, KJs, QJs, JTs. Raise from late position.
Speculative includes small pairs and suited connectors. Call or fold depending on position and price.
Beginners play too many hands. A winning strategy starts with discipline. Fold most hands preflop and play aggressively when you enter a pot.
Preflop hand chart
There are 169 unique starting hand combinations in Texas Hold'em. This grid shows all of them, colored by tier. Click any hand to see the specific advice.
| A | K | Q | J | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | AA | AKs | AQs | AJs | A10s | A9s | A8s | A7s | A6s | A5s | A4s | A3s | A2s |
| K | AKo | KK | KQs | KJs | K10s | K9s | K8s | K7s | K6s | K5s | K4s | K3s | K2s |
| Q | AQo | KQo | QJs | Q10s | Q9s | Q8s | Q7s | Q6s | Q5s | Q4s | Q3s | Q2s | |
| J | AJo | KJo | QJo | JJ | J10s | J9s | J8s | J7s | J6s | J5s | J4s | J3s | J2s |
| 10 | A10o | K10o | Q10o | J10o | 1010 | 109s | 108s | 107s | 106s | 105s | 104s | 103s | 102s |
| 9 | A9o | K9o | Q9o | J9o | 109o | 99 | 98s | 97s | 96s | 95s | 94s | 93s | 92s |
| 8 | A8o | K8o | Q8o | J8o | 108o | 98o | 88 | 87s | 86s | 85s | 84s | 83s | 82s |
| 7 | A7o | K7o | Q7o | J7o | 107o | 97o | 87o | 77 | 76s | 75s | 74s | 73s | 72s |
| 6 | A6o | K6o | Q6o | J6o | 106o | 96o | 86o | 76o | 66 | 65s | 64s | 63s | 62s |
| 5 | A5o | K5o | Q5o | J5o | 105o | 95o | 85o | 75o | 65o | 55 | 54s | 53s | 52s |
| 4 | A4o | K4o | Q4o | J4o | 104o | 94o | 84o | 74o | 64o | 54o | 44 | 43s | 42s |
| 3 | A3o | K3o | Q3o | J3o | 103o | 93o | 83o | 73o | 63o | 53o | 43o | 33 | 32s |
| 2 | A2o | K2o | Q2o | J2o | 102o | 92o | 82o | 72o | 62o | 52o | 42o | 32o | 22 |
Upper right triangle is suited, lower left is offsuit, diagonal is pairs. The top left corner is the strongest region. The bottom right is trash you should usually fold.
Position
Position is where you sit relative to the dealer button. The Button acts last on every street after the flop, which is a massive advantage. You see what every other player does before you decide.
Rough hierarchy from weakest to strongest position. Under the gun (first to act preflop) is the worst spot. Middle position is mediocre. Cutoff (one seat before Button) is good. Button is the best seat in the game. Small Blind and Big Blind act early and see flops cheap, but play out of position the rest of the hand.
Play tight from early position, wider from late position. A hand like KJ offsuit might be a fold UTG and a raise on the Button. Same two cards, different value, purely because of who acts after you.
Pot odds
Pot odds are the ratio of the current pot size to the amount you need to call. They tell you how often your hand needs to win to make calling profitable long term.
Formula. Required equity percent equals call amount divided by (pot plus call amount), times 100.
Worked example. Pot has $80. Opponent bets $20. The pot is now $100 and it costs you $20 to call. Required equity is 20 divided by (100 plus 20) which is about 17%. So if you think your hand wins 17% of the time or more, calling breaks even or profits over time. A flush draw on the turn wins about 20% of the time, which clears 17%, so calling is correct.
Implied odds are the chips you expect to win on later streets if you hit your draw. Straight and flush draws often have strong implied odds against opponents who call large bets.
Ranges instead of hands
A weak player thinks, what hand do they have. A stronger player thinks, what range of hands could they be playing this way. Your opponent almost never has exactly one hand you can read with certainty. They have a range, which is a set of possible holdings consistent with their actions so far.
Strong play is about playing well against an opponent's entire range. If a tight player raises from under the gun, their range is narrow (maybe the top 10% of hands). If a loose player limps from the Button, their range is wide (almost anything).
When you face a bet, ask yourself what hands they could have and how your hand does against the full set. You do not need to guess their exact cards, you need to pick the play that wins more often than not against the likely set.
Bet sizing
Bet size tells a story. Small bets (roughly one third of the pot) look like a probing bet or a weak hand. Medium bets (half to two thirds of the pot) look like a standard value bet or a strong draw. Large bets (close to pot or over) look like a very strong hand, or a polarized bluff.
General rules. Bet larger with strong hands on boards where your opponent has drawing options (charge them to chase). Bet smaller with marginal hands to control the pot size. Against fish who call too much, just make bigger value bets with strong hands and forget about bluffing.
A common beginner mistake is to bet small with strong hands and large with bluffs. Real players pattern match and figure out your sizing tells quickly. Try to use similar sizes with both value and bluffs when you do bluff.
Bluffing
A good bluff tells a consistent story. If you raised preflop, fired the flop, and fired the turn, you are representing a strong made hand. The river is where you either have it or you do not. Bluff only when your story makes sense for the hand you are pretending to have.
Bluff against 1 or 2 opponents, not a crowd. The more people in the pot, the more likely someone has a real hand that can call. Bluffing with a draw (a semi bluff) is stronger than bluffing with nothing, because even when called you have a chance to hit.
The best bluffs happen on boards where your opponent likely missed. A raggy paired board (like 7 7 3 2 4) is a bad bluffing board because your opponent called for a reason and probably has a pair. A scary board (K Q J, all one suit) gives more room to represent a big hand.
Bankroll management
Variance in poker is brutal, even for winning players. Bad runs of 20 buyins are normal. If you play stakes where your entire bankroll is one or two buyins, one bad session wipes you out, win rate be damned.
Rule of thumb for cash games. Keep at least 20 buyins for the stakes you play. So if you play $1/$2 no limit where a full buyin is $200, your bankroll should be at least $4000 before you sit down regularly. For tournaments, aim for 100 buyins because variance is higher.
Never bring your whole bankroll to a session. Never borrow to play. Move down in stakes when your bankroll drops below the threshold. Emotion driven play after a loss is the fastest way to go broke.
Common beginner mistakes
Playing too many hands. If you are in more than one third of pots, you are leaking money.
Passive calling. Calling instead of raising or folding is the weakest play in poker. Pick a decisive action.
Chasing draws without odds. Pretty straights and flushes cost you money when the pot does not give you the right price.
Slow playing strong hands. Big hands want big pots. Check raising once in a while is fine, but stop trying to trap with aces.
Bluffing calling stations. Some opponents will call with any pair. Do not bluff them, just bet for value.
Emotional play after losses. Tilt costs more than bad cards. Take a walk, stop playing, protect the bankroll.
Ready to practice?
Head over to the Poker Puzzles for random preflop scenarios with instant feedback. Nail starting hand selection by reps, not by memorizing the chart cold.