Texas Hold'em rules, hand rankings and poker odds

What are the poker hand rankings, from best to worst?

From best to worst: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, and high card. Only your best five cards count.

1. 1
   Royal flushA-K-Q-J-10, all the same suit. Example: A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠ 10♠.0.003% of hands · about 1 in 30,940
2. 2
   Straight flushFive in a row, all the same suit. Example: 9♥ 8♥ 7♥ 6♥ 5♥.0.03% · about 1 in 3,590
3. 3
   Four of a kindFour cards of the same rank. Example: Q♣ Q♦ Q♥ Q♠ 7♦.0.17% · about 1 in 595
4. 4
   Full houseThree of a kind plus a pair. Example: K♠ K♥ K♦ 4♣ 4♠.2.6% · about 1 in 38
5. 5
   FlushAny five cards of the same suit. Example: A♦ J♦ 8♦ 6♦ 2♦.3.0% · about 1 in 33
6. 6
   StraightFive in a row, mixed suits. An Ace can be high (10-J-Q-K-A) or low (A-2-3-4-5). Example: 10♣ 9♦ 8♠ 7♥ 6♣.4.6% · about 1 in 22
7. 7
   Three of a kindThree cards of the same rank. Example: 7♠ 7♥ 7♦ K♣ 2♠.4.8% · about 1 in 21
8. 8
   Two pairTwo different pairs. Example: J♥ J♣ 5♠ 5♦ A♥.23.5% · about 1 in 4.3
9. 9
   One pairTwo cards of the same rank. Example: 10♠ 10♥ A♣ 8♦ 4♠.43.8% · about 1 in 2.3
10. 10
    High cardNo pair or better — your highest card plays. Example: A♣ Q♦ 9♠ 6♥ 3♣.17.4% · about 1 in 5.7

Percentages are the chance of finishing with each hand using all seven cards (two hole cards plus five on the board).

How are ties broken in poker? Kickers and suits

When two players have the same type of hand, compare the cards within each player's best five, highest first. The extra cards that decide it are called kickers. Suits never matter in Texas Hold'em — if both best five-card hands are identical, the pot is split.

Example: you hold A♠ K♦ and your opponent holds A♣ Q♥ on a board of A♥ 9♠ 7♣ 4♦ 2♥. You both have a pair of Aces, but your King kicker beats their Queen, so you win.

How does a hand of Texas Hold'em work?

1. Blinds. The two players left of the dealer button post forced bets — the small blind and the big blind — so there's something to win.
2. Pre-flop. Everyone gets two cards face down. Betting starts with the player left of the big blind: fold, call the big blind, or raise.
3. Flop. Three community cards are dealt face up, then a round of betting that starts left of the button.
4. Turn. A fourth community card, then betting.
5. River. The fifth and final card, then the last round of betting.
6. Showdown. Players still in reveal their cards and the best five-card hand takes the pot. The button then moves one seat to the left.

What can you do on your turn in poker?

Fold, check, call, bet or raise. You can only check when nobody has bet yet in the current round; once someone bets, you must call, raise or fold.

Fold

Throw your hand away. You lose what you've already put in, and nothing more.

Check

Pass without betting — only when nobody has bet yet this round.

Call

Match the current bet to stay in the hand.

Bet or raise

Put in chips others must match. In no-limit, a raise must be at least the size of the previous bet or raise; the maximum is everything in front of you.

All-in

Bet your whole stack. You can only win as much from each opponent as you put in yourself; anything extra forms a side pot.

Position

Seats are named from the button: small blind (SB), big blind (BB), then under the gun (UTG), hijack (HJ) and cutoff (CO). Acting last after the flop is a big advantage.

Which starting hands should you play in Texas Hold'em?

Fewer than you think. At a six-handed table, a solid player opens only about 16% of hands under the gun, rising to about 43% on the button. When nobody has raised yet, raise or fold — don't just call.

The later your seat, the more hands you can play, because fewer opponents are left to act behind you with a better hand. Pairs run down the diagonal of the grid, suited hands sit above it and offsuit hands below. Tap a hand for details, or pick a seat to see just its range.

Tap a hand to see where it opens from.

Opening ranges by seat (six-handed, 100 big blinds)

"s" means suited, "o" offsuit, and "+" means the same first card with every higher second card (A2s+ is A2s through AKs). Against a raise, re-raise with QQ+ and AK, call with medium pairs and strong suited Broadway hands, and fold most of the rest. These are simplified ranges — the Play tab's coach uses the same ones.

How do you count outs in poker? The rule of 2 and 4

An out is an unseen card that completes your hand. On the flop, multiply your outs by 4 for your rough chance of hitting by the river; on the turn, multiply by 2 for your chance on the river alone. A flush draw has 9 outs: about 35% from the flop, 20% from the turn.

Count each card once: with a flush draw and an open-ended straight draw, two of the straight cards are also flush cards, so you have 15 outs rather than 17. The rule of 4 runs high with big draws — 15 outs is really 54%, not 60%.

What are pot odds and how do you use them?

Pot odds compare the size of a call with the pot you could win. If your chance of winning is higher than the share of the final pot you're paying, the call makes money over time.

Equity needed = call ÷ (pot + call)

Example: the pot is 60 and your opponent bets 30. The pot is now 90 and you must call 30, so you need 30 ÷ 120 = 25%. A flush draw on the turn hits about 20% of the time — so this is a fold, unless you expect to win extra chips on the river when you hit. That extra is called implied odds.

Common bet sizes and the equity you need to call