No Folds Given
How to play Texas Hold'em
The rules in ten minutes, for home-game players. 18+ · play money only.
Texas Hold'em is the most popular poker game in the world, and it's simple to learn: everyone gets two private cards, five shared cards are dealt to the middle, and the best five-card hand wins. Or you win by making everyone else fold.
1. The setup
A dealer button moves one seat to the left after every hand. The player to its left posts the small blind and the next player posts the big blind, usually twice the small blind. These forced bets start the pot. Each player is then dealt two face-down hole cards.
2. The four betting rounds
- Pre-flop: the player left of the big blind acts first, and action goes round the table.
- The flop: three shared cards are dealt face up, then another round of betting, starting with the first active player left of the button.
- The turn: a fourth shared card, then betting.
- The river: the fifth and final shared card, then the last round of betting.
If more than one player is left after the river, it's a showdown: hands are revealed and the best five-card hand from each player's seven cards wins. See the poker hand rankings for what beats what.
3. Your options on your turn
- Check: pass without betting, if no one has bet yet this round.
- Bet: put chips in when no one else has.
- Call: match the current bet.
- Raise: increase the bet. A raise must be at least as big as the previous bet or raise this round.
- Fold: give up your cards and any chips you've already put in.
- All-in: bet everything you have left. If others keep betting, the extra goes into a side pot that you can't win, while you can still win the main pot.
A betting round ends when everyone still in has put in the same amount, or everyone else has folded. If everyone folds to a bet, the bettor wins the pot without showing their cards.
4. Cash games and tournaments
- Cash game: the blinds stay the same and players can add chips between hands. Play as long as you like.
- Tournament: everyone starts with the same stack, the blinds go up at regular intervals (on No Folds Given, every 5, 10 or 15 hands; the host chooses), and you play until one player has all the chips.
5. Home-game extras on No Folds Given
The host chooses the game, the blinds, the starting chips and the buy-in rules. Optional extras include bomb pots, where everyone puts in chips and the hand starts on the flop, and run it twice for all-ins. The server deals and settles every pot, including side pots, so no one has to count chips. Coach tips can show your equity and pot odds while you learn.
Beginner tips
- Play fewer hands, especially from the early seats. Position matters: acting last is a big advantage.
- Don't call just to see what happens. Check the pot odds first.
- Bet your strong hands. Friendly games pay off value bets more often than they fold to bluffs.
Ready for more? Read the GTO strategy guide and the poker tells guide, or host a poker night online.