How to Play Texas Hold'em
A game of Texas Hold'em can run anywhere from a heads-up match (just two players) all the way up to a full ring table with every seat taken. Online, a single table usually seats six to nine players. Whether you're in a cash game or a tournament, every Texas Hold'em hand follows the same set of rules:
Every community-card game kicks off with the blinds: forced, smaller-sized bets posted by the player to the left of the dealer (the small blind) and the player after that (the big blind). The dealer button moves clockwise, advancing one seat after each hand. So once the button has made a full lap around the table, every player will have posted the blinds exactly once.
Each player is dealt two cards face down (your hole cards). Over four betting rounds, five community cards are turned up in the middle of the table. You combine those community cards with your hole cards to make the best possible five-card hand.
Hand Rankings
Hand strength in Texas Hold'em (from highest to lowest):
Royal Flush
A run of cards of the same suit, ten through ace.
Straight Flush
Five cards in sequence, all of the same suit.
Four of a Kind
Four cards of the same rank.
Full House
Three cards of the same rank plus a pair.
Flush
Five cards of the same suit.
Straight
Five cards in sequence.
Three of a Kind
Three cards of the same rank.
Two Pair
Two separate pairs, each made up of two cards of the same rank.
One Pair
Two cards of the same rank.
High Card
Five cards that don't form any combination at all.
For examples of each hand and a better grasp of the fundamentals behind poker decisions, check out the rules of poker.
Pre-flop
First betting round (pre-flop): once the blinds are posted and the hole cards are dealt, the action starts with the player to the left of the big blind (the highest bet at this point) and moves clockwise. One at a time, each player decides whether to call (matching the amount already bet), raise (increasing the bet), or fold (mucking the hand and waiting for the next one).
Keep in mind: to stay in the hand and move on to the next betting round, a player has to put in an amount equal to the highest bet of the round, or else go all-in — betting every chip they have, even if that doesn't cover the full bet. An all-in player's hand stays live all the way to showdown, and any further action between the players with more chips happens in a side pot.
After everyone has acted, the flop (three cards) is dealt face up for everyone to use: 
Flop
Second betting round: on later streets, the first to act is the active player closest to the left of the button (the dealer position). That player can bet or check (passing the action to the next player without betting). If there's a bet, everyone else has to put in at least the same amount (call) to see the turn. If everyone checks, the turn is dealt for free: 
Turn
Third betting round: the remaining players act one by one again, choosing to check, bet, raise (if a bet has already been made), or fold. If more than one player is still in the hand at the end of this round, the fifth community card — the river — is dealt: 
River
Fourth betting round: players get one final round of betting on the river. If more than one player is still in the hand at the end, the hole cards are turned over (showdown) and the best hand takes the pot.
Of course, not every hand reaches showdown! If everyone folds except one player, that player wins the pot without ever having to show their hole cards.
Showdown
Showdown example: with the community cards above , four players reach showdown. Player A's cards: 
. Their best five-card hand is two pair — a pair of aces and a pair of fours: 
Player B's cards: 
. Their best five-card hand is two pair — a pair of aces and a pair of tens:
Player C's cards: 
. They make a straight:
Player D's cards: 
. Player D makes a flush: — the strongest hand and the winner.
Split Pot
At showdown, it can happen that more than one player holds the exact same five-card hand. They might have equivalent hole cards (the same two pair or the same straight), or the community cards themselves already make the strongest hand (for example, when the board is a royal flush — unbeatable by any other hand). In those cases, all of the identical hands win at showdown and the players split the pot evenly.
Texas Hold'em Variations
Texas Hold'em can be played by anywhere from two players up to a packed table (usually nine at most), with different betting structures (see below: no-limit, fixed-limit, and pot-limit).
The most popular variation you'll find online is Short Deck (also called 6+ Hold'em), where every card below the six is taken out of the deck. Playing with just 36 cards changes hand strength: a flush now beats a full house. The ace can still play as either the highest or the lowest card in a straight, so the smallest straight in Short Deck is A-6-7-8-9.
Three-card Hold'em works just like the two-card version: you keep all three hole cards and use any combination of the available cards (eight in total) to build the strongest five-card hand. That said, Pineapple is the most common three-card variation. In Pineapple, each player is dealt three hole cards instead of two and has to discard one before the first betting round (pre-flop). From there, the game plays exactly like Texas Hold'em.
Crazy Pineapple starts off just like Pineapple, with each player receiving three hole cards, but the discard happens after the flop instead.
Any twist that's typical of community-card games works for Texas Hold'em too: for instance, it can be played as Double Board, where two flops, two turns, and two rivers are dealt and the pot is split between the winners of each board. There's even the option to play it high-low (though that's less common).
How to Play Texas Hold'em Online
The options for playing Texas Hold'em online are endless. A lot of people get their first taste of poker by watching No-Limit Hold'em tournaments and cash games on TV. That's exactly why this simple format, played online at low stakes or in freerolls (free-entry tournaments), is such a practical and budget-friendly way to learn.
WPT Global offers cash games across a wide range of buy-in levels (starting at very low stakes), which helps newcomers get a feel for the mechanics fast and rack up experience far quicker than they could at a live table. Getting started is simple: just create an account (in the countries and territories where WPT Global operates) and play against people from all over the world, anytime, anywhere.
When you learn online, you don't need to know how to count chips, shuffle, or size the pot — when it's your turn to act, all of that shows up on screen and your options are highlighted for you. In poker, like any game, practice is what leads to mastery, and playing online speeds up the learning curve at far smaller stakes than a brick-and-mortar poker room.
And, of course, online is now the home of high-stakes poker too. The biggest cash games (and heads-up matches) increasingly happen on the internet rather than live. Nothing stops a brand-new player from moving up online and taking on the best in the world — Texas Hold'em is the most widely played poker game, with the widest range of buy-in levels out there.
How Do You Play Texas Hold'em?
You play Texas Hold'em online at one of the best poker sites in the world by learning the formats and rules of poker, reading the WPT Global poker glossary, and starting to play real-money poker.
Play Texas Hold'em online at one of the best poker sites in the world. Learn how to play Texas Hold'em and other poker formats. Get to know the rules of poker, read the WPT Global poker glossary, and start playing real-money poker.
This complete Texas Hold'em guide from WPT Global is built to help you understand and excel at one of poker's most popular formats. It gives you an in-depth look at the rules and strategy of the game, and rounds out the experience with the best poker promotions and exclusive offers available on the platform.
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The Rules of Poker
As Mike Sexton used to say, "It takes a minute to learn, but a lifetime to master." He was talking about No-Limit Hold'em, the most popular poker format in the world, but every community-card game (and most poker games) shares the same basic rules and the same hand rankings. Master those fundamentals and you'll be well on your way to learning and mastering poker.
If you're interested in playing poker online, find out how to play Texas Hold'em, PLO, Omaha, Short Deck, or Global Spins at our multi-table cash games or in our poker tournaments.
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