Texas Hold'em Rules for Beginners (Private Home Games)
The full flow of a Hold'em hand — blinds, the four betting rounds, minimum raises, all-ins and side pots, and showdown — for free play-chip games among friends.
Texas Hold'em is the poker game most people picture: each player builds the best five-card hand they can from two private cards and five shared community cards, and bets on it across four rounds. On RummyDen it is played at private tables with play chips only: no real money is involved, and the chips simply show who has the most at the end of the night. Our responsible play page explains how chips work.
What You Need to Play
A standard game uses a 52-card deck and seats between two and ten players around a virtual table. One player holds the dealer button, a marker that moves on one player after every hand. The button decides who posts the blinds and who acts first, so it keeps the game fair over time.
- Hole cards — the two private cards dealt face down to each player.
- Community cards — five shared cards dealt face up in the middle of the table.
- The board — another name for those five community cards.
- Play chips — what you bet with. Each player starts with a stack within the range the host sets.
The Blinds: Forcing the Action
Before any cards are dealt, two players post forced bets called blinds. The player directly to the left of the dealer button posts the small blind, and the next player to their left posts the big blind, which is usually double the small blind. Blinds exist so there are always some chips in the middle worth playing for, which keeps every hand lively.
The chips in the middle are called the pot, and whoever wins the hand collects it.
The Four Betting Rounds
A hand of Hold'em unfolds across four betting rounds. New community cards are revealed between rounds, giving everyone more information and a fresh chance to act.
1. Preflop
Each player receives their two hole cards face down. Starting with the player to the left of the big blind, everyone decides whether to play. You can fold if your cards look weak, call to match the big blind, or raise to put in more.
2. The Flop
Three community cards are dealt face up together. This is the flop, and it dramatically shapes the hand because you can now see five of the seven cards you will use. A new betting round begins, this time starting with the first active player to the left of the button.
3. The Turn
A fourth community card, the turn, is dealt face up. Another betting round follows. Hands are taking clearer shape now, and the bets often grow larger.
4. The River
The fifth and final community card, the river, is revealed. This is the last betting round. After it finishes, any remaining players reveal their hands in the showdown.
The Five Actions
Whenever it is your turn, you choose one action. Your options depend on whether anyone has bet before you in the current round.
| Action | What it means | When you can use it |
|---|---|---|
| Check | Pass the action without betting, staying in the hand for free | Only when no one has bet yet this round |
| Bet | Put the first chips into the pot this round | When no one has bet yet |
| Call | Match the current bet to stay in the hand | When someone has already bet or raised |
| Raise | Increase the bet, forcing others to match more or fold | When there is a bet to raise over |
| Fold | Give up your cards and forfeit any chips already in the pot | At any time it is your turn |
A betting round ends when every active player has either matched the highest bet or folded. If everyone folds to a single player at any point, that player wins the pot immediately and never has to show their cards.
Minimum Bets and Raises
RummyDen plays no-limit: you can bet or raise up to every chip in front of you, but there is a floor. These are the minimums the table enforces, shown with the default blinds of 10 and 20:
- Opening bet: on the flop, turn or river, the first bet must be at least the big blind, 20.
- Raise: a raise must add at least as much as the last bet or raise in the same round. Before the flop the big blind counts as the bet, so the smallest raise is to 40. If Asha raises to 60, she has added 40, so Ben's re-raise must go to at least 100.
- Straddle: when the host turns on the straddle, the straddler posts 40 before the deal and the smallest raise before the flop is to 80.
- All-in: going all-in is always allowed, even when it is less than the minimum bet, the minimum raise or the amount to call. A short all-in still has to be called, but it does not change the minimum: the next raise must still add at least the last full raise.
The minimums start again on each betting round. On the table, the raise slider never goes below the minimum, and the button reads Raise to followed by your new total, not the extra amount.
The Showdown: Making the Best Hand
If two or more players remain after the river betting, it is time for the showdown. Each player makes their best possible five-card hand using any combination of their two hole cards and the five community cards. You can use both hole cards, one, or even none of them — whatever makes the strongest hand.
The player with the highest-ranking hand wins the pot. If two players tie, the pot is split evenly. Hand rankings decide every showdown, so learn the order from a Royal Flush down to a High Card; the poker hand rankings page shows each one with card examples.
A Full Hand, Step by Step
- The dealer button is set, and the two players to its left post the small blind and big blind.
- Every player is dealt two hole cards face down.
- Preflop: starting left of the big blind, players fold, call, or raise until the round is settled.
- The flop: three community cards are dealt face up, then a betting round runs starting left of the button.
- The turn: a fourth community card appears, followed by another betting round.
- The river: the fifth community card appears, followed by the final betting round.
- Showdown: remaining players reveal their hands, and the best five-card hand wins the pot.
- The button moves one seat to the left, and the next hand begins.
All-in and side pots at a RummyDen table
You can only win as many chips from each opponent as you put in yourself. When a player is all-in for less than the others, RummyDen splits the chips by how much each player put in: a main pot that everyone still in the hand can win, and one or more side pots that only the players who put in more can win. Chips from players who fold stay in the pots, but a folded player cannot win any of them. While the hand runs, the table shows each side pot as its own amount under the main pot.
Once the betting is closed and no more than one player still has chips to bet, there is nothing left to decide, so the table deals the rest of the board straight away.
A worked example with three players
Three friends are at the table: Asha has 300 chips, Ben 800 and Chitra 1,500. Before the flop Asha moves all-in for 300, Ben moves all-in for 800, and Chitra calls the 800, keeping 700 back. The pots are built from what each player put in:
| Pot | Made from | Chips | Who can win it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main pot | 300 from each player | 900 | Asha, Ben, Chitra |
| Side pot | The next 500 from Ben and from Chitra | 1,000 | Ben, Chitra |
The board is dealt out. Here are all three hands, although the table itself turns over only Asha's and Ben's, the two that win a pot:
Asha has the best hand, but she can only win the main pot: 900 chips, three times what she put in. The side pot is decided between Ben and Chitra alone, and Ben's two pair beats Chitra's pair of kings, so he takes the 1,000. Chitra loses the 800 she put in and keeps her other 700. Had Ben held the best hand, he would have won both pots, 1,900 in all.
Two more cases follow the same rule. If Chitra had moved all-in for all 1,500 instead of calling, nobody could match her last 700, so those chips go straight back to her as an uncalled bet rather than counting as winnings. And if two players tie for a pot, they split it equally.
Playing Hold'em at a RummyDen table
The rules above are standard no-limit Texas Hold'em. Here is how a RummyDen poker table applies them, so there are no surprises on your first night:
| Setting | RummyDen default |
|---|---|
| Seats | 10 per table; 2 or more players can start |
| Blinds | Small blind 10, big blind 20 play chips. The host can add an ante when creating the table and change the blinds during the game; new blinds start with the next hand |
| Starting stack | Each player picks a stack within the host's range: 1,000 to 4,000 play chips by default (50 to 200 big blinds) |
| Thinking time | 20 seconds per action; the host can choose 15, 30 or 60 instead |
| Running out of time | You check if you can, otherwise you fold; two timeouts in a row mark you as sitting out |
| Running out of chips | Players can reload between hands, up to the table's maximum, so nobody has to sit out the rest of the night; at a table with host approval, the host approves each reload |
| Joining | Anyone with the table link can take an open seat, unless the host turns on Host approves new players |
| Showdown | Only the winning hand is turned face up; anyone can show their cards once the hand is over |
| Straddle | Off by default; the host can turn on a live straddle of twice the big blind |
| Rabbit hunting | On by default, so players can see the cards that would have come; the host can turn it off |
Two details catch first-timers. With only two players left, the button posts the small blind and acts first before the flop, then last on every later street: the usual heads-up rule. And because anyone with the link can sit down, share it only with your group.
Ready to play? Play Hold'em with friends at a free private table. For every ranking with card examples see poker hand rankings, for seats see table positions, or compare the two games in rummy vs poker. If you also play 13-card Rummy, start with how to play and the rules.