Deal a hand and follow it from your first two cards to the river. The guide names your hand, counts your outs and shows how often you win against random cards.
Each player gets two private cards. Five shared cards come face up in three stages. You make the best five-card hand from any mix of the seven.
Post the blinds
The two players to the left of the dealer button put in forced bets: the small blind and the big blind. This gives everyone a pot to fight for.
Deal two cards and bet
Each player gets two hole cards face down. Action starts with the player left of the big blind and moves clockwise.
The flop
Three shared cards go face up. A new betting round starts with the first player still in the hand to the left of the button.
The turn
A fourth shared card, then another round of betting.
The river
The fifth and last shared card, then the final round of betting.
Showdown
Players still in show their cards and the best five-card hand takes the pot. The button moves one seat left and the next hand starts.
Who acts first
Before the flop, the player under the gun acts first and the big blind acts last.
Your choices when it is your turn
Check
Pass without betting. Only allowed when nobody has bet yet in this round.
Bet
Put chips in when nobody else has. In no-limit, any amount up to your whole stack.
Call
Match the current bet to stay in the hand.
Raise
Increase the bet. A raise must be at least the size of the last bet or raise.
Fold
Give up your cards and any chips you already put in.
You will fold most of your hands. The money comes from the few you play: from a good seat, at a fair price, with a reason to bet.
Hand rankings
From strongest to weakest. Suits never rank against each other: two equal hands split the pot. The bar shows how often you end with each hand after all seven cards.
Which hands to play
Your seat decides how many hands you can open. The later you act, the more you can play. These ranges are for a six-player table when everyone before you has folded.
Pairs run down the diagonal. Suited hands are above it, offsuit hands below.
Odds calculator
Pick your two cards and any board cards. The calculator deals the rest thousands of times and counts how often you win.
Your hand
Board
Choose a card for your hand.
Choose two cards for your hand to see your chances, or start with a strong one.
What you finish with by the river
Should you call with a draw?
Compare the price of the call with your chance to hit. If you hit more often than the price asks, the call makes money over time.
Your draw
Cards to come
Strategy that wins
Eight habits that separate winning players from the rest. Pick one and take it to your next game.
Play your position
Acting last is the biggest built-in edge in Hold'em. You see what everyone did before you decide, and you control how big the pot gets.
Open more hands from the cutoff and button. Open fewer under the gun, where five players still act after you.
When you are out of position, keep pots smaller. Check and call less, and fold marginal hands sooner.
Steal the blinds from late position. If both blinds fold to your button raise about half the time, the raise already profits.
Check the starting hand chart: the button range is three times wider than under the gun.
Fold more hands
Most hands you get should go straight into the muck. A tight start keeps you out of spots where you hold the second-best hand.
Kickers matter. A9 offsuit looks strong, but when it pairs the ace it often loses to AJ, AQ and AK.
Suited cards win only a few percent more often than the same cards offsuit. Do not play a hand just because it is suited.
Small pocket pairs hope to flop a set. That happens about once in every eight and a half flops, so play them cheaply.
Bet, don't call
A bet wins two ways: your opponent folds, or you show the best hand. A call wins only one way.
Raise when you enter a pot. Do not limp in for the minimum: it invites everyone in and you lose the chance to win right away.
If you raised before the flop, a continuation bet on the flop often takes the pot. Your opponent misses the flop about two times in three.
Before you call, ask whether you should raise or fold instead. Calling should be a deliberate choice, not the default.
Size your bets
Every bet size tells a story and sets a price. Pick the size that does the job, then use it the same way with strong hands and bluffs.
Common starting points
Situation
Size
Open raise before the flop
2.5 big blinds, plus 1 for each limper
Re-raise (3-bet) in position
3 times the open
Re-raise out of position
4 times the open
Dry flop such as K-7-2
A third of the pot
Wet flop such as 9-8-6 with two hearts
Two thirds of the pot or more
Read the board
The same hand changes value on different boards. Ask what draws are possible and who the board favors.
Dry. No flush or straight draws. Top pair is strong, and small bets work well.Wet. Many draws. One pair is weaker, so bet bigger to charge the draws.Paired. Few players hold a queen. Small bluffs often take the pot here.
Bluff with a reason
The best bluffs can still win when they are called. A flush draw that bets is a semi-bluff: it wins when they fold or when it hits.
Bluff one opponent, not three. Each extra player makes a fold less likely.
Tell a story that makes sense. Your bets on the flop, turn and river must match the hand you claim.
Do not bluff players who call everything. Bet your good hands bigger against them instead.
A bluff must work a set share of the time to break even: bet ÷ (bet + pot). A half-pot bluff needs folds 33% of the time. A pot-size bluff needs 50%.
Protect your bankroll
Even perfect play loses for weeks at a time. A bankroll is the money you set aside so a bad run does not knock you out.
Keep at least 20 to 30 buy-ins for the cash game you play, and 50 to 100 for tournaments.
Move down a level when you drop below that. Move back up when you rebuild it.
Set a stop-loss for each session. After a painful hand, take a walk. Decisions made on tilt are the most expensive you make.
Only play with money you can afford to lose. If the game stops being fun, stop playing.
Fix common leaks
Small habits cost the most money because they repeat every session.
Calling too much before the flop. If a hand is not good enough to raise, it is usually not good enough to call.
Weak offsuit aces and kings. K8 offsuit and A5 offsuit lose many big pots to better kickers.
Slowplaying on wet boards. Checking a set when flush cards are out gives free cards to beat you.
Chasing without the price. Use the draw calculator before you call a big bet with a draw.
Practice
Two quick drills. The first trains you to read showdowns. The second checks your preflop decisions against the chart.
Who wins?
0 of 0 correct
Player A
Player B
Raise or fold?
0 of 0 correct
You are on the button. Everyone before you folded.