How to Play Poker: Texas Hold’em

Watch a first seat, not a sales pitch

This silent, 16-second screen recording shows the mobile lobby, a first practice hand, and Pause. It is the actual game in a mobile-sized browser, not a recording from a physical phone.

Read the demonstration transcript

The lobby offers a practice seat without an account. Play opens the table with your cards and balance at the bottom, and the total pot above the community cards. In this particular hand, calling costs 40 play chips. The demonstration uses Pause without placing a bet. Your actual cards and action costs will vary.

The goal: win the pot

The pot is the collection of chips committed during a hand. You win it by having the best eligible five-card hand at showdown, or by being the last player who hasn’t folded (PokerStars Texas Hold’em rules).

Free Poker USA uses play chips with no cash value. You play against computer opponents, not other people, and there are no deposits or cash prizes.

Find the dealer button before the cards

The dealer button marks the nominal dealer position. At a table with three or more players, the small blind is the next seat clockwise and the big blind follows it; preflop action begins after the big blind (PokerStars Texas Hold’em rules).

A six-seat example, clockwise

1 · DDealer button2 · SBSmall blind: 103 · BBBig blind: 204 · First actionFold, call, or raise5 · Next seatWait for your turn6 · Next seatThen back to the button

In this example, the pot starts with 30 play chips. The 10/20 blinds are our practice-table starting stakes, not dollar amounts.

In the game, look for the D marker beside a seat. The Position button explains the current button, blinds, and your place in the action; don’t assume the bottom seat is always the dealer.

Follow an illustrated hand

The shared cards arrive in three stages: three on the flop, one on the turn, and one on the river. There is a betting round before the flop and after each stage (PokerStars Texas Hold’em rules).

Your private cards

You hold ace-king. They are your hole cards, visible to you.

The flop: three shared cards

You now have a pair of aces. Everyone still in the hand can use these community cards.

The turn: a fourth shared card

Your pair remains. A new card also changes what the other players might hold.

The river: the fifth shared card

Your best five are A♠ A♥ K♦ K♣ 9♠: two pair, aces and kings. The 7 and 2 do not play.

After the flop, betting begins with the first active player clockwise from the button. If everyone but one player folds, the hand ends without needing all five community cards (PokerStars Texas Hold’em rules).

Understand the buttons before tapping

Fold: leave this hand. Chips already committed stay in the pot.
Check: stay in without adding chips when you owe nothing.
Call: match the outstanding bet, or commit your remaining stack if it is smaller.
Bet: put in the first bet on a betting round.
Raise: increase the current bet.

These actions follow standard Hold’em play (PokerStars Texas Hold’em rules). In our game, read both your chip balance and the action’s cost before confirming. “Raise to” is a total for that round, not just the extra chips.

Call cost example

If the current bet is 60 and you already put in 20 this round, calling costs 40 more. If you raise to 100, you add 80 to your existing 20.

In no-limit Hold’em, a normal full raise must be at least the size of the previous full bet or raise increment. Short all-in raises have additional reopening rules; use the legal options shown by the game rather than assuming every all-in reopens raising (PokerStars Texas Hold’em rules).

At showdown, compare the best five

Players still contesting the pot reveal their hands. Compare hand category first, then the relevant ranks and kickers. Identical five-card ranks split the pot; a suit is never a tiebreaker (PokerStars hand-ranking rules).

In the illustrated hand, someone holding 7♥ 7♦ would have three sevens and beat your two pair. A strong-looking hand is not automatically the winning hand.

Keep the hand-ranking chart handy, try a showdown puzzle, or follow the beginner learning path. You can take the table tour from the game whenever you need a refresher.

How to play poker, one hand at a time.