This site provides information on all aspects of the game of Texas holdem. Whether you play for fun at an online poker room or for real money at a casino, we have tips to help you learn to play holdem like a pro. We explain the basics of holdem in our beginner's introduction. If you're more interested in math and probability, try poker odds or our odds calculators. If you want an explanation of a rule or have a question about holdem, check out Texas holdem rules.
Texas Holdem Poker - the world's most popular poker game
The most widely played poker game across North America and Europe has gained vast popularity in the last few decades. Texas Holdem arrived in Las Vegas in the late 1950s and slowly gained popularity due to its No Limit betting form and the fact that it has four betting rounds. A thrilling community card game, Texas Holdem allows each player to use a combination of 5 community cards and 2 pocket cards to make a poker hand. Texas Holdem has become the world's most popular poker game and the main event at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the World Poker Tour (WPT).
If you would like to learn to play Hold'em using a more hands-on method, PokerStars offers free poker games in the poker room. To start practicing your poker skills, just visit the free poker download page, install the award-winning poker software, and you'll be learning Hold'em in no time.
However, if you'd rather familiarize yourself with the rules of Hold'em first, then these instructions should help.
Limit, No Limit, Pot Limit and Mixed Texas Hold'em
Hold'em rules remain the same for Limit, No Limit and Pot Limit poker games, with a few exceptions:
Limit Texas Hold'em
Betting in Limit Hold'em is in pre-determined, structured amounts. Pre-flop and on the flop, all bets and raises are of the same amount as the big blind. On the turn and the river, the size of all bets and raises doubles. In Limit Hold'em, up to four bets are allowed per player during each betting round. This includes a (1) bet, (2) raise, (3) re-raise, and (4) cap (final raise).
No Limit Texas Hold'em
The minimum bet in No Limit Hold'em is the same as the size of the big blind, but players can always bet as much more as they want, up to all of their chips.
Minimum raise: In No Limit Hold'em, the raise amount must be at least as much as the previous bet or raise in the same round. As an example, if the first player to act bets $5 then the second player must raise a minimum of $5 (total bet of $10).
Maximum raise: The size of your stack (your chips on the table).
In No Limit Hold'em, there is no ‘cap’ on the number of raises allowed.
Pot Limit Texas Hold'em
The minimum bet in Pot Limit Hold'em is the same as the size of the big blind, but players can always bet up to the size of the pot.
Minimum raise: The raise amount must be at least as much as the previous bet or raise in the same round. As an example, if the first player to act bets $5 then the second player must raise a minimum of $5 (total bet of $10).
Maximum raise: The size of the pot, which is defined as the total of the active pot plus all bets on the table plus the amount the active player must first call before raising.
Example: If the size of the pot is $100, and there is no previous action on a particular betting round, a player may bet a maximum of $100. After that bet, the action moves to the next player clockwise. That player can either fold, call $100, or raise any amount between the minimum ($100 more) and the maximum. The maximum bet in this case is $400 - the raiser would first call $100, bringing the pot size to $300, and then raise $300 more, making a total bet of $400.
In Pot Limit Hold'em, there is no ‘cap’ on the number of raises allowed.
Mixed Texas Hold'em
In Mixed Hold'em, the game switches between rounds of Limit Hold'em and No Limit Hold'em. The blinds are typically increased when the game switches from No Limit to Limit, to ensure some consistency in the average pot size in each game. The betting rules on each round follow the rules for that game, as described above.
In the PokerStars software, it’s not possible to bet less than the minimum or more than the maximum. The bet slider and bet window will only allow you to bet amounts within the allowed thresholds.
