How to play Texas Hold'em: the rules in Two Cards

In Texas Hold'em, every player gets two secret cards, and five shared cards land face up in the middle. There are four rounds of turns. Stay in to the end with the best five cards, or be the last player who has not folded, and you win the chips in the middle. This page explains every step, just the way Two Cards plays it.

What you play with

All suits are worth the same. Card numbers go 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king, ace. The ace is the highest card, but it can also be the lowest card in a straight. See poker hands, best to worst.

Step 1: The D marker and the first bets

One player has the round D marker. It means "Deals this hand". After each hand, it moves one seat around the table, so everyone takes a turn.

Before any cards come, the two players after the D marker must put in chips:

• the first one puts in the small first bet (10 in Play),
• the next one puts in the big first bet (20 in Play).

The table shows "First bets 10 / 20", and these two seats show "10 in" and "20 in". That way there is always something in the middle to win. Grown-ups call these bets "the blinds". In Play until one stack, they get bigger as the game goes on.

Step 2: Two cards each, then the first round of turns

Everyone gets two cards, face down. Then the player after the big first bet starts, and the turns go around the table. To stay in, you must match the biggest bet so far. You have five choices:

The round ends when everyone still in has put in the same amount, or has gone all in. If someone raises, the others get another turn to match it. How much you can raise is on betting, raising and all in.

Step 3: Three cards in the middle

Three cards land face up in the middle. They belong to everyone. Grown-ups call them "the flop". Now there is a second round of turns. This time the first player still in after the D marker starts. If nobody puts in chips, everyone can Check.

Step 4: The fourth card

A fourth card lands in the middle ("the turn"), and there is a third round of turns.

Step 5: The fifth card

The fifth and last card lands in the middle ("the river"), and there is a last round of turns.

Step 6: Show the cards

Everyone still in turns their cards over, one at a time. The player who raised last shows first. If nobody raised in the last round, the first player after the D marker shows first.

Each player makes the best five-card hand out of seven cards: their two plus the five in the middle. You can use both your cards, one of them, or even none. The best hand wins all the chips in the middle. The winning five cards light up, and a sentence names the hand, like "Mira wins. Pair of twos."

How else can a hand end?

• Everyone else folds. The last player takes the chips right away, and nobody has to show any cards. The sentence says, for example, "Leo takes the chips."
• Nobody can bet any more. If all but one of the players still in are all in, there is nobody left to choose. The game deals the rest of the middle cards at once and shows who wins.

What if two players have the same hand?

First the hands are compared by type: a flush beats a straight, and so on. If two players have the same type, the other cards in their five decide. A pair of tens with an ace beats a pair of tens with a king. The game then says: "Same hand as yours, but Leo has higher other cards."

If the best five cards are exactly the same, the chips are shared: "The chips are shared". If the chips can't be shared evenly, the leftover chip goes to the winner sitting first after the D marker. The full list of hands, and how ties are broken, is on poker hands, best to worst.

What changes with only two players?

When only two players are left at the table, the player with the D marker puts in the small first bet and takes the first turn before the middle cards come. After the middle cards come, the other player goes first. This is the normal rule for two-player Texas Hold'em.

What happens when you run out of chips?

• In Play, a player with no chips sits back in with 1,000 chips at the next hand. Nobody has to leave.
• In Play until one stack, a player with no chips is out. The last player with chips wins the game.

See game modes for both.

See also

• Your first hands, step by step: the same rules, with the tips on.
• Betting, raising and all in: raise sizes, all in and side piles.
• Poker hands, best to worst: which hand wins.
• Glossary: game words and poker words.
• Play Poker Texas Hold'em: Two Cards and try it out.

• About Poker Texas Hold'em: Two Cards
• All game guides