A Texas Hold’em Hand, from Blinds to Showdown

Locate the button and forced bets

At a table with three or more players, the player immediately clockwise from the button normally posts the small blind, and the next posts the big blind. These forced contributions start the pot before private cards are dealt. An ante may also apply, with its amount and payer defined by the structure.

Each player receives two private hole cards. The first preflop action normally belongs to the player clockwise from the big blind. The button is a position marker even when a separate person or software deals the cards. It moves between hands according to the room’s procedures.

Heads-up play is an important exception to remember: the button posts the small blind and acts first before the flop, but acts last on later betting rounds. Read the format before using a seating diagram, because a full-table action order would misdescribe a two-player game.

Sources and verification: [1] [2]

Finish the preflop betting round

A player facing a bet can fold, call or make a legal raise. Folding gives up the hand’s claim to the pot. Calling matches the current amount, except when a shorter stack goes all-in for less. Raising increases the amount others must meet. Checking is possible when no additional amount is required; it is not the same as folding.

Suppose the fictional blinds are 10 and 20 chips. A player who has posted nothing and calls contributes 20. A small blind completing an unraised pot adds 10, because 10 is already posted. If nobody raises, the big blind still has the option to check or raise when action returns.

For an ordinary full raise in no-limit play, the increment must be at least the previous full bet or raise increment. A raise from 20 to 60 increases the price by 40, so a following full raise must ordinarily reach at least 100. Short all-in raises and reopening action require the specific room rule.

Sources and verification: [1]

Read the flop, turn and river in order

After preflop action is complete, the flop places three community cards face up. A new betting round begins with the first active player clockwise from the button. The turn adds one community card, followed by another betting round. The river adds the fifth and last community card, followed by the final betting round.

The earlier round’s wagers remain in the pot, but its amount to call does not automatically carry into the next street. If a new street begins without a bet, the first active player can check or bet. Later players respond to the action that actually occurs on that street.

“Active” here means still in the hand and able to act. A folded player takes no further decisions. An all-in player remains eligible for the appropriate pot but cannot add further wagers. The dealing procedure continues if necessary even when there are no further betting decisions.

Sources and verification: [3]

Follow a simple pot ledger

Imagine three remaining players each contribute a total of 60 chips before the flop, including any blind contributions. Assume there are no antes, no earlier folded contributions and no fee. The pot is 180 chips. On the flop, one player bets 40, a second calls 40 and the third folds without adding more. The pot becomes 260.

Both remaining players check the turn, so the pot stays 260. On the river, one bets 80 and the other calls 80. The final pot is 420 chips. Adding a blind again would be a mistake, because it was already included in each player’s preflop total.

This ledger explains a record; it does not recommend any bet size. If the river bet had gone uncalled, the uncalled portion would be returned rather than counted as money won from opponents. Real hand histories may also contain rake, additional forced bets or returned overbets that need their own entries.

Resolve showdown using five cards

If only one player remains after everyone else folds, that player wins the contested pot without a showdown comparison. If two or more eligible players remain at the end, their best permitted five-card hands determine the result. In Hold’em, those five may use zero, one or both hole cards along with the board.

For a concrete showdown, let the board be Q♣ 9♦ 7♠ 4♥ 2♣. A player holding Q♥ A♦ has queens with ace-nine-seven. A player holding Q♠ K♦ has queens with king-nine-seven. The ace kicker wins because the pair ranks match and the first kicker differs. The four and two are unused.

If the best five-card ranks are identical, eligible players share that pot. The order in which hands must be exposed, any right to see called hands and odd-chip distribution are procedural rules to check in the room documentation.

Sources and verification: [1]

Separate main pots from side pots

All-in protection limits what a short stack can win; it does not make the short stack eligible for every later wager. In a simple three-player example, A contributes 100 chips, B contributes 300 and C contributes 300. Assume no other contributions or fee, and all three reach showdown.

The main pot is 100 from each player: 300 chips. A, B and C may win it. B and C each contributed another 200, creating a 400-chip side pot that only B and C may win. If A has the strongest hand overall, A wins the 300 main pot; the stronger of B and C wins the 400 side pot.

No new private cards are dealt for a side pot. The same final hands are compared among each pot’s eligible players. Multiple all-in levels can create several side pots. A useful review lists contributions and eligibility before announcing who “won the hand.”

Sources and verification: [3] [2]