Getting started
Your first game: how to play Texas Hold’em
From your first two cards to the river: a practical guide to sitting down and understanding each action.
Texas Hold’em combines incomplete information, decisions and reading the board. Each player receives two private hole cards and can combine them with five community cards in any way to make the best five-card hand. You can also win before showdown when every opponent folds.
Before the cards are dealt
The dealer button marks a position that moves around the table after each hand. Two players post compulsory bets called the small blind and big blind. These start the pot. At a 10/20 table, those bets are 10 and 20 chips.
With three or more players, the blinds are in the two seats to the left of the button. Heads-up, the player on the button posts the small blind. Black Sheep Poker marks these positions at the table.
The four betting rounds
- Preflop: each player receives two face-down cards, followed by the first round of decisions.
- Flop: three community cards are revealed together, then another betting round begins.
- Turn: the fourth community card appears and players act again.
- River: the fifth community card is revealed. After the last betting round, the remaining players compare their hands.
Before the flop at a table with three or more players, action begins to the left of the big blind. On later streets, the first active player to the left of the button acts first. Heads-up, the button acts first before the flop and last after it.
What each action means
- Check: stay in the hand without betting when you do not face an outstanding bet.
- Call: match the current bet, or commit your remaining chips if you cannot cover it.
- Bet or raise: put in a higher wager, respecting the minimum allowed amount.
- Fold: leave the hand. Chips already committed stay in the pot.
- All-in: commit every chip remaining in your table stack.
In No Limit Hold’em, you may bet up to your entire stack. The minimum raise depends on the bet or most recent full raise. Black Sheep Poker shows the legal betting limits when it is your turn.
What if someone has fewer chips?
An all-in player stays eligible for the part of the pot they could match. When other players contribute more, the extra chips form a side pot. Each side pot is resolved only among the players eligible to win it.
Revealing the hands
When more than one player remains after the final betting round, the hand reaches showdown. The strongest five-card combination wins. In Hold’em, you may use both hole cards, one of them or neither. Identical hands split the pot.
You do not need to remember everything in your first game. Start with the action buttons, check the amount needed to call and use the hand-ranking guide when you need it. Bot tables let you practise before joining other players. All chips here are fictional and have no monetary value.