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Franzi | Games 
Texas Hold’em ➤ How to Play, Hand Rankings & Poker Hands
This is how the popular poker format Texas Hold’em works in the casino: Basic rules, hand rankings, and typical moves. From the blinds to the showdown.
approx. 4 min.
Texas Hold’em ➤ How to Play, Hand Rankings & Poker Hands
How the poker classic works
Two cards, five community cards, plenty of excitement: Texas Hold’em is easy to understand once you know the order of play. Here you’ll find the rules, the course of the game and the poker hands explained clearly – so you can try your luck straight away at our MERKUR Casinos.
From the First Deal to the Final Showdown
Poker Basics: Texas Hold’em at a Glance
- Objective: From the best possible 5-card hand using 2 hole cards and 5 community cards (the board)
- Order of play: Pre-Flop → Flop → Turn → River → Showdown
- Basic principle: In each round, players can check, bet, raise, or fold
- Winning moment: Whoever has the best hand at the end – or makes all other players fold – wins
How the Texas Hold’em Table Is Set Up
Before you even look at your two cards, it’s worth taking a look at what’s going on around the table. The button, small blind and big blind are the quiet directors of every round.
The dealer button (usually just called the button) marks the dealer position and determines the order of play. While the dealer actually deals the cards, the button moves one position clockwise after each hand, rotating the positions at the table. To the left of the button sit the small blind and the big blind.
Important: The small blind and big blind are mandatory opening bets. They go into the pot before the dealer deals any cards. Only then do you decide during the betting rounds (pre-flop, flop, turn, river) whether to call, raise, fold or go all in.
By the way, Texas Hold’em is played with a standard 52-card deck. Jokers stay out of the game. And if you do miss the joker after all: maybe Jokers Cap is just your thing.
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Your Texas Hold’em Poker Guide – Step by Step
The button is in place, the blinds are in the pot. Now it gets real:
1 | The Deal: Two Hole Cards for Each Player:
The dealer gives each player two face-down cards. These are your hole cards – they belong only to you and remain hidden until you show them at the end (or fold earlier). Take a look at your cards, but don’t judge them in isolation yet – the board is still to come.
Example: You’re dealt A♠ K♦. Strong starting material, but not a finished hand yet.
2 | Pre-Flop: First Betting Round:
Before any community cards are revealed, the first betting round begins. Now you decide whether you want to play this hand or not.
From now on, in every betting round you can:
- fold,
- call,
- raise,
- check (continue without betting – only if no one before you has bet),
- or, in no-limit games, go all in – although this is rarely used pre-flop.
Example: With A♠ K♦, many players choose to play the hand and wait for the flop. With weak, unconnected cards like 7♣ 2♦, others fold immediately.
Important: Pre-flop is about potential – not about having already “won” the hand.
3 | Flop: Three Community Cards + Betting Round:
The dealer places three face-up cards on the table – the flop. From here on, you can combine your hole cards with the board and see for the first time whether something has already “hit” or whether you are playing for development.
At the table it might look like this:
Your hand: A♠ K♦
Flop: K♣ 7♥ 2♦ → you hit the king: one pair.
From here on, it’s about how strong your hit is in the context of the board. And: the board can help other players too – not just you.
4 | Turn: Fourth Community Card + Betting Round:
Then comes the turn – the fourth face-up card. This is often the moment when “maybe” turns into “now it’s serious.”
Example:
Turn: Q♠ → The board opens up straight possibilities, e.g. J♦ Q♠ K♥ A♠ with a matching ten.
If several cards of the same suit are already on the board and another ♠ appears later, a flush becomes possible.
5 | River: Fifth Community Card + Final Betting Round:
Finally, the river is dealt. The board is complete; no new cards will be revealed. Now comes the last betting round.
Final look:
River: 2♣ → your hand does not improve any further.
Now it counts: Do you want to go to the end with this hand, or is folding the better decision?
6 | Showdown: Cards Are Revealed, Best Hand Wins:
If at least two players remain after the final betting round, the showdown takes place. All players reveal their cards – and the best 5-card combination wins. If both hands are equally strong, the pot is split.
Our example hand at showdown:
Board: K♣ 7♥ 2♦ Q♠ 2♣ → you have: A♠ K♦.
→ Player B has: K♥ J♠.
Both therefore have: two pair – kings and twos (from the board).
And now comes the difference: the kicker (the highest side card).
- Yours is the ace
- Player B’s is the jack
→ Ace beats jack: you win the pot.
When is the pot split in Texas Hold’em?
If the board alone already forms the best possible 5-card hand and no hole card improves this combination, all players are effectively playing the same five cards.
Extra Important: Many Texas Hold’em Hands End Before the Showdown
Texas Hold’em isn’t just about having the best hand – it’s also about who actually stays in the game until the end. If all other players fold earlier, the hand ends immediately and you win the pot without having to show your cards. Even if your cards are rather weak, a calm poker face can make other players assume strength – and fold, even though they might actually be holding better cards. Because unlike Ultimate Texas Hold’em , where you play openly against the house, classic Texas Hold’em is also about the impression your play leaves at the table.
Texas Hold’em at our MERKUR Casinos:
Relaxed play, even when the stakes are high
Texas Hold’em FAQ
The strongest possible hand is a royal flush, followed by a straight flush, four of a kind, and a full house. As a general rule, the rarer a combination is, the stronger it is. What always counts is the best 5-card hand you can form using your two hole cards and the community cards.
The river is the fifth and final community card dealt face up on the table. After the river, no more cards are revealed – only one final betting round follows. At this point at the latest, you must decide whether to go to the showdown or fold.
In Texas Hold’em, the best possible 5-card combination made from your hole cards and the board always counts. Sometimes the board alone already forms the strongest hand. In that case, all players are effectively playing the same five cards – and the pot is split. Side cards (kickers) only count if they actually improve the hand.
Yes and no. There is no single universal strategy, as much depends on how willing you are to take risks, the dynamics at the table, and whether your style is more calm or bluff-oriented. What almost always helps: mastering the order of play, not playing every hand, and making deliberate decisions – how you put that into practice ultimately comes down to your personal style.
