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How to Play Poker

No-Limit Texas Hold'em

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Overview A Hand, Step by Step Betting Actions Hand Rankings All-Ins & Side Pots Free Play vs Table Credits

Overview

Poker is No-Limit Texas Hold'em for 2 to 9 players. Everyone is dealt 2 private hole cards, and up to 5 shared community cards are dealt face-up in the middle. Make the best possible 5-card hand from any combination of your hole cards and the community cards, and bet against each other — not against the house — to win the pot.

Players
2 to 9 players per table
Deck
Single 52-card deck, reshuffled every hand
Win Condition
Best hand at showdown, or everyone else folds

A Hand, Step by Step

A "hand" is one full deal, from blinds to the pot being awarded. Tables deal hands back-to-back for as long as at least 2 seats are occupied.

  1. Button & Blinds — The dealer button rotates one seat clockwise each hand. The seat left of the button posts the small blind, and the next seat posts the big blind (the table's minimum bet).
  2. Hole Cards — Every seated player gets 2 private cards, visible only to them.
  3. Preflop Betting — Starting left of the big blind, each player folds, calls, or raises.
  4. The Flop — 3 community cards are dealt face-up, followed by a betting round starting left of the button.
  5. The Turn — A 4th community card, then another betting round.
  6. The River — The 5th and final community card, then a last betting round.
  7. Showdown — Every remaining player reveals their hole cards; the best 5-card hand wins the pot. If only one player is left (everyone else folded), they win without a showdown.

Betting Actions

On your turn, your options depend on whether anyone has bet yet this street.

Fold

Give up your hand and any claim to the pot. Always available.

Check

Pass the action along without betting — only when nobody's bet yet this street.

Call

Match the current bet to stay in the hand.

Bet / Raise

Put in more than the current bet — No-Limit means any amount up to your whole stack. A raise must be at least the size of the previous bet or raise.

A betting round ends once every player still in the hand has either matched the current bet or gone all-in. Action then moves to the next street, or straight to showdown after the river.

Hand Rankings

Best to worst — the same standard ranking used in every Hold'em game.

1. Straight FlushFive sequential cards, same suit
2. Four of a KindFour cards of the same rank
3. Full HouseThree of a kind plus a pair
4. FlushFive cards of the same suit, any order
5. StraightFive sequential cards, mixed suits (Ace can be high or low)
6. Three of a KindThree cards of the same rank
7. Two PairTwo separate pairs
8. One PairTwo cards of the same rank
9. High CardNo combination — highest card plays

All-Ins & Side Pots

If a player goes all-in for less than the current bet, betting continues among the others for a separate side pot — the all-in player can only win back up to what they put in (the main pot), while everyone still betting competes for the side pot too. This is handled automatically; you'll see each pot and who's eligible for it at showdown.

Free Play vs Table Credits

Free Play

Everyone sits down with the same virtual starting stack — nothing real is on the line, and it resets each time you sit down. Great for learning the game.

Table Credits

Your stack is your real table credits balance. Every bet, call, and raise moves real table credits, and pots pay out straight to your wallet. The host (or an admin, for a WML Table) sets the big blind.

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