Level 1 · Lesson 3

How to play Texas Hold'em: the flow of a hand

Once you know the hand rankings and the seats, a hand of Texas Hold'em is just four betting rounds in a fixed order. After this lesson, you'll follow any hand from the first deal to showdown without hesitation, moving at the same speed as everyone else at the table.

The shape of every hand

You're dealt two private cards. Then up to five shared community cards are revealed in stages, with a round of betting after each stage. Your job is to make the best five-card hand from your two cards plus the five on the board. Here are the four rounds:

1. Preflop

After the blinds are posted, every player gets two face-down hole cards. The first round of betting begins with the player to the left of the big blind. Each player in turn folds, calls the big blind, or raises. If at least two players are still in, the hand continues.

2. The flop

The dealer reveals the first three community cards face-up — the flop. A new betting round begins, now starting with the first active player to the left of the button. From here on, the earliest seats act first and the button acts last.

3. The turn

A fourth community card — the turn — is revealed. Another round of betting follows in the same order. Bets are often larger now, because there's only one card left to come.

4. The river

The fifth and final community card — the river — is revealed. There are now five community cards on the board. A final round of betting takes place. After this, no more cards come.

Showdown

If two or more players remain after the river betting, they reveal their hole cards. The best five-card hand — judged by the hand rankings from Lesson 1 — wins the pot. If everyone else folds at any point along the way, the last player standing wins without ever showing their cards.

The one-line summary: Preflop → flop → turn → river → showdown. Two private cards, five shared cards, four betting rounds. Memorise that spine and every hand makes sense.

A note on the "best five cards"

You always make the best possible five-card hand available to you. That can use both hole cards, one, or — rarely — neither (when the board itself is the best five, the pot is split). You never get fewer or more than five cards in your final hand.

Check yourself — no peeking

Answer each from memory. Retrieving the answer is what builds lasting recall.