Texas Hold Em is a poker variant in which players are each dealt two cards, and then all players share five cards placed, one card per round of bets, face up on the table. It uses a deck of fifty-two cards, consisting of four suits with thirteen cards each. Each suit has an ace, then numerical cards between two and ten, followed by three face cards: the jack, the queen, and the king. The hands possible in standard poker are ranked, from worst to best, as follows:
High Card: No other hands, highest card’s value.
Pair: Two cards of the same value, suit does not matter.
Two pair: Two pairs, different values, suit does not matter.
Three of a kind: Three cards of the same value, suit does not matter.
Straight: Five cards in ascending value. For example, eight, nine, ten, jack, queen. A straight of all the same suit is a “straight flush.”
Flush: Five cards of the same suit. If these cards are also a straight, it is a “straight flush.”
Full House: One pair and one three of a kind, suit does not matter.
Four of a kind: Four cards of the same value.
Straight Flush: Five ascending cards of the same suit. A ten, jack, queen, king, ace of the same suit is an unbeatable hand.
(Five of a kind): This technically beats a straight flush, but is only possible in poker variants with wild cards.
Under poker rules, if two players have the same type of hand, then the hand with the higher value is counted. For example, if two players both have three of a kind, one player with eights, another with jacks, then the player with jacks would win. If both players had three of a kind eights, then the highest card outside of the hand is counted. This is called a kicker card. So, if one player had three of a kind eights with a ten kicker, and the other had three of a kind eights with a king kicker, then the latter player would win.
A hand begins with each player placing bet based on the two initial cards, with the first and second players following the dealer automatically paying “blinds.” The player directly after the dealer pays a small blind, while the next player pays the large blind. These blinds scale up over the course of the game, and help keep players from being able to sit every hand out.
After players have bet, three cards are placed face up on the table, which all the players share as part of their hands. This is called the flop. Another card follow it, and then another, with players betting between each. After the final card, any remaining players show their hands and the winner collects the pot.
