Your first Hold’em hand

Follow one hand from the blinds to the showdown

Before any cards arrive, the small blind and big blind put chips in the pot. You receive two private cards. The first betting round begins with the player left of the big blind. Players can fold, call the amount owed, or raise. If more than one player remains, the dealer reveals three shared cards, called the flop. Another betting round follows. The turn adds one card and another round; the river adds the fifth card and the final round.

You do not need to reach the river to win. If everyone else folds to a bet, the last player still in the hand takes the pot without showing cards. If two or more players remain after the final betting round, they compare their best five cards. For example, A♠K♠ on A♦7♣2♥9♣4♦ makes one pair, aces, with K, 9, and 7 as kickers. The king in your hand matters, but the 4 on the board does not make the best five.

For your first few hands, narrate the street before choosing an action: preflop, flop, turn, or river. Then ask whether you face a bet and how much it costs to continue. That habit prevents a common beginner mistake: treating a free check as if it were the same as calling a bet.