How to play

You get two private cards. Five more are dealt face up in the middle for everybody to share. Your hand is the best five cards you can make out of those seven, and you are free to use both of your own, one, or neither.

Chips go in across four rounds of betting. Win by holding the best hand when the cards are turned over, or by betting enough that everyone else folds — in which case nobody ever finds out what you had.

1. 1

   Blinds

   Two players are made to bet before anyone has seen a card: 25 from the small blind and 50 from the big blind. The dealer button moves one seat every hand, so the obligation goes round the table.

2. 2

   Preflop

   Everyone is dealt two cards face down that only they can see. Betting starts to the left of the big blind, who acts last and may raise even if nobody else did.

3. 3

   Flop

   Three shared cards land face up. Everyone still in the hand builds from these plus their own two. Betting starts again, this time with the option to check.

   9♥

   7♠

   2♦
4. 4

   Turn

   A fourth shared card, then another round of betting.

   9♥

   7♠

   2♦

   J♣
5. 5

   River

   The fifth and last shared card, and the final round of betting.

   9♥

   7♠

   2♦

   J♣

   Q♥
6. 6

   Showdown

   The remaining players show their cards and the best five-card hand takes the pot. Get there earlier — everyone else folding — and you win it without showing anything.

Fold

Give up the hand. Anything you already put in stays in the pot.

Check

Stay in and pass the decision on, offered only when there is no bet in front of you.

Call

Match the current bet. If matching it takes your whole stack, the button says so — that is an all-in call.

Bet

Open the betting on a street nobody has bet yet. The minimum is the big blind, 50.

Raise

Put in more than the current bet. The slider shows the legal range; the shortcuts size it against the pot.

No limit means there is no ceiling on a bet: any raise can be for everything in front of you. Bet more than an opponent can cover and they can only call for what they have — the rest is set aside in a side pot they are not playing for.

• 1
  A♠

  K♠

  Q♠

  J♠

  10♠
  Royal FlushTen to ace, all one suit. The best hand there is — a straight flush at the top of the ranks.
• 2
  9♠

  8♠

  7♠

  6♠

  5♠
  Straight FlushFive in a row, all one suit.
• 3
  Q♥

  Q♦

  Q♣

  Q♠

  3♥
  Four of a KindAll four of a rank. The fifth card only breaks a tie between two of these.
• 4
  J♥

  J♦

  J♣

  8♠

  8♥
  Full HouseThree of a rank plus a pair. The three decide it first, then the pair.
• 5
  A♥

  J♥

  8♥

  5♥

  2♥
  FlushFive of one suit, in any order. The highest card wins between two flushes.
• 6
  10♠

  9♥

  8♦

  7♣

  6♠
  StraightFive in a row, suits mixed. Ace plays low in 5-4-3-2-A, and that is the worst straight.
• 7
  7♥

  7♦

  7♠

  K♣

  4♦
  Three of a KindThree of a rank, with two unrelated cards.
• 8
  A♥

  A♦

  9♠

  9♣

  2♥
  Two PairTwo different pairs. The higher pair is compared first.
• 9
  K♥

  K♦

  10♠

  6♣

  3♥
  One PairTwo cards of the same rank, with three unrelated cards.
• 10
  A♥

  Q♦

  9♠

  7♣

  4♥
  High CardNothing above. The highest card decides it, then the next, and so on.

Two players with the same category are split by the cards themselves: the higher pair, then the higher side cards. If all five cards match, the pot is halved. The same chart is a tap away at the table, so there is nothing here to memorise.

Starting stack

2,000

Blinds

25 / 50

Opponents

1 to 5 bots

Blinds stay where they are — nothing escalates. Stacks carry over from hand to hand, so the table runs until you have taken everyone else’s chips or lost your own.