# Texas Hold'em Beginner's Guide

Welcome to Texas Hold'em! This guide walks you through the essentials of the most popular poker variant so you can take
a seat at the table with confidence.

## Goal of the Game

Build the best five-card poker hand using any combination of your two private cards (hole cards) and the five community
cards dealt face up on the table. If you make it to the showdown with the strongest hand, you win the pot. You can also
win by betting in a way that convinces all other players to fold before the showdown.

## Table Setup and Flow

1. **Players and Deck**: Texas Hold'em is usually played with 2–10 players and a standard 52-card deck without jokers.
1. **Button and Blinds**: A dealer button rotates clockwise after each hand. The players immediately to the left of the
   button post the _small blind_ and _big blind_, which are forced bets that kick-start the pot.
1. **Hole Cards**: Each player receives two private cards dealt face down.
1. **Betting Rounds**: There are four betting rounds—pre-flop, flop, turn, and river—each allowing players to wager
   chips based on the strength of their hand or bluffing strategy.

## Betting Actions Explained

During each betting round, players act in turn (clockwise) and can choose one of the following options:

- **Check**: Pass the action without betting if no wager has been made yet in the round.
- **Bet**: Put chips into the pot when no other bets exist in the current round.
- **Call**: Match the highest bet placed in the current round to stay in the hand.
- **Raise**: Increase the size of the current bet. Future players must now at least call this new amount.
- **Fold**: Surrender your hand and any chips you've already bet in this pot.

If all players check, the round ends. If a bet or raise happens, action continues until every remaining player has
either matched the bet (call), raised, or folded.

## The Four Betting Streets

1. **Pre-Flop**: After receiving hole cards, players decide whether to call the big blind, raise, or fold.
1. **Flop**: Three community cards are revealed. A new round of betting begins with the first active player to the left
   of the button.
1. **Turn**: A fourth community card is dealt face up, followed by another betting round. Betting amounts often double
   in limit games at this stage.
1. **River**: The fifth and final community card appears. One last betting round ensues.

If more than one player remains after the river betting, the hand proceeds to a showdown.

## Showdown and Determining the Winner

At showdown, players reveal their hole cards. The best five-card poker hand wins the pot. If players share identical
best hands, the pot is split evenly between them. Hands are ranked from highest to lowest as follows:

1. **Royal Flush**: A, K, Q, J, 10 of the same suit.
1. **Straight Flush**: Five consecutive cards of the same suit.
1. **Four of a Kind**: Four cards of identical rank.
1. **Full House**: Three cards of one rank plus two of another.
1. **Flush**: Any five cards of the same suit, not in sequence.
1. **Straight**: Five consecutive cards of mixed suits.
1. **Three of a Kind**: Three cards of the same rank.
1. **Two Pair**: Two different pairs.
1. **One Pair**: Two cards of the same rank.
1. **High Card**: None of the above; the highest card wins.

Remember that suits have no ranking. If hands tie on every metric, the pot can be split.

## Beginner Tips

- **Play Fewer Hands**: Stick to strong starting hands (e.g., high pairs, big suited connectors) until you gain
  experience.
- **Position Matters**: Acting later in the round lets you gather more information. Play more hands from late position
  (near the button) and fewer from early position.
- **Watch Stack Sizes**: Compare bets to the number of chips players have left. Short stacks behave differently from
  deep stacks.
- **Avoid Fancy Play Syndrome**: Keep your decisions straightforward—bet for value with good hands, fold weak holdings,
  and use bluffs sparingly until you build reads on opponents.
- **Bankroll Management**: Only risk money you can afford to lose. Consider practicing with play money or low-stakes
  games to sharpen your skills.

## Next Steps

Once you're comfortable with the basics, explore intermediate topics such as pot odds, implied odds, ranges, and reading
board textures. Practice and observation are the best teachers in poker—good luck at the tables!
