1. Hole cards and the board
Each player receives two private hole cards. Up to five community cards are dealt face up in the middle: three on the flop, one on the turn and one on the river. At showdown, use any combination of your two cards and the five board cards to make the strongest five-card hand. You may use two, one or neither of your hole cards.
The game uses a standard 52-card deck without jokers. Suits have equal value. Read the hand rankings to compare hands.
2. The button, blinds and action order
The dealer button moves around the table after each hand. The small blind and big blind are forced bets posted before the cards are dealt. At a table with at least three players, the two seats immediately after the button post the small and big blinds. Preflop action begins with the first active seat after the big blind.
After the flop, action starts with the first active player after the button and continues around the table. Heads-up play is different: the button posts the small blind and acts first preflop; the other player acts first after the flop.
3. Your available actions
- Fold
- Give up your hand and any chips already committed to the pot.
- Check
- Pass the action without betting when you do not face an amount to call.
- Call
- Match the amount currently required, using your remaining stack if you cannot cover the full call.
- Bet
- Put chips in when no one has bet on the current street.
- Raise
- Increase the amount other players must match. A normal raise must meet the minimum full-raise size.
- All-in
- Commit every chip left in your stack. An all-in can be a call, a full raise or a short raise, depending on its size.
A betting round finishes when every player still able to act has responded and matched the required contribution, or folded. If only one player remains, that player wins the pot without needing to show a stronger hand.
4. “Call 40” and “raise to 60” are different
With blinds of 10/20, the big blind has already committed 20. If another player raises the preflop total to 60, the big blind needs 40 more to call. The raise amount of 60 is the player’s total contribution on that street, not 60 extra.
A raise from 20 to 60 increases the bet by 40. The next full raise must normally increase it by at least another 40, to a total of 100. A shorter all-in does not automatically reopen raising for players whose action is already complete. The interface displays the server-validated options; chips committed on earlier streets are not counted toward the current street’s call.
5. Four betting rounds
- Preflop: players receive their hole cards and act after the blinds.
- Flop: three community cards are revealed, then another betting round.
- Turn: the fourth community card is revealed, then betting.
- River: the fifth community card is revealed, then the final betting round.
- Showdown: if at least two players remain, compare each eligible player’s best five-card hand. All-in players may be eligible for different main and side pots.
6. A complete three-player example
Blinds are 10/20. A is on the button with , B posts the small blind with , and C posts the big blind.
- Preflop: A raises to 60, B adds 50 to call, and C folds. The pot is 60 + 60 + 20 = 140.
- Flop: . B checks, A bets 80 and B calls. The pot is 300.
- Turn: . Both players check. The pot stays 300.
- River: . B checks, A bets 100 and B calls. The pot is 500.
Both players have a pair of kings. A’s ace kicker beats B’s queen, so A receives the 500-chip pot. A committed 240 chips in total and therefore gained 260 chips net. Receiving a pot of 500 does not mean making a profit of 500.
7. Starting and reconnecting on Pocket Holdem
Sign in, choose a table or create one, and check its blinds, buy-in range, turn time and card-reveal rule. A private table uses an invitation code; do not post that code in public news or event comments.
Normal turn deadlines keep running during a network problem. If a connection remains lost for at least 30 seconds, the server folds that player when their action is due, even if checking would otherwise be free. Returning to the browser does not restart the hand or extend a deadline. This disconnect policy differs from the separate manual sit-out policy.
All chips are free practice chips with no purchase or cash redemption.