Each answer starts with the short answer, then adds the detail. Every card probability on this page was counted exactly over every possible deal, and the bankroll figures come from a standard variance model; how we chose and checked is at the end.
Rules and basics
How a hand of No-Limit Texas Hold’em runs, and the rules that settle the usual arguments at the table.
How do you play Texas Hold’em?
In Texas Hold’em, every player is dealt two cards only they can see, five shared cards are turned face up in the middle, and the best five-card hand made from those seven cards wins the pot. There are up to four betting rounds: after the deal, after the first three shared cards, after the fourth and after the fifth. A hand can also end early when one player bets and everyone else folds, so the best cards don’t always win. Two forced bets, the blinds, seed each pot before anyone sees a card.
What are the flop, the turn and the river?
The flop, the turn and the river are the shared cards in Texas Hold’em: the flop is the first three, dealt together, the turn is the fourth and the river is the fifth and last. Each one is followed by a betting round, so with the round before the flop there are four in all. In a live game the dealer discards one card face down before dealing each of them, called the burn card, so nobody can gain from a card that was glimpsed or marked.
What are the small blind and the big blind?
The small blind and the big blind are forced bets posted by the two players to the left of the dealer button before any cards are dealt, so every pot starts with chips in it. The small blind is often half the big blind, and the big blind sets the stakes: with blinds of 1 and 2, the smallest bet allowed after the flop is 2. The button moves one seat to the left after each hand, so everyone takes a turn paying them. In tournaments the blinds go up on a schedule.
Who acts first in Texas Hold’em?
Before the flop, the player to the left of the big blind acts first, a seat called under the gun, and the big blind acts last. On the flop, turn and river, the first player still in the hand to the left of the dealer button acts first, usually the small blind, and the button acts last. Heads-up play is the exception: the button posts the small blind, acts first before the flop and acts last on every later street.
What do check, bet, call, raise and fold mean?
Check, bet, call, raise and fold are the five actions you can take on your turn. Check means passing without putting chips in, which is allowed only when nobody has bet in the current round. Bet means putting chips in when nobody else has. Call means matching the current bet to stay in. Raise means making the current bet bigger, so everyone else has to match the new amount or fold. Fold means giving up your cards and any claim to the pot.
Can you check after someone bets?
No, you can’t check after someone bets: once anyone has bet in the current round, your only choices are to call, raise or fold. You can check only when no bet is in front of you, which is why the big blind may check before the flop when everyone else has just called: the blind they posted already matches the bet. Each new street starts a fresh betting round, so you can check again on the flop, turn or river if nobody has bet before you.
What is the minimum raise in No-Limit Hold’em?
A raise in No-Limit Hold’em must be at least as big as the largest bet or raise already made in that round. With blinds of 1 and 2, the smallest opening raise is to 4, which is a raise of 2. If someone then raises to 6, a raise of 4, the next player has to make it at least 10. The first bet on any street must be at least one big blind. An all-in for less than a full raise is still allowed, but it usually doesn’t reopen the betting for players who have already acted.
What is the difference between no-limit, pot-limit and limit?
No-limit, pot-limit and limit are betting structures that cap how much you can bet: not at all, at the size of the pot, or at a fixed amount. In no-limit, you can bet anything from the minimum up to all of your chips. In pot-limit, the biggest bet or raise allowed is the size of the pot, counting your call of any bet in front of you. In limit, bets come in fixed sizes, small on the first two rounds and double on the turn and river, with a cap on raises per round.
What is a string bet, and is one big chip a call or a raise?
A string bet is a raise made in more than one motion, such as pushing out a call and then reaching back for more chips without having said raise first, and most card rooms count it as a call only. One oversized chip put in without a word also counts as a call in most rooms, even if it’s worth far more than the bet. To raise safely, say raise and the amount before your chips move, or put the whole raise in with one forward motion.
What happens when someone goes all in?
A player who goes all in bets every chip they have, and from then on they can win only as much from each opponent as they put in themselves. If others keep betting, the extra goes into a side pot that the all-in player can’t win. Say Ana goes all in for 50 and Ben and Cal each put in 200: the main pot of 150 goes to the best hand of all three, and the side pot of 300 is decided between Ben and Cal alone.
What happens if two players have the same hand?
If two or more players have hands of exactly the same value, they split the pot equally, which players call a chop. Only the best five cards count and suits never break a tie, so two players who both make a straight from 10 to ace share the pot whatever their suits. When the chips can’t be divided evenly, the card room’s odd-chip rule decides who gets the leftover. Before calling it a tie, compare all five cards: a better fifth card still wins.
Do suits matter in poker?
No, suits don’t matter in Texas Hold’em: all four are equal, so a suit never decides who wins, and two hands of the same rank split the pot. Suits matter only for making flushes and straight flushes. Two players can’t even hold royal flushes in different suits on the same deal: each would need at least three cards of their own royal on the five-card board, and the board has no room for six. Some card rooms rank suits for other jobs, such as drawing cards to decide seats or who starts on the button.
Is an ace high or low?
An ace can be high or low: it’s the highest card in Texas Hold’em, and it can also play low to complete the smallest straight, 5-4-3-2-A, which players call the wheel. It can’t sit in the middle of a straight, so Q-K-A-2-3 doesn’t count as one. When the ace plays low, the straight is worth only five-high, so 6-5-4-3-2 beats it. In every other hand, such as a pair, a flush or a high-card hand, the ace ranks above the king.
Do you have to show your cards at showdown, and who shows first?
You only have to show your cards if you want to win the pot: a player who thinks they’re beaten can throw their hand away face down, which is called mucking. When there was a bet on the river, the last player to bet or raise shows first. When everyone checked, the first player still in the hand to the left of the button shows first. Card rooms add their own rules, and in tournaments every hand still in is turned face up once a player is all in and the betting is over.
What does it mean to play the board?
Playing the board means your best five-card hand is the five shared cards themselves, so your own two cards add nothing. If the board is 9-9-6-6-K and you hold Q-2, your best hand is nines and sixes with a king, exactly what the board gives everyone. Anyone holding an ace or a better hand wins outright; otherwise everyone left splits the pot. You still have to turn your cards face up to claim your share, because announcing that you play the board doesn’t count.
Hand rankings
Which hand beats which, with the counts that explain the order.
What are the poker hand rankings, from best to worst?
Poker hands fall into ten categories, and any hand in a higher category beats every hand in a lower one. From best to worst:
- Royal flush: A-K-Q-J-10, all one suit
- Straight flush: 9-8-7-6-5, all hearts
- Four of a kind: four jacks
- Full house: three 8s and two kings
- Flush: any five clubs
- Straight: 7-6-5-4-3 in mixed suits
- Three of a kind: three queens
- Two pair: aces and fours
- One pair: two 10s
- High card: none of the above, so the top card plays
Inside a category the higher cards win, and only your best five cards count.
What is the best possible hand in poker?
A royal flush, the straight flush from 10 up to ace in one suit, is the best possible hand in poker, and nothing beats it. It’s also the rarest: only 4 of the 2,598,960 possible five-card hands are royal flushes, 1 in 649,740. In Texas Hold’em, a player who sees all five shared cards makes one about once in 30,940 hands. Two players can share a royal flush only when all five of its cards are on the board. More numbers are in the royal flush odds answer.
Does a flush beat a straight?
Yes, a flush beats a straight, because flushes are rarer. Of the 2,598,960 possible five-card hands, 5,108 are flushes and 10,200 are straights, so straights come up about twice as often. The gap narrows in Texas Hold’em, where you pick the best five of seven cards, but it never flips: across every possible set of seven cards, the best hand is a flush 3.0% of the time and a straight 4.6% of the time.
What beats a full house?
Four of a kind, a straight flush and a royal flush beat a full house; every other hand, a flush included, loses to it. All three are far rarer than the full house itself. Across every possible set of seven cards in Texas Hold’em, a full house is the best hand 2.6% of the time and four of a kind 0.17% of the time. When both players have a full house, see who wins with two full houses.
Does a straight beat three of a kind?
Yes, a straight beats three of a kind. In five-card poker the gap is wide: 54,912 of the 2,598,960 possible hands are three of a kind, against 10,200 straights. In Texas Hold’em the two are close, but three of a kind is still the more common best hand from seven cards, 4.8% against 4.6% for a straight, so the order holds. The full order is in the hand rankings list.
Who wins when both players have two pair, or both have a full house?
With two pair against two pair, compare the higher pairs first, then the lower pairs, then the fifth card: K-K-4-4-9 beats Q-Q-J-J-A, and it also beats K-K-3-3-A. With full house against full house, the higher three of a kind wins, so 9-9-9-2-2 beats 8-8-8-A-A. The pair decides only when the three of a kind match, which happens in Texas Hold’em when all three are on the board. If all five cards match, the pot is split.
What is a kicker?
A kicker is a side card that decides between two hands of the same type. If two players each have a pair of aces on a board of A-9-6-4-2, the one holding A-K beats the one holding A-Q, because the king outranks the queen. Only cards inside your best five count, so the board can make kickers irrelevant. Kickers are a big reason ace-king does so well against ace-queen: all in before the flop, ace-king offsuit (two suits) has 74.4% equity against ace-queen offsuit.
Poker terms
The words and abbreviations players use, from VPIP and 3-bet to the nuts and a bad beat.
What does VPIP mean?
VPIP stands for voluntarily put money in pot: the share of hands in which a player calls or raises before the flop. Posting a blind doesn’t count, because it isn’t a choice. A high VPIP means someone plays lots of hands, and a low one means they wait for strong cards. PokerNow HUD Advanced treats 18–38% as typical and colors a player’s number gold when it’s well above that range and blue when it’s well below; its VPIP entry has the details.
What does PFR mean?
PFR stands for preflop raise: the share of hands in which a player raises at least once before the flop. It can never be higher than VPIP, since every raise also puts money in voluntarily, and the gap between the two is what tells you most. A player at 30% VPIP and 8% PFR calls far more than they raise; one at 22% and 18% plays fewer hands and attacks with them. The typical range in PokerNow HUD Advanced is 12–26%, explained in its PFR entry.
What is a 3-bet, and what is a 4-bet?
A 3-bet is the first re-raise before the flop, and a 4-bet is a re-raise of that 3-bet. The count treats the big blind as the first bet, so the first raise is the second bet and the re-raise is the third. If one player opens to 3 big blinds and another makes it 9, that’s a 3-bet; a raise to 22 after that is a 4-bet. PokerNow HUD Advanced counts a 3-bet rate of 5–12% as typical, and a 4-bet rate of 5–15% when a player who opened faces a 3-bet.
What is the nuts in poker?
The nuts is the best possible hand on the current board, the one no other hand can beat. On a flop of K-9-4 in three different suits, a set of kings is the nuts, because no straight or flush is possible yet. The nuts can change with each new card: if that king was a heart and the turn and river are the 7 and 2 of hearts, any hand with the ace of hearts and another heart becomes the nuts. Players also talk about the nut flush or nut straight, the best hand of that type.
What are under the gun, the cutoff and the button?
Under the gun, the cutoff and the button are names for seats, counted from the dealer button. Under the gun is the first player to act before the flop, sitting just left of the big blind. The button is the dealer’s seat and acts last on every street after the flop, which makes it the best seat at the table. The cutoff sits just to the right of the button and is the next-best seat. Seats near under the gun are called early position; the cutoff and button are late position.
What is a straddle?
A straddle is an optional blind bet, usually twice the big blind, posted by the player under the gun before the cards are dealt. It works like a third blind: the straddler acts last before the flop and can raise even if everyone else just calls. Because a straddle doubles the stakes for that hand, house rules decide whether it’s allowed and which seats may post it. PokerNow lists a live straddle among its game options on its home page.
What is a range in poker?
A range is the full set of hands a player could hold in a given spot, based on everything they’ve done so far. Instead of guessing one exact hand, you list what fits the action: a cautious player who re-raises from the first seat might have only big pairs and ace-king, while a loose player making the same move could hold far more. Thinking in ranges stops you from fixating on your worst fear and helps you judge how often each of your options works.
What is GTO poker?
GTO, short for game theory optimal, is a strategy that can’t be exploited: an opponent gains nothing by changing how they play against it. In practice it means mixing bets, checks and bluffs in proportions worked out by solver software, so your actions give away little about your cards. Few people can play it at the table, and against players with clear leaks, adjusting to those leaks wins more. Many players treat GTO as a baseline and then exploit what they see, which is where opponent stats help.
What do TAG, LAG, fish and calling station mean?
TAG, LAG, fish and calling station are labels for playing styles. A TAG, short for tight-aggressive, plays few hands and bets them hard. A LAG, loose-aggressive, plays many hands and still bets and raises a lot. A fish is a weak player, usually loose, who calls too much, and a calling station calls bets all the way down and rarely folds or raises, so bluffing them fails. After 30 hands with a player, PokerNow HUD Advanced puts a label like TAG, LAG, Fish or Station on their seat badge when their style fits one, faded until 60 hands.
What is a bad beat?
A bad beat is losing a hand you were a big favorite to win, usually when an opponent catches a lucky card on the turn or river. Pocket aces losing to pocket kings all in before the flop is the classic example: the kings win 17.8% of the time. Since bad beats are part of the math, the useful question afterward is whether you got your chips in as the favorite. Some card rooms pay a bad beat jackpot when a very strong hand loses, under rules that differ from room to room.
Odds and math
Exact numbers for the odds players ask about. Every probability was counted over every possible deal, with no simulation.
Why are poker hands ranked the way they are?
Poker hands are ranked by how rare they are: the fewer ways a hand can be made, the higher it ranks. Counting all 2,598,960 five-card hands gives the order: 40 straight flushes (royals included), 624 hands with four of a kind, 3,744 full houses, 5,108 flushes, 10,200 straights, 54,912 hands with three of a kind, 123,552 with two pair, 1,098,240 with one pair and 1,302,540 high-card hands. Texas Hold’em keeps that five-card order even though, choosing from seven cards, players end up with one pair (43.8%) and two pair (23.5%) more often than high card (17.4%).
What is the most common poker hand?
In Texas Hold’em, one pair is the most common final hand: across every possible set of seven cards, the best five make one pair 43.8% of the time, two pair 23.5% and high card only 17.4%. In five-card poker, with no extra cards to choose from, high card comes first at 50.1% and one pair second at 42.3%. Everything from three of a kind up is rare: in Hold’em, three of a kind, straights, flushes and full houses each show up less than 5% of the time.
What are the odds of getting a royal flush?
The odds of a royal flush are 1 in 649,740 for any five cards, and about 1 in 30,940 in Texas Hold’em for a player who sees all five shared cards. Flopping one takes both of your cards plus all three flop cards, which also works out to 1 in 649,740. Even holding the ace and king of hearts, you need the queen, jack and 10 of hearts among the five shared cards, which happens 1 time in 1,960 by the river.
What are the odds of being dealt pocket aces?
The odds of being dealt pocket aces are 1 in 221, or 0.45%, in any given hand: there are 6 ways to hold two aces among the 1,326 possible two-card hands. Getting them two hands in a row is 1 in 48,841. Someone at the table gets aces much more often than you do: with 9 players, one of them holds aces in 4.1% of hands, about 1 in 25, and with 6 players in 2.7%, about 1 in 37.
What are the odds of being dealt a pocket pair or suited cards?
You’re dealt a pocket pair 1 time in 17, or 5.9% of hands, and two suited cards 4 times in 17, or 23.5%. Of the 1,326 possible two-card hands, 78 are pairs and 312 are suited. Being suited helps less than many players expect: two suited cards make a flush by the river only 6.4% of the time, and flop one 0.84% of the time. Grouping pairs, suited hands and offsuit hands by rank leaves 169 different starting hands.
What are the odds of flopping a set with a pocket pair?
With a pocket pair, you flop a set or better 11.8% of the time, about 1 in 8.5 flops, which is the same as 7.5 to 1 against. Odds against compare misses with hits, so 7.5 misses for every hit means one hit in every 8.5 tries. A plain set, without a full house or four of a kind, comes 10.8% of the time on the flop. If you see all five shared cards, a pocket pair improves to three of a kind or better 19.2% of the time.
What are the odds of pairing one of your cards on the flop?
With two unpaired cards, the flop matches at least one of them 32.4% of the time, a little under 1 in 3, and misses both the other 67.6%. By the river, the chance of pairing at least one of your cards rises to 48.7%, just under half. You flop two pair using both of your cards 2.0% of the time. So with a hand like ace-king, expect to miss the flop about two times in three and plan your bets for that.
What are the odds of hitting a flush draw?
A flush draw on the flop has 9 outs and completes by the river 35.0% of the time, about 1.9 to 1 against, when you see both the turn and the river. With one card to come, the chance is 19.1% on the turn and 19.6% on the river. Compare those numbers with the price of a call: all in on the flop, a flush draw is close to a 1 in 3 shot, but calling a big bet with one card left rarely pays on its own.
How many outs does a straight draw have?
An open-ended straight draw has 8 outs, and a gutshot, or inside straight draw, has 4. Holding 8-7 on a K-6-5 flop, any 9 or 4 makes a straight, so 8 cards help; on a K-5-4 flop, only the four 6s do. Seeing both the turn and river, an open-ender gets there 31.5% of the time and a gutshot 16.5%. With one card to come, the chances on the turn are 17.0% and 8.5%.
What is the rule of 2 and 4?
The rule of 2 and 4 turns outs into a quick percentage: multiply your outs by 4 on the flop when you’ll see both the turn and river, or by 2 when one card is left. A flush draw’s 9 outs give 36% and 18%, close to the exact 35.0% and 19.1%. The shortcut runs high with lots of outs: for a 15-out draw, the rule of 4 says 60% when the exact figure is 54.1%. Use the 4 only when you’re sure to see both cards, such as when someone is all in.
What are pot odds, and how do you calculate them?
Pot odds compare the cost of a call with what you can win, which tells you how often a call has to win to break even. For the percentage, divide your call by the total pot after you call. If the pot is $100 and your opponent bets $50, you call $50 to win $150, so you need to win 50 ÷ 200 = 25% of the time. Facing a half-pot bet you always need 25%, a pot-size bet 33.3%, and a bet of twice the pot 40%.
What are implied odds?
Implied odds count the chips you expect to win on later streets when your draw comes in, on top of what’s in the pot now. Say the pot is $100 and you face a $50 bet with a flush draw and one card to come: the call needs 25% and the draw hits 19.6% of the time, so it loses on pot odds alone. To cover the gap, you’d need to win an extra $55.56 on average when the flush arrives. Implied odds grow when stacks are deep and your opponent is likely to pay you off.
What are equity and expected value (EV)?
Equity is your share of the pot based on how often you’d win if all the cards were dealt out, and expected value, or EV, is what a decision earns or loses on average over many repeats. All in before the flop, pocket aces have 81.9% equity against pocket kings. If both players put in $100, the aces get back $163.89 on average, so the all-in is worth $63.89 to them even on the nights the kings win. A good decision has positive EV, whatever happens in one hand.
Preflop strategy
Which hands to play, how much to raise and why the button is the best seat at the table.
What are the best starting hands in Texas Hold’em?
Pocket aces are the best starting hand in Texas Hold’em, followed by pocket kings and pocket queens. All in before the flop against one random hand, aces have 85.2% equity, kings 82.4%, queens 79.9% and jacks 77.5%, while ace-king suited has 67.0%. Against a single opponent, every pair from eights up scores higher than ace-king suited, but big suited cards gain when more players see the flop: against two random hands, ace-king suited (50.7%) passes pocket eights (50.0%).
What is the worst starting hand?
By the numbers, 3-2 offsuit is the worst starting hand in Texas Hold’em: all in against one random hand it has 32.3% equity, the lowest of all 169 starting hands, and against two random hands it has 19.8%. 7-2 offsuit, the hand with the worst reputation, is close behind at 34.6% and 20.5%. Both are low offsuit cards that seldom make a hand worth playing, and 7-2 can’t even make a straight using both cards, so fold them before the flop.
What percentage of hands should you play?
There’s no single right percentage: how many hands you should play depends on your seat, the number of players and how the table plays. Play the fewest from the first seats and the most from the cutoff and button, because acting last lets you profit from weaker hands. As a yardstick, PokerNow HUD Advanced treats a VPIP of 18–38% of hands as typical. Newer players usually do best near the tight end of that range, folding hands that only look pretty, like small suited cards in early seats.
How much should you raise before the flop?
A good default open is 2.5 to 3 big blinds, plus one more big blind for each player who limped in before you. Use the same size with strong and weak hands so the amount doesn’t give your cards away. When you re-raise, about three times the open works if you’ll act last after the flop, and closer to four times if you won’t. In games where players call almost every raise, a bigger open can work, so watch how often they call and adjust.
Why does position matter so much?
Position matters because the player who acts last on each street sees what everyone else did before deciding, while the player who acts first has to guess. Acting last lets you take a free card by checking behind, bet when others show weakness and keep the pot small with medium hands. That’s why the button is the best seat and why good players open more hands there than from early seats. A raise-first-in stat by seat, RFI, shows how much wider each player opens in late position.
How often do pocket aces win?
All in before the flop, pocket aces win about 85% of the time against one random hand: 84.9% outright plus a small share of ties, for 85.2% equity. Against two random hands their equity drops to 73.4%, and it keeps falling as more players stay in. The hands that do best against aces are suited connectors like 6-5 suited, with about 22.5%, while pocket kings have only 18.1%. The more players see the flop, the more often aces lose, which is why players raise with them to thin the field before the flop.
What is a coin flip in poker?
A coin flip is an all-in where the two hands are close to 50-50, most often a pocket pair against two higher cards, like queens against ace-king. The pair is usually a small favorite: queens have 56.8% equity against ace-king offsuit, jacks have 54.0% against ace-king suited, and even a pair of 2s has 50.1% against ace-king suited. Ace-king does better against smaller pairs and is a big favorite against a hand it dominates: 74.4% against ace-queen offsuit.
Postflop strategy
C-bets, bluffs, draws and value bets, with the break-even math behind each.
What is a continuation bet (c-bet)?
A continuation bet, or c-bet, is a bet on the flop by the player who made the last raise before the flop, carrying on the story that they hold the stronger hand. It works because the flop misses most hands: two unpaired cards fail to pair on the flop about two times in three. PokerNow HUD Advanced counts a flop c-bet rate of 45–75% as typical, and a fold to c-bet rate of 38–60%. A player who folds more often than that is a good target for small c-bets.
When should you bluff?
Bluff when your bet tells a believable story and your opponent is likely to fold. The best spots have few opponents, a board that fits the hands you’d play this way, and an opponent who folds often. Bluffs that can still improve, like a flush draw, are safer still. Avoid bluffing players who rarely fold: a calling station’s high went-to-showdown rate means they’ll call you down. An opponent’s fold to c-bet and WTSD numbers show who folds and who doesn’t.
How often does a bluff need to work?
A bluff breaks even when it works as often as your bet divided by the bet plus the pot. A half-pot bluff needs folds 33.3% of the time, a two-thirds-pot bluff 40% and a pot-size bluff 50%, while a bluff of one third of the pot needs only 25%. If your opponent folds more often than that, the bluff makes money even with no chance to improve. On your turn, PokerNow HUD Advanced shows how often each opponent has folded to bets of each size, its fold vs bet size stats.
How should you play a flush draw or a straight draw?
Play draws aggressively when a bet can win the pot right away, and just call when the price is right but a bet would only get called. A bet or raise with a draw is a semi-bluff: it wins when everyone folds and can still win when the draw comes in. A flush draw hits 35.0% of the time with two cards to come and 19.6% with one. A flush draw with an open-ended straight draw has 15 outs and gets there 54.1% of the time, more often than not.
What is a value bet?
A value bet is a bet made to get called by a worse hand, so the chips you win come from hands you beat. Before betting, picture what could call you: if most of those hands are worse than yours, bet; if mostly better hands would call, check. Size it for the hands you want to pay you, smaller when they’re weak and larger when they’re strong. Against players who call too much, betting thinner with medium hands earns more, while against tight players, save value bets for strong hands.
What is a check-raise?
A check-raise is checking when it’s your turn and then raising after an opponent bets. It’s allowed in card rooms and online, and players use it with strong hands to build a big pot or as a bluff against someone who bets too often. Because it only works when somebody bets, it’s best against aggressive players. In our stats guide, 5–16% counts as a typical check-raise rate; a player above that check-raises often, so bet a tighter range into them.
Should you slow-play a big hand?
Most of the time you shouldn’t slow-play a big hand: betting is how you build the pot it deserves, and checking gives opponents free cards that can beat you. Slow-playing makes sense when your hand is close to unbeatable, the board gives your opponent few ways to improve, and they’re likely to bet if you check, such as an aggressive player on a dry, unpaired board. Against players who call too much, bet big hands on every street, since they’ll pay you anyway.
How do you know when to fold?
Fold when the price of continuing is higher than your chance of winning, and ignore what you’ve already put in the pot, because those chips are gone either way. If you need 33.3% equity to call a pot-size bet and your hand wins less often than that against the hands your opponent would bet, fold. Watch who’s betting: a big river raise from a tight player who rarely bluffs is strong far more often than not. Good folds never show up in your results, but they save chips every session.
Cash games and tournaments
How the two main formats differ, how tournaments pay out, and what rake costs.
What is the difference between a cash game and a tournament?
In a cash game, each chip stands for the money it was bought with, the blinds stay the same and you can leave whenever you like; in a tournament, everyone pays the same entry for the same stack, the blinds rise on a schedule and you play until you’re out of chips or have won them all. Tournament prizes go to the top finishers. That changes strategy: tournament stacks get short as the blinds grow, and close to the prizes, staying alive can matter more than winning chips.
Should beginners start with cash games or tournaments?
Beginners can start with either, but cash games are often the easier classroom, because the blinds stay put and you can practice the same deep-stack spots again and again. Tournaments cap your cost at the entry fee and are a lot of fun, but they take hours, change strategy as the blinds rise and pay only the top finishers, so results swing more. A good plan is to play free or very small games of both and stick with the one you enjoy and learn from.
How do poker tournaments work?
In a poker tournament, every player pays the same buy-in and gets the same number of chips, and play continues until one player has them all. The blinds go up at set intervals, which forces action and keeps the event moving. Players who lose their chips are out unless the format allows rebuys, and tables are broken up and players moved as the field shrinks, until one final table is left. The prize pool comes from the buy-ins and is paid to the top finishers, with the biggest shares for the last few.
What is the bubble, and what is ICM?
The bubble is the stage of a tournament just before the prizes start, when the next player out gets nothing, and ICM, the independent chip model, converts chip stacks into a share of the prize money. Near the money, chips you lose cost more than the chips you win are worth. In an example with three players left and prizes of $500, $300 and $200, the leader with half the chips holds $383.93 of the $1,000 pool, 38.4%, while the short stack with 20% of the chips still holds $288.57.
What are freezeout, rebuy, bounty and satellite tournaments?
Freezeout, rebuy, bounty and satellite are tournament formats that differ in how you enter and what you can win. In a freezeout you get one stack, and losing it ends your tournament. A rebuy event lets you buy more chips if you bust or run low, usually only in the early levels. A bounty event pays a prize for each player you knock out, and in progressive versions part of each prize is added to your own bounty. A satellite awards seats in a bigger, pricier tournament instead of cash.
What is a sit-and-go?
A sit-and-go is a tournament with no set start time: it begins as soon as enough players have signed up, often enough for a single table. Everyone gets the same stack, the blinds rise on a schedule and the top few finishers are paid. Because the field is small, a sit-and-go finishes far sooner than a large tournament, which makes it a handy way to learn tournament play. PokerNow runs free Sit & Go tables that anyone can join from its home page.
What is rake?
Rake is the fee a card room or poker site takes for running the game. In cash games it’s usually a small percentage of each pot, up to a cap, and in tournaments it’s an extra fee on top of the buy-in that doesn’t go into the prize pool. Rake lowers what every player keeps over time, so a player who wins slightly before rake can end up losing once it’s paid. Private games on PokerNow are free to play, so there’s no rake to pay there.
Playing online and with friends
Playing with friends in a browser, how PokerNow works, and how to set up a home game.
How can you play poker online with friends for free?
The simplest way to play poker online with friends for free is a browser site built for private games, such as PokerNow: you start a table, choose the blinds and starting stacks, send your friends the link and approve each of them when they ask for a seat. Nobody has to download anything or create an account, and PokerNow has video and voice built in for up to 10 players at a table. Before the first hand, agree on the stakes and how long you’ll play, as you would at a kitchen table.
What is PokerNow?
PokerNow is a free poker website that runs in a web browser, built mainly for private games with friends: you create a table, set the blinds and stacks, and share the link. It uses play money with no cash value, needs no download or account, and adds built-in video and voice, clubs for regular groups, tournaments and community tables, according to its home page. Its old address, pokernow.club, now redirects to pokernow.com.
Does PokerNow use real money?
No, PokerNow doesn’t use real money: its home page states that the chips are play money with no cash value and that it offers no real prizes. The chips are a way to keep score, which is why a host can pick any stack size and blinds for a private game. Playing, the video chat and the session ledger are all free to use.
How does the PokerNow ledger work?
PokerNow’s session ledger is a running scoreboard of chips for everyone at the table: it shows each player’s total buy-ins, total buy-outs, current stack and net result, where net is buy-outs plus current stack minus buy-ins. Open it from Log / Ledger at the table (just Log on small screens) and choose the Ledger tab. You can sort by any column, expand a player to see when they sat down, added chips or left, and download the ledger as a CSV file, as PokerNow explains in its ledger post.
Can you play PokerNow on your phone?
Yes, you can play PokerNow on your phone: it runs in the web browser on phones and tablets as well as computers, with no app to install, so friends can join from the game link on any device. A HUD is another matter. Chrome on phones and tablets doesn’t run extensions, so a HUD such as PokerNow HUD Advanced works only in Chrome on a computer: Windows, Mac, Linux or a Chromebook. You can still play on your phone, just without the HUD.
What do run it twice and rabbit hunting mean?
Running it twice means dealing the remaining shared cards two times when players are all in before the river, with half the pot going to the winner of each run. It doesn’t change anyone’s expected share of the pot, only how much the result swings. Rabbit hunting means turning over the cards that would have come if a hand had kept going after everyone folded; it’s only for curiosity and changes nothing. PokerNow lists both among its game features.
Is online poker rigged?
There’s no good evidence that reputable poker sites rig the deal, and most rigged feelings come from variance and from remembering painful beats more than easy wins. Unlikely results are normal over a session: aces lose to kings 17.8% of the time all in before the flop. For a PokerNow game you can check for yourself: a free page on PokerNow reads the logs of up to four games and shows whether the winning-hand counts look statistically normal. The bigger risk in private games is players working together, covered in how to spot cheating.
How do you set up a home poker game?
Set the blinds first and size everything from them: a buy-in of 100 big blinds is a common choice, so with blinds of 1 and 2, each player starts with 200 in chips. Use mostly small chips, enough to post blinds and make change, plus a few larger ones, and write down every buy-in and cash-out. Agree on house rules before the first hand: stakes, rebuys, the finishing time, straddles and running it twice. Online, a site like PokerNow handles the chips, the blinds and the ledger for you.
What is the difference between online and live poker?
Online poker is faster and more anonymous: hands are dealt in seconds with no shuffling or counting, players can use stats and hand histories, and you can’t see anyone’s face. Live poker is slower, so you play fewer hands an hour, but you can watch your opponents, and physical tells and table talk come into play. Private online games sit in between, because friends on PokerNow can play on video while the site deals and keeps track of the chips.
HUDs, stats and fair play
What a HUD shows, how to read its numbers, how many hands they need, and how to keep a private game fair.
What is a poker HUD?
A poker HUD, short for heads-up display, is software that shows stats about each opponent next to their seat while you play, built from the hands you’ve played with them. The numbers sum up habits, such as how many hands someone plays (VPIP), how often they raise before the flop (PFR) and how often they fold to a bet. On large poker sites, tracking programs read the hand history files the poker software saves; on PokerNow, HUDs run as Chrome extensions. A HUD only counts what happened, and every decision stays yours.
Is using a HUD cheating?
Using a HUD doesn’t give you any hidden information, which is what cheating usually means: it counts actions everyone at the table saw, like who raised, who called and which cards were shown, and turns them into percentages. Cheating is getting information or help the other players can’t have, such as seeing someone’s cards, sharing cards with a friend, or letting a bot or another person play for you. Players feel differently about HUDs, so a private game should settle it as a house rule before the first hand.
How do you spot cheating in an online home game?
The most common cheating in online home games is collusion: two players sharing their cards or helping each other, often over a separate call, or one person playing two seats. Warning signs include friends who never bet or raise against each other, a player who folds a strong hand whenever a partner bets, and someone who seems to know your cards. To prevent it, invite only people you know, approve every seat yourself, keep video on, and download the game log afterward to review showdowns and odd folds. If something looks wrong, raise it with the group.
Is there a HUD for PokerNow?
Yes. PokerNow HUD Advanced is a free Chrome extension that adds a heads-up display with spot-aware opponent stats to PokerNow. It tracks 139 stats on each opponent, keyed to their PokerNow ID, shows the ones that matter in the current spot and, on your turn, how often each opponent folds to each of your bet sizes. It runs in Chrome on a computer for No-Limit Hold’em games, and the setup guide covers installing it.
What do the numbers on a HUD mean?
Each number on a HUD is a percentage of the chances a player had to do something, and most HUDs lead with VPIP and PFR, written together like 24/18. That means the player puts money in with 24% of hands and raises with 18% before the flop. Other common numbers are 3-bet, aggression factor (bets and raises divided by calls) and went to showdown. Always check the sample behind a number. PokerNow HUD Advanced fades numbers with fewer than 12 chances behind them and colors unusual ones gold or blue.
What is a good VPIP and PFR?
A good VPIP and PFR depend on the game, but solid players raise with most of the hands they play, so their two numbers sit close together. PokerNow HUD Advanced treats 18–38% VPIP and 12–26% PFR as typical. A VPIP far above 38% with a low PFR points to a loose, passive player who calls too much, while a VPIP under 18% points to a tight player whose raises mean strength. Check position too: everyone should play more hands on the button than under the gun.
How many hands do you need before HUD stats mean anything?
VPIP and PFR give a rough read after about 100 hands and a firm one after about 1,000; stats for rarer spots take much longer. A 25% VPIP over 100 hands could really be anywhere from 17.5% to 34.3% (a 95% range), and over 1,000 hands from 22.4% to 27.8%. A 50% fold to c-bet seen 20 times could be anything from 29.9% to 70.1%. PokerNow HUD Advanced fades any number with fewer than 12 chances behind it; VPIP and PFR pass that in about 12 hands, while rare spots like facing a 4-bet take far longer.
Which HUD stats matter most?
The HUD stats that matter most are the ones that fill in quickly and change your decisions: VPIP and PFR for how loose and aggressive someone is, 3-bet and fold to 3-bet for fights before the flop, c-bet and fold to c-bet for the flop, and went to showdown and aggression factor for later streets. Start with VPIP and PFR and add the rest as samples grow. PokerNow HUD Advanced picks the stats that fit the spot, such as fold to c-bet when you raised before the flop.
Live poker etiquette
How to behave at a live table, from your first casino visit to tipping and the moves that annoy everyone.
What should you know before playing poker in a casino for the first time?
Before your first casino game, learn how the room works: put your name on the list at the poker desk for the game you want, buy chips at the cage or from the dealer, and play only with the chips in front of you. Act only when it’s your turn and say your action out loud, since spoken actions are binding in most rooms. Push bets out in front of you instead of tossing them into the pot, keep your cards on the table where the dealer can see them, and ask the dealer whenever you’re unsure.
Should you tip the poker dealer?
Tipping the dealer when you win a pot is customary in many card rooms, especially in the US, but it isn’t required. A common habit is a small tip, such as one low-value chip, after a decent pot, and nothing when you only win the blinds or split the pot. Customs differ by country and by room, and in some places tipping is rare, so watch what the regulars do or ask the floor staff.
What is slow rolling?
Slow rolling is taking your time to show a winning hand at showdown, or acting as if you might lose, so an opponent believes they’ve won before you reveal the winner. It’s one of the rudest things you can do at a poker table, because it plays with someone’s feelings for no gain. When you’re called and know you have the best hand, turn it over right away. Taking a while to think during a hand is fine; the slow roll is about the reveal.
What is angle shooting?
Angle shooting is using a gray area in the rules or a misleading move to gain an edge, such as acting out of turn to watch how others react, hiding large chips behind small ones, or making an unclear motion that looks like a bet. It isn’t always against the written rules, which is why players dislike it so much. Protect yourself by declaring your own actions clearly, keeping your cards until the pot is pushed to you, and asking the dealer or host to rule whenever something looks off.
Can you talk about your hand while it’s being played?
You shouldn’t talk about a hand while it’s being played unless you’re one of the players in it, and even then the rules limit what you can say. Folded players and spectators must stay quiet and never show or name cards, since that could change the outcome. This is the one-player-to-a-hand rule: no advice, no help and no showing your cards to someone still in. Players in the pot can usually chat, but card rooms set the exact limits, especially in tournaments.
Can you leave a poker table whenever you want?
In a cash game you can leave whenever you want, ideally between hands and with a quick word to the dealer or host. Leaving soon after a big win, called a hit and run, is allowed, though some home games frown on it, so if you’ll need to leave early, say so when you sit down. In a tournament you can walk away too, but your chips stay in play and keep paying blinds until they’re gone, and you can’t cash them out.
Bankroll and responsible play
Luck, variance, bankrolls and tilt, with numbers from a standard variance model, and where to find help if poker stops being fun.
Is poker luck or skill?
Poker is both: luck decides single hands and short sessions, while skill decides results over thousands of hands. The swings are large even for strong players. Take a player who wins 5 big blinds per 100 hands, with swings of 100 big blinds per 100 hands (one standard deviation): after 1,000 hands they’re still behind 43.7% of the time, after 10,000 hands 30.9%, and only after 100,000 hands does that fall to 5.7%. That’s why skilled players can lose for weeks, and why nobody wins every tournament they enter.
Can you make a living playing poker?
Some people make a living playing poker, but very few, and it’s harder than it looks from outside. You need a steady edge over your games after rake, a bankroll big enough to survive long losing stretches, and the discipline to keep playing well through them. Even a player who wins 5 big blinds per 100 hands, with swings of 100 big blinds per 100 hands, is still behind after 10,000 hands 30.9% of the time. Treat poker as a hobby first, track every session, and judge it on years of results.
How big should your poker bankroll be?
A common guide for cash games is at least 20 to 30 buy-ins of 100 big blinds for the stakes you play, with more for tournaments, where the swings are bigger. The math behind it: for a player winning 5 big blinds per 100 hands with swings of 100 big blinds per 100 hands, the chance of losing a whole bankroll is 13.5% with 20 buy-ins, 5.0% with 30 and 0.67% with 50. A smaller edge needs more: at 2.5 big blinds per 100, 30 buy-ins still carry a 22.3% risk. Only play with money you can afford to lose.
What is variance, and why do good players lose?
Variance is the swing in results caused by the luck of the cards, and it’s why good players can lose for long stretches. A player who wins 5 big blinds per 100 hands, with swings of 100 big blinds per 100 hands, expects to be up 500 big blinds after 10,000 hands, yet 95% of the time lands anywhere from 1,460 down to 2,460 up. Over 50,000 hands, they’re still behind 13.2% of the time. Judge your play by your decisions and by long samples of results; one night tells you very little.
How do you avoid tilt?
Tilt is playing worse because you’re upset, and the best defense is deciding in advance when you’ll stop. Set a loss limit and a time limit before you sit down, and take a break after a bad beat or a big loss, even if it’s only for a few hands. Learn your own warning signs, like calling when you know you should fold or chasing losses with bigger bets. Review painful hands later, away from the table, and remember that a bad beat usually means you got your chips in ahead.
How do you keep poker fun, and where can you get help?
Keep poker fun by treating it as entertainment with a set price: decide on a budget you can afford to lose and a time limit before you play, and never chase losses. If you hide how much you play, borrow to play or can’t stop when you planned to, talk to someone. In the US, the National Council on Problem Gambling’s helpline takes calls and texts at 1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738), 24 hours a day, with chat at ncpgambling.org. In the UK, GamCare runs the free National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133, open 24 hours a day, with chat at gamcare.org.uk.
Legality
General answers only. Laws differ by country, state and city, so check the rules where you live.
Is online poker legal in the US?
It depends on the state: in the US, real-money online poker is legal in some states and not in others, because each state makes its own rules, and the list changes as new laws pass. Before playing for money, check what your state’s gaming regulator says, and stick to sites licensed where you live. Free play-money games, such as the ones on PokerNow, are a different thing from real-money gambling, since nothing of value is at stake.
Is it legal to play poker for money with friends?
It depends on where you live: laws on private poker games for money differ between countries, states and even cities, so there’s no single answer. Things that often matter include whether anyone profits from hosting, for example by taking a cut of each pot or charging a seat fee, whether the game is in a private home, and how high the stakes are. Check your local law before playing for money, and if you’re unsure, play for fun or for play money instead.
Do you have to pay taxes on poker winnings?
Often yes, depending on your country: some countries tax gambling winnings, poker included, as income, while others don’t tax them at all, and the rules for reporting wins and deducting losses vary too. Keep a simple record of every session, with the date, buy-in and cash-out, so you can show your results if you need to. Check your national tax authority’s guidance or ask a tax professional, especially if poker adds up to a meaningful part of your income.
How old do you have to be to play poker?
You usually have to be 18 or 21 to play poker for real money, depending on the country, the state and the venue, and online sites can set their own minimums on top of the law. Casinos check ID at the door or at the poker desk, and real-money sites verify your age before you can play. Check the rules where you live and those of the place you want to play. Free play-money games have their own age rules too, so check those as well.
How we chose and checked these poker questions
We gathered poker questions from 11 poker FAQ pages, from forum threads and question sites where players ask in their own words, and from articles built around a single question. Near-identical wordings were merged, and we kept the questions asked by the most independent sources while covering every topic, from rules to legality.
Every card probability was counted exactly, with no simulation: hand frequencies over all 2,598,960 five-card hands and all 133,784,560 seven-card sets, all-in equities over every possible board, and flop and draw odds over every possible flop, turn and river. The hand evaluator was checked against a brute-force count on every seven-card set. Bankroll and variance figures come from the standard normal model and risk-of-ruin formula, with the win rate and swings stated in each answer. The ranges for HUD sample sizes are 95% Wilson intervals. Typical ranges for HUD stats are the reference ranges PokerNow HUD Advanced uses, listed in our stats guide.
PokerNow facts come from PokerNow’s own pages, checked October 5, 2026: its home page, its game tutorial, its session ledger post of August 7, 2026, and its page that checks game results. Helpline details come from the National Council on Problem Gambling and GamCare, checked the same day.