Texas Hold’em is the world’s most popular poker game: two private cards for each player, five shared cards in the middle, and four rounds of betting where anything can happen. This table lets you play no-limit Hold’em against one to three computer opponents with play chips — ideal for learning the flow of a hand, practicing pot odds and trying out bet sizes without risk.
How to play a hand
- Choose 1, 2 or 3 computer opponents and press Deal. Everyone starts with 1,000 chips; the blinds are 10 and 20.
- Pre-flop: each player gets two hole cards. The two players left of the dealer button post the small and big blinds, and the player after the big blind acts first.
- Flop: three community cards are dealt face up, followed by a betting round starting left of the button.
- Turn and river: one more card each, each followed by betting.
- Showdown: players still in the hand reveal their cards. Each makes the best five-card hand from their two hole cards plus the five on the board, and the best hand wins. Winning cards are outlined in gold.
On your turn choose Fold (F), Check/Call (C) or Bet/Raise (R). Set the raise with the slider, type an amount, or use Min, ½ pot, Pot and All-in. A minimum raise must be at least the size of the last bet or raise.
Starting-hand odds
| Hole cards | Combinations | Probability |
|---|---|---|
| A specific pair (e.g., aces) | 6 of 1,326 | 0.45% (1 in 221) |
| Any pocket pair | 78 of 1,326 | 5.88% (1 in 17) |
| Two suited cards | 312 of 1,326 | 23.5% |
| Ace–king (any suits) | 16 of 1,326 | 1.21% |
There are C(52, 2) = 1,326 possible two-card starting hands.
Outs and the rule of 4 and 2
An out is an unseen card that improves your hand to a likely winner. On the flop there are 47 unseen cards, so:
On the turn, with one card to come, multiply the outs by about 2%.
| Draw on the flop | Outs | Hit by the river | Hit on the turn |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flush draw | 9 | 35.0% | 19.1% |
| Open-ended straight draw | 8 | 31.5% | 17.0% |
| Two overcards | 6 | 24.1% | 12.8% |
| Inside straight draw | 4 | 16.5% | 8.5% |
Worked example: calling a flush draw
You hold A♠ 9♠ and the flop is K♠ 7♠ 2♦. The pot is 120 chips and an opponent bets 40.
- You must put in 40 to win a pot that will be 120 + 40 + 40 = 200, so you need 20% equity to break even.
- Nine spades remain, giving you about 35% to make the flush by the river (and an ace may also win).
- Your equity comfortably beats 20%, so calling is profitable — and with an ace-high draw, raising is reasonable too.
The game shows this break-even percentage whenever you face a bet.
Strategy tips
- Position matters. Acting last after the flop lets you see what others do first; play more hands on the button and fewer under the gun.
- Raise, don’t limp. Entering the pot with a raise wins it uncontested more often and builds the pot with your better hands.
- Compare equity to pot odds before every call, as in the example above.
- Size bets by the pot. Half to three-quarters of the pot is a sensible default on the flop.
Rules and simplifications
- No-limit betting, blinds 10/20, no antes; blinds do not increase.
- Side pots are exact: each all-in player competes only for chips everyone matched; unmatched chips are returned.
- Any all-in raise reopens the betting, even if it is smaller than a full raise — a simplification of tournament rules.
- Split pots are shared evenly; an odd chip goes to the winner closest to the dealer’s left.
- All active hands are shown at the showdown (no mucking). Players with no chips leave; the game ends when only one player has chips.
See the full poker hand rankings with probabilities, or try five card draw against the same computer players.
This is a free game with play chips; nothing can be bought or won. The computer opponents are deliberately simple, so beating them does not mean you would beat skilled human players.
Frequently asked questions
How do the computer players play?
Before each decision they simulate a few hundred random deals to estimate their chance of winning against the players still in the hand, compare it with the pot odds, and add some randomness. They raise strong hands, call when the price is right, fold weak hands and occasionally bluff.
How are side pots handled?
Exactly. Each player's chips are split into layers: an all-in player can win only the part of the pot that every opponent matched, and chips nobody matched go back to whoever bet them. Every pot goes to the best eligible hand.
What are the blinds?
10 and 20 chips, and everyone starts with 1,000 chips (50 big blinds). The blinds stay the same for the whole game. Heads-up, the dealer posts the small blind and acts first before the flop.
What are the odds of being dealt pocket aces?
1 in 221, about 0.45%. Any pocket pair comes 1 time in 17 (5.88%), and two suited cards about 23.5% of the time.
What does the pot-odds message mean?
When you face a bet, the game shows the share of the final pot you must put in. If your chance of winning is higher than that percentage, calling is profitable in the long run.