Each Player Receives Two Face-Down Cards



Q: How Many Cards Are Dealt To Players in Texas Hold'em?

A: In Texas Hold'em (No Limit or otherwise), how many cards are dealt to each player in the game?

The King provides an answer to a frequently asked question:  How many cards are dealt in the Texas Holdem game.The answer to that question is: two cards are dealt, face-down, to each player at the table.

These two cards will be used to make the best five-card hand possible using the "board", which consists of:

The Flop - three cards
The Turn - one card
The River - one card

These are the "community" cards that anybody can use to make their hand. These are face up and can be seen by anybody at the table.

So, you get seven cards with which to make your best possible hand - the hole cards and the five community cards.

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The cards that are dealt face-down to you are also referred to as "hole cards". You should do your best to protect these cards from being seen by the other players at the table.

So, for instance, let's say that you are dealt 7 of clubs and 6 of clubs as your "hole cards". These are your cards and your cards only.

Let's say that the "flop" comes Ac-Kc-2c. This is good news for you, as you can use the two cards that you have as "hole cards" to make a "flush" (five of the same suit).

This is a very good hand, and there is a very good chance that you will have the best hand at the table after the flop, unless somebody has a higher flush (say, something like Qc-Jc).

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Let's say that you hold Ac-Kd, and the board reads Jc-Qc-10c-2c-7d. Do you have a flush in this situation? After all, you only have one Club in your hand.

The answer is yes - you can just use the Ace of Clubs in your hand to make a flush. In other poker variations (such as Pot Limit Omaha), you would not have a flush in this case, but in Texas Hold'em, you would.

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Hole cards are usually protected by shielding your cards with your hands when looking at your holdings.


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