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When you can do each one

A hand has four betting rounds, and each one is called a street. The first comes before any cards are dealt face up in the middle. The other three come after each batch: the flop, three cards; the turn, the fourth; and the river, the fifth. Those five shared cards are the board. On every street, what you can do depends on one thing: whether anyone has more chips in front of them than you do.

What each street deals

Nobody has bet

No one has chips in front of them on this street.

  • Check

    To check is to stay in the hand without putting in chips, which you can only do when nobody has bet on that street.

    You put in 0

  • Bet

    To bet is to be the first to put chips in on a street, which makes everyone else call, raise or fold.

    2 or more

Someone has bet

Your opponent has 4 in front of them, and you have nothing.

  • Fold

    To fold is to give up the hand: you put in nothing more and lose whatever you've already put in.

    You put in 0

  • Call

    To call is to put in exactly enough to match the highest bet and stay in the hand.

    You put in 4

  • Raise

    To raise is to put in more than the highest bet, so anyone who wants to stay in has to match the new amount.

    To 8 or more

Whatever each player puts in on a street stays in front of them until the street ends. Then it's gathered into the middle, into the pot, which goes to whoever wins the hand.

Before the flop

The blinds, the two forced bets posted before the cards are dealt, already count as a bet. So before the flop there's a bet from the start, the big blind, and whoever acts has to fold, call it or raise. Only the big blind can check, because they've already put it in, and only if nobody has raised.

If you've read that there are four actions, that's because raising gets counted as a kind of betting. It is one, but you can only raise when there's already a bet, so here it gets a place of its own.

One hand, all five actions

Three players, blinds of 1 and 2 chips. You're on the button, the disk that marks who deals: before the flop you act first, because you're next after the blinds, and from the flop on you act last. Watch what each player has in front of them, because that's what decides what they can do.

  • You Button A J
  • Rufus Small blind Cards face down
  • Dottie Big blind Cards face down

  1. Street 1 of 4

    Preflop

    The board

    6 Pot

    Your cards

    A J

    1. Rufus posts the small blind

      The blinds go in before the deal because they have to: that way there's always something in the pot.

      1

    2. Dottie posts the big blind

      The big blind is twice the small one, and it counts as the first bet of the street.

      2

    3. You call

      Since the big blind is already a bet, you can't check. You call 2 to stay in.

      2

    4. Rufus calls

      He already has 1 in front of him, so he's only 1 short of 2.

      1

    5. Dottie checks

      She already has 2 in front of her, the same as everyone, and nobody has raised. She's the only one who can check before the flop, and she does.

    All three have 2 in front of them and everyone has acted: the street is over. The pot holds 6.

  2. Street 2 of 4

    The flop

    The board

    J 7 2
    30 Pot

    Your cards

    A J

    1. Rufus checks

      A new street, and nobody has anything in front of them: he can check, and he does.

    2. Dottie bets

      She's the first to put chips in on this street: that's a bet. The least she could bet was 2, one big blind.

      4

    3. You raise to 12

      With the jack on the board you have a pair of jacks. To raise, you match her 4 and add at least another 4, so the minimum was 8. You raise to 12.

      12

    4. Rufus folds

      Now he's 12 short. He folds: he puts in nothing more, and the 2 chips he put in before the flop stay in the pot.

    5. Dottie calls

      She had 4 in front of her, so she's 8 short of your 12. That's what she calls, not 12.

      8

    The two players left have 12 in front of them each: the street is over. The pot holds 30.

  3. Street 3 of 4

    The turn

    The board

    J 7 2 3
    30 Pot

    Your cards

    A J

    1. Dottie checks

      A new street, nothing in front of anyone: she checks.

    2. You check

      You check too. You don't have to bet, and checking costs nothing.

    When everyone checks, the street ends without anyone putting anything in. The pot stays at 30.

  4. Street 4 of 4

    The river

    The board

    J 7 2 3 K
    60 Pot

    Your cards

    A J

    1. Dottie checks

      She checks again.

    2. You bet

      You bet 15. Her check doesn't stop you from betting: a check doesn't close the street.

      15

    3. Dottie calls

      She's 15 short and calls 15. Nobody is left to act, so it's showdown: the cards are turned over.

      15

    Your pair of jacks beats her pair of sevens, and the pot of 60 is yours.

    A J

    You

    Pair of jacks

    Wins the pot
    7 6

    Dottie

    Pair of sevens

The mix-ups most beginners make

  1. 1

    Checking isn't folding

    Outside poker, “I pass” sounds like “I'm out.” In poker a check keeps you in the hand without putting anything in. What takes you out of the hand is a fold.

  2. 2

    Folding when you could check

    You can fold even when nobody has bet, but it doesn't save you a single chip: checking is free and lets you see the next card. It's the one fold that's always a mistake.

  3. 3

    Calling the whole bet again

    A call is what you're short, not the whole bet over again. If you already have 4 in front of you and someone raises to 12, you call 8.

  4. 4

    Raising just a little

    A raise has to add at least as much as the last bet or raise on that street added. Against a bet of 4, the smallest raise is to 8. And “raise to 12” means 12 in total, not 12 more.

What you say at the table, and what you'll hear

At a home game nobody will quiz you on the exact word, but say what you're doing before you move your chips: what you say on your turn binds you. On streams and in card rooms you'll hear a few more words for the same five actions.

The action What you say What you do You'll also hear
Check “Check” Tap the table with your fingers. Knock
Bet “Bet 4” Push your chips forward in one motion. Lead, fire
Call “Call” Put in exactly what you're short. Flat call, snap call
Raise “Raise to 12” Say the total before you touch your chips. Bump it, re-raise
Fold “Fold” Slide your cards face down toward the dealer, without showing them. Muck, lay it down

Path 1 · 7 lessons · 52 min

The table comes alive

In the course

All five, played

The course teaches them in path 1, “The table comes alive”: first what you do when nobody has bet, then what you do when someone puts chips in. Before them come “The cards”, “Chips and the pot” and “The four streets”.

  1. Sometimes there's no bet

    You'll find out when you can check without putting in chips, and what changes if the rival then bets.

    7 min

  2. When chips go in

    You'll learn what to do when the rival puts chips in: call, raise or fold.

    8 min

Start the course from the beginning See all eighteen paths

Frequently asked questions

What does check mean in poker?

To check is to stay in the hand without putting in any chips, and you can only do it when nobody has bet yet on the current street. Then the next player acts. If someone bets after you've checked, the action comes back to you, and you fold, call or raise.

What's the difference between checking and folding?

When you check, you stay in the hand without putting in chips, which you can only do if nobody has bet on that street. When you fold, you give up the hand: you can no longer win the pot, and whatever you've put in stays there. If you can check, folding saves you nothing.

Can you check before the flop?

Only the big blind can, and only if nobody has raised. Before the flop the blinds count as a bet, so everyone else has to fold, call or raise. The big blind has already put that bet in: if nobody raises, they can check or raise when it's their turn. At a table that plays with a straddle, a third blind a player chooses to put in, the straddler takes the big blind's place: they act last, and they're the one who can check.

What is the minimum raise in poker?

In no-limit Texas Hold'em, a raise has to add at least as much as the last bet or raise on that street. If someone bets 4, you raise to at least 8. If someone else then raises from 4 to 10, the next raise has to go to at least 16. The maximum is all your chips.

What if you don't have enough chips to call?

You can put in all the chips you have left: that's going all-in. You stay in the hand to the end, but you can only win from each opponent as much as you put in. If the others keep betting, those chips go into a side pot you can't win.

Keep going

Start here Poker rules One whole hand, from the hole cards to who takes the pot. The table Poker positions The button, the blinds, all nine seats by name and who acts first on each street. The words Poker terms and slang Over 100 terms in two lines each, from check and fold to straddle and the nuts.

Check or bet, from the start

To choose between checking and betting, you first need to know what cards you hold and what's in the pot. That's why the course starts with the cards.

First lesson · 6 min The cards Every card has two facts: rank and suit. You'll learn to read both, and which one says which card is worth more. Play now

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