Rules in two minutes
In Texas Hold'em, each player receives 2 hole cards. 5 community cards are dealt in three stages (flop of 3 cards, turn, river). You make the best possible 5-card hand from your 2 cards and the board. Betting is often No-Limit: you can bet all your chips at any time.
You don't just play your cards: you also play position (acting after others is a huge advantage), opponents' tendencies, and pot size.
Pillars of solid play
- Preflop hand selection: playing too many hands is the first mistake. Start tight, especially out of position; widen your range on the button and in the small blind when blinds are there to be stolen.
- Position: acting last lets you see actions before decidingyou can bluff more effectively and better control pot size.
- Selective aggression: bet and raise with strong hands and decent draws; avoid systematically passive play that makes you pay dearly for bad cards.
- Bankroll management: don't move up in stakes if you don't have enough buy-ins to absorb variance (often cited: 20 to 40 buy-ins for cash games depending on risk toleranceadjust as needed).
- Continuous study: review hands, probability theory (outs, pot odds), and recognised toolse.g. free resources on PokerListings, Upswing Poker (NLHE strategy), or reference books (Sklansky, Harrington, Seidman…) to structure your progress.
Hand strength chart (preflop heat map)
The grid below ranks the 169 possible starting hands: diagonal = pairs; above = suited cards (same suit); below = offsuit. The higher the score, the more aggressively a hand is generally playablealways depending on position and table dynamics.
| A | K | Q | J | T | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | ∞ | 277 | 137 | 118 | 105 | 95 | 88 | 78 | 70 | 60 | 48 | 36 | 29 |
| K | 166 | 477 | 43 | 36 | 32 | 28 | 25 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 14 |
| Q | 96 | 29 | 239 | 25 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 |
| J | 72 | 25 | 15 | 160 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 |
| T | 58 | 22 | 13 | 12 | 120 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 |
| 9 | 57 | 17 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 96 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 |
| 8 | 53 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 80 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 |
| 7 | 47 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 67 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 |
| 6 | 42 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 48 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 |
| 5 | 36 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 49 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
| 4 | 29 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 41 | 4 | 3 |
| 3 | 22 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 33 | 1 |
| 2 | 23 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 24 |
Triangle au-dessus de la diagonale = assorti (s) ; en dessous= non assorti (o) ; diagonale = paires. Valeurs indicatives pour comparer les mains entre elles (pas un pourcentage d'équité exact).
Postflop: a few guidelines
With a strong hand (top pair good kicker, overpair, set), often aim for value (betting to get paid by weaker hands). With a draw (flush, straight), count your outs and compare the call price to the pot offered (pot odds / implied odds). In uncertain spots, keeping the pot small out of position can avoid costly big mistakes.
Common mistakes
- Playing too many weak hands 'to see a flop'over time this dilutes your edge.
- Tilt: playing angry after a bad beat. Take a break, drop stakes, or end the session.
- Overestimating results on a small sample: poker has high variance; volume and analysis are needed to judge whether you're improving.
Responsible gaming
Real-money online poker is prohibited in France outside licensed operators (ARJEL / ANJ); check legality for your situation. Never play beyond your means. Help: Joueurs Info Service (09 74 75 13 13).