A player folds on the flop. The six chips they put in before it stay in the middle, and somebody else can win them. Following those chips through one hand makes Texas Hold'em easier to read than a screen full of unfamiliar buttons.
Each player receives two private cards. Up to five shared cards arrive in three stages: the flop, turn and river. A hand can end when everyone except one player folds. If it reaches a showdown, the remaining players compare their best five-card hands. The PokerStars Hold'em rules describe that sequence and allow a player to use either, both or neither of their private cards.
The hand below is invented. It uses ordinary no-limit Hold'em, six players, blinds of one and two chips, and starting stacks of 100 each. There is no ante or house fee in the arithmetic. The actions illustrate the rules; they are not recommendations about what to play.
Before the flop: who owes the first two chips?
Six seats run clockwise in this order: A, B, C, D, E and F. A has the dealer button, a marker for position even when a casino employee deals. B posts the small blind of one; C posts the big blind of two. The pot starts at three.
D acts first. Calling costs D two chips. E and F fold, then A raises to six. That means A puts six in altogether, rather than adding six on top of a call. B folds and leaves the small blind behind. C already has two in, so calls by adding four. D adds another four to match six.
The pot is now 19: six each from A, C and D, plus B's one. E and F contributed nothing. C's big blind counted towards the call; a blind is a live wager, not a separate admission charge.
In this example, raising from two to six increases the wager by four. A further full raise in that round would have to increase it by at least four again, to ten. PokerStars' no-limit rules set the minimum raise by the previous bet or raise increment. A short all-in introduces a separate question about whether betting reopens.
The flop changes who acts first
The dealer reveals the king of hearts, nine of spades and two of diamonds. These three community cards are the flop. The first active player clockwise from the button acts first on this and the later betting rounds. B has folded, so C acts before D and A.
C checks, keeping the hand without adding chips. D bets eight. A calls eight. C folds. C's six earlier chips remain in the pot, but C has surrendered any claim to it.
There are now 35 chips in the middle: the previous 19, plus D's eight and A's eight. D and A are the only players left.
Checking is available when there is no outstanding wager for that player to match. Facing D's eight, C could have called or raised instead of folding, but could not check. A call matches the current wager; a raise increases it. PokerStars Learn's rules lesson explains these actions across the four betting rounds.
Turn and river: the pot does not reset
A seven of clubs is dealt as the turn, the fourth community card. D checks and A checks. Neither adds chips, so the pot stays at 35. Both remain in the hand.
The river is the king of diamonds. D checks. A bets 12 and D calls 12. The final pot is 59: 35 plus two contributions of 12. A new betting round starts a fresh wager to match, while the chips from earlier rounds remain in the same pot.
If D had folded to that last bet, A would have been the sole remaining player and the hand would have ended without a comparison of cards. Here D calls, so it reaches a showdown.
Five cards decide the 59-chip pot
A reveals the ace of hearts and queen of clubs. D reveals the nine of hearts and nine of clubs. The board is king of hearts, nine of spades, two of diamonds, seven of clubs, king of diamonds. All nine exposed cards are different.
A's best five are the two kings, ace, queen and nine: one pair of kings. D uses both private nines, the board's nine and its two kings: a full house, nines full of kings. D wins. A's ace does not beat a stronger hand category.
The standard high-hand ranking, from strongest to weakest, is royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair and high card. A royal flush is the ace-high straight flush. Our best-five-card showdown guide deals with equal categories and kickers in more detail.
D receives 59 chips, including D's own 26: six before the flop, eight on it and 12 on the river. The net gain is 33. A loses 26, C loses six and B loses one; E and F finish unchanged. The six starting stacks still total 600 after the award.
Equal best five-card hands share a pot. Using the board alone is also permitted in Hold'em. The 2026 WSOP tournament rules, section IX, describe that freedom; they also specify burning a card before the flop, turn and river. Burn cards are set aside and are not community cards.
Where this simple hand stops
The example keeps everyone deep enough to match each wager. An all-in player can remain eligible for the portion their chips cover without matching a larger wager in full. Further betting between other players may create a side pot with different eligible winners.
Only chips already in play for the hand are available to wager. No-limit allows a player to commit that stack, subject to the betting rules; fixed-limit and pot-limit games impose different limits. Actual cash games may also deduct rake, which our 59-chip calculation excludes.
Sources were checked on 4 November 2026. Procedures vary by room; the WSOP references here describe its named tournament rules. With only two players seated, the button is also the small blind and acts first before the flop, then last afterwards. That heads-up exception changes the starting order used in our six-seat hand.
