Texas Hold’em Poker
Overview
Texas Hold’em is the most popular variant of poker, where players combine their private cards with community cards to make the best five-card poker hand.
Status: 🔜 Coming Soon
Players: 2-9
Difficulty: Hard
Deck: 1 standard 52-card deck
Objective
Win chips by either having the best five-card poker hand at showdown or by making all other players fold.
Rules
Card Rankings (Highest to Lowest)
- Royal Flush: A, K, Q, J, 10 of the same suit
- Straight Flush: Five consecutive cards of the same suit
- Four of a Kind: Four cards of the same rank
- Full House: Three of a kind plus a pair
- Flush: Five cards of the same suit
- Straight: Five consecutive cards of mixed suits
- Three of a Kind: Three cards of the same rank
- Two Pair: Two different pairs
- One Pair: Two cards of the same rank
- High Card: Highest card when no other hand is made
Game Structure
- Blinds: Two players post forced bets (small blind and big blind)
- Hole Cards: Each player receives 2 private cards face down
- Betting Rounds: Four rounds of betting (Pre-flop, Flop, Turn, River)
- Community Cards: Five cards dealt face up in the center
- Showdown: Remaining players reveal hands, best hand wins
How to Play
Step 1: Blinds
- Player to dealer’s left posts small blind (half minimum bet)
- Next player posts big blind (full minimum bet)
- Blinds rotate clockwise each hand
Step 2: Hole Cards (Pre-Flop)
- Each player receives 2 private cards
- First betting round begins with player left of big blind
- Players can: Fold, Call (match big blind), or Raise
Step 3: The Flop
- Dealer burns one card (discards)
- Dealer deals 3 community cards face up
- Second betting round begins with player left of dealer
- Players can: Check (if no bet), Bet, Call, Raise, or Fold
Step 4: The Turn
- Dealer burns one card
- Dealer deals 1 community card face up (4th card)
- Third betting round (same as flop)
Step 5: The River
- Dealer burns one card
- Dealer deals 1 community card face up (5th card)
- Final betting round (same as turn)
Step 6: Showdown
- Remaining players reveal their hole cards
- Best five-card hand using any combination of 7 cards (2 hole + 5 community) wins
- Winner takes the pot
Betting Actions
- Fold: Discard your hand and forfeit the pot
- Check: Pass action to next player (only if no bet has been made)
- Bet: Put chips into the pot
- Call: Match the current bet
- Raise: Increase the current bet
- All-In: Bet all remaining chips
Strategy Tips
Starting Hands
Premium Hands (Always Play):
- Pocket Aces (AA), Kings (KK), Queens (QQ)
- Ace-King suited (AKs)
Strong Hands (Play in most positions):
- Jacks (JJ), Tens (TT)
- Ace-King offsuit (AKo), Ace-Queen suited (AQs)
Marginal Hands (Play in late position):
- Small pairs (22-99)
- Suited connectors (e.g., 8♠9♠)
Position Strategy
- Early Position: Play only premium hands
- Middle Position: Expand range slightly
- Late Position (Button): Play wider range, steal blinds
- Blinds: Defend against late position raises
Post-Flop Play
- Continuation Bet: Bet after raising pre-flop
- Pot Control: Check strong hands to keep pot small
- Bluffing: Represent strong hands on scary boards
- Value Betting: Bet strong hands to build pot
Implementation Details
Planned Features
- 🔜 2-9 player support
- 🔜 Blind structure (small/big blinds)
- 🔜 Four betting rounds (pre-flop, flop, turn, river)
- 🔜 Hand ranking evaluation
- 🔜 Pot calculation and side pots
- 🔜 AI opponents with different playing styles
- 🔜 Tournament mode
- 🔜 Cash game mode
- 🔜 Hand history
- 🔜 Statistics tracking
API Endpoints
GET https://deckofcardsapi.com/api/deck/new/shuffle/?deck_count=1
GET https://deckofcardsapi.com/api/deck/{deck_id}/draw/?count=2 # Hole cards
GET https://deckofcardsapi.com/api/deck/{deck_id}/draw/?count=3 # Flop
GET https://deckofcardsapi.com/api/deck/{deck_id}/draw/?count=1 # Turn/River
Technical Challenges
- Hand Evaluation: Implement poker hand ranking algorithm
- Pot Management: Handle main pot and side pots
- AI Logic: Create believable AI opponents
- Betting Logic: Validate bets, raises, and all-ins
- Game State: Track complex game state across rounds
Glossary
- Blinds: Forced bets posted before cards are dealt
- Hole Cards: Private cards dealt to each player
- Community Cards: Shared cards dealt face up
- Flop: First three community cards
- Turn: Fourth community card
- River: Fifth and final community card
- Showdown: Revealing hands to determine winner
- Pot: Total chips bet in current hand
- Button: Dealer position marker
- Position: Where you sit relative to the dealer
- All-In: Betting all remaining chips
- Side Pot: Separate pot when player is all-in