Texas Hold'em Quiz: Test Your Poker Knowledge

Ready to test your Texas Hold’em knowledge? This quiz mixes hand rankings, table rules, betting, and odds. Read each question, decide on your answer, then check the explanation below it — every answer is verified against the rules of the game. Keep score as you go, and use the scoring guide at the end to see where you stand.

Section 1: Hand rankings

Q1. Which hand is stronger — a flush or a full house? A full house. The order from strongest down is royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card. A full house outranks a flush.

Q2. Two players show a flush. How is the winner decided? By the highest card in the flush. If the top cards tie, compare the next-highest, and so on down all five cards. Suits themselves never break ties in Texas Hold’em.

Q3. Does an ace-low straight (A-2-3-4-5) count as a straight? Yes. The ace can play low to make the “wheel,” A-2-3-4-5, or high in 10-J-Q-K-A. It cannot wrap around, so Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight.

Q4. What beats three of a kind? A straight, a flush, a full house, four of a kind, or a straight flush all beat three of a kind. Two pair does not — three of a kind is the stronger holding. For the full chart, see Texas Hold’em hands.

Section 2: Rules and dealing

Q5. How many hole cards does each player receive? Two. These are private cards, combined with the five shared community cards to make the best five-card hand.

Q6. How many community cards are dealt in total, and in what stages? Five: three on the flop, one on the turn, and one on the river. A card is burned (discarded face down) before each of these three deals.

Q7. After the flop, who acts first? The first active player to the left of the button — normally the small blind if still in the hand. Pre-flop is different: action starts to the left of the big blind. Position rules are covered in the rules guide.

Q8. Can you win a hand without the best cards? Yes. If everyone else folds, the last player standing wins the pot regardless of their cards, and never has to show them. This is why betting and bluffing matter as much as the cards.

Section 3: Betting and odds

Q9. In no-limit Hold’em, what is the most you can bet? Everything you have — you can move all in at any time. The minimum raise must be at least the size of the previous bet or raise.

Q10. How many two-card starting combinations exist? 1,326 exact combinations, which reduce to 169 distinct starting hands: 13 pocket pairs, 78 suited, and 78 offsuit.

Q11. You hold four cards to a flush after the flop. Roughly what are your odds of completing it by the river? About 35%, or a little better than 1 in 3. You have nine “outs” (the remaining cards of your suit), and with two cards to come those nine outs hit roughly 35% of the time. See odds and probabilities for the full method.

Q12. What are pot odds? The ratio of the current pot to the amount you must call. If the pot is 100 and you must call 25, you are getting 4-to-1. You compare that price to your chance of winning to decide whether a call is profitable — the core of poker math.

Bonus: quick-fire true or false

Score yourself

Count one point per correct answer across the twelve numbered questions:

• 10–12: Excellent — you have the fundamentals locked in and can focus on strategy.
• 7–9: Solid. Review the sections you missed, especially hand rankings and odds.
• 4–6: A good start. Revisit the rules and hand rankings before playing for stakes.
• 0–3: Start with the basics — read the full rules guide, then retake the quiz.

The bottom line

A quick quiz is the fastest way to find the gaps in your Texas Hold’em knowledge. The questions you miss are your study list: hand rankings, betting order, and odds are the three pillars every player needs cold. Review the topics you stumbled on, then come back and beat your score. Keep learning at the Texas Hold’em hub.