Texas Holdem One Or Two Decks

4/13/20224/13/2022

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Any idiot can stack a cold deck to trick an opponent in Texas Hold'em Poker into losing all his chips. However usually the player on the right of the dealer cuts the deck, which means the cheater must swap the deck after this point, which makes it much harder to do subtly. When playing Texas hold ‘em a round flat chip or “disk” is used to represent the position of the dealer. This disk is placed in front of the dealer to indicate their status. The person sitting to dealer left is known as the small blind and the person sitting to the left of the small blind is known as the big blind.

It’s a weekend and you and a friend or family member are wondering if you can play a game of poker with just the 2 of you. I have been playing for over 10 years and can give you a definitive answer.

The standard number of decks for a Texas Holdem game is one. There might be times when two (2) decks are used but not simultaneously. Doing more than one deck will result in an increase in the number of hands and the probability of drastic hand changing.

Can you play poker with 2 players? Poker can be played with only two players. It is called heads-up. Here are the two player rules:

The dealer is the small blind and the other player posts the big blind. Players take turns being the dealer.
The first card is dealt to the player in the big blind.
The Dealer goes first before the flop and the Big Blind goes first after the flop.

Let’s cover a few more common questions that players typically have about 2 player poker in greater detail.

What Are the 2 Player Poker Rules?

Now that you are set up to play, let’s cover how to play 2 player poker. Here are the basic rules that you will need to know in order to play your game.

You may want to keep this page open in your browser in case questions come up during play.

1. How do the blinds work in 2 player poker?

How the blinds work is probably the most confusing thing in heads-up poker. However, once you get the hang of it it’s not that difficult to remember since there are only a couple of differences between 6-max or full-ring rules.

Who Is the Big Blind Who Is the Small Blind in Heads-Up Poker?

This is the most common question I get about 2 player poker.

The big blind is always the player who does not have the dealer button in front of him or her. That means that the person dealing is always the small blind.

How Do We Determine Who Gets the Button First at the Start of the Game?

The easiest and most fair way to determine who gets to be dealer first is for each player to draw a card from the deck. The high card gets to deal first.

2. How Are the Cards Dealt in 2 Player Poker?

Which Blind Gets Dealt to First Before the Flop?

The big blind gets the first card and the dealer gets the second card in heads-up play. The easy way to remember this is that the dealer never deals to his or her self first.

Can the Same Person Deal Every Hand?

It’s true that sometimes one person is better at dealing. In this case, it’s okay for the same person to deal every hand.

Just make sure that you move the dealer button each hand. It would be highly unfair if the same person had to play the big blind every single hand!

3. Who Goes First When Only Two Players Are Playing?

I remember walking up to observe the heads-up match between two friends in pub poker. I quickly realized that they were following the opposite order of play that they were supposed to.

I did not want to embarrass them so I kept quiet. It was apparent everyone else didn’t want to as well since none of the 10-15 observers said anything!

Who Goes First Before the Flop?

Pre-flop, the dealer always acts first in 2 player poker.

This rule is exactly the same as pre-flop however, it is easy to get wrong for inexperienced players. The easy way to remember it is that the big blind player acts last before the flop in 6 or 9-handed games, and it makes since to work the same way in heads-up.

Who Goes First After the Flop in Heads-Up?

This rule is also exactly the same for normal poker games. The dealer gets to always go last on the flop.

The biggest perk of playing on the dealer button is that you get to act last and have more information than your opponents. This is especially powerful in heads-up since the big blind can never act last.

What If the Dealer Open Folds in 2 Player Games?

When the Dealer decides to not play his or her hand before the flop, the small blind is relinquished to the player in the big blind. The dealer button then moves and the next hand begins.

Is it better to play Heads-Up, Cash Games or Tournaments?

Deciding what format to play in 2 player poker all comes down to personal preference. Each type of game has its perks.

Why Play Heads-up Cash Games?

There are a couple of reasons people might choose cash games over tournaments:

Blinds Do Not Rise – Perhaps the biggest benefit of 2 person cash games is that you don’t have to worry about the blinds going up like they do in tournaments. You don’t need a special tournament clock, you can just choose your stake level and play indefinitely without having to adjust your style to the rising blinds.
You Don’t Need Poker Chips – In tournaments, you really need to use poker chips that you can “color up” as the game goes on. That means to add higher value chips to compensate for the bigger stakes. Instead, you can use real coins or even paper money to play cash games.
Cash Games Take More Skill – If you really want to practice and improve at poker, then the best way is through cash games. Once the blinds rise in tournaments, the game becomes more and more about who is the luckiest person.

Why Play Heads-up Tournaments?

Even though I am a cash game specialist, when I play heads-up I actually prefer tournaments. Here is why:

There Are Logical End Points – While cash games drag on and on, a tournament always ends up with one person having all the chips. You can then decide whether to start anew or call it a night. So, if you want to play best of 3 or best of 5, you have a better idea of when the night will end and can plan for it. For this reason, it’s also a great format for hosting a home poker tournament with multiple players.
Tournaments Tend to Be Much More Exciting – There’s nothing more fun in poker than getting to the shove-fold phase of a tournament or sit and go. Chips change hands rapidly and anyone can win at that point. Who doesn’t love a race for all the chips?
The Games Are Usually More Fun for Beginners – Many people that get into poker are used to watching the World Poker Tour or the World Series of Poker. Therefore, tournaments are what they are familiar with and likely to understand better.

If you don’t have poker chips, there are likely plenty of poker chip substitutes lying around the house or office.

A Fun Alternative Format: Play Short-Stacked Cash Games

Another idea is to mix both a tournament and cash game feel by playing short stacked cash games.

The way it works is that each player starts with 20, 30, or 40 big blinds and then play cash games. The blinds do not rise, but there is still plenty of heavy pre-flop action with lots of reraise shoving.

Post-flop also plays a lot easier as a short stack. Top pair is an easy hand to get all-in with when short whereas it can be difficult to play when deed-stacked.

What Is the Best 2 Player Poker Strategy?

The biggest adjustment when playing heads-up poker is that marginal hands go way up in value. 3rd pair or even high card Ace can often win at showdown.

So, loosen up and don’t let your opponent run you over if he or she bets a lot! Conversely, you should bet often when you have any piece of the board or a credible bluff. There is a good chance your opponent might fold a better hand or pay you off with a worse hand.

What 2 Player Games Can We Play Besides Texas Hold’Em?

If you are tired of heads-up No-Limit Hold’em and want to mix in another game occasionally, there are several good options:

Pot Limit Omaha: In PLO, the heads-up rules are exactly the same as Hold’em except that both players get four hold cards. You also have to use both cards at showdown. Having one Diamond in your hand does not make a flush on a four Diamond board in PLO.
5-Card Draw: This is the traditional “old-fashioned” game that most people used to learn poker before No-Limit Hold-em became the dominant game. Both players have a designated ante that they pay before the cards are dealt. Then, you simply deal out 5 cards to each heads-up player. Instead of having a flop, turn, and river there is instead two betting rounds. Once when you get your initial cards and then after a discard round. You may discard up to 3 cards (4 if you have an Ace) and get those cards replaced by the dealer. There is then another betting round and then the cards are shown and a dealer determined. You can, of course, fold any time during the hand and only lose the money you have invested up to that point.
7-Card Stud: This game is similar to draw except that you start with two cards down and one card up. There is then a betting round. Afterward, another card is turned up one by one with a betting round happening in between. Once both heads-up players each have 7 cards, the dealing is complete and showdown can be reached.

Accessories to Make Matches Even Better

If you want to make your games more classy, then I recommend picking up quality accessories. I wrote recommendation articles for each category, just click the links to learn more:

Playing Cards– My personal favorite is Copag, what’s yours?
Poker Chips– I prefer a higher-end set, but there are plenty of good budget poker chip sets available as well.
Poker Table– I like roll up poker table mats for ease of storage, but that’s just me.

Final Thoughts

Playing heads-up only happens in tournaments if you are the last two players left in the field. However, 2 player poker is something you can do for fun either as a cash game or tournament at home.

If you want to read more about heads-up poker, I wrote a detailed article on the heads-up poker rules for Texas Hold’em. Thanks for stopping by!

Introduction to Texas Hold ‘Em

No Limit Texas Hold’em. Sometimes called the cadillac of Poker, Texas Hold ‘em is a fairly easy game to learn but can take years to master.

How to Play

To begin every player gets two pocket cards. A deck of cards is placed in the middle of the table and these are known as community deck and these are the cards that the flop will be dealt from.

Once all players have been dealt their initial two cards players will be asked to place their first bid. Once all players have placed their first bid a second round of bidding occurs.

Once all players have placed their final bids, the dealer will deal the flop. The dealer will flip over the first 3 cards, known as the “flop”, from the community deck. The goal is to make the best 5 card had you can with the three cards from the community deck and the two in your hand.

Once the first three cards have been flipped over, player will have the option to bid again or fold. After all players have had a chance to bid or fold, the dealer will flip over a fourth card known as a “turn” card.

The players still remaining will have the option to once again fold or bid. Now the dealer will flip the 5th and final card over, known as the “river”card.

Once all five cards have been flipped by the dealer, players will have one last chance to raise the bid or fold. Once all bids and count bids have been made it’s time for the players to reveal their hands and determine a winner.

First Round Betting: The Pre-Flop

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When playing Texas hold ‘em a round flat chip or “disk” is used to represent the position of the dealer. This disk is placed in front of the dealer to indicate their status. The person sitting to dealer left is known as the small blind and the person sitting to the left of the small blind is known as the big blind.

When betting, both blinds are required to post a bet before receiving any cards. The big blind is required to post the equivalent or higher of the bet placed by the small blind. Once both blinds have posted their bids two cards are dealt to each player and remaining players can choose to fold, call, or raise. After the end of the game the dealer button is moved to the left so that every player takes on the blind position at some point to maintain the fairness of the game.

Fold – The action of surrendering your cards to the dealer and sitting out the hand. If one folds their cards in the first round of betting, they lose no money.

Call – The action of matching the table bet, which is the most recent bet that has been placed on the table.

Raise – The action of doubling the amount of the most recent bet.

The small and the big blind have the option to fold, call, or raise before the first round of betting ends. If either of them choose to fold, they will lose the blind bet that they initially placed.

Second Round Betting: The Flop

After the first round of betting ends the dealer will proceed to deal the flop. Once the flop has been dealt, players will access the strength of their hands. Again, the player to the left of the dealer is the first to act.

Since there is no compulsory bet on the table, the first player has the option to to take the three previous options discussed, call, fold, raise, as well as the option to check. To check, a player taps his hand twice on the table, this allows the player to pass the option to make the first bet on to the player to his left. All players have the option to check until a bet has been placed on the table. Once a bet has been placed, players must choose to either fold, call, or raise.

Third & Fourth Round Betting: The Turn & The River

After the second round of betting closes, the dealer will deal the fourth card of the flop, known as the turn card. The player to dealer left has the option to check or place a bet. The player that opens the bet closes the bet, after all other players have chosen to fold, raise, or call.

The dealer will then add the bets to the existing pot and deal a fifth card known as “The River”. Once this card has been dealt, the remaining players have the option to check,fold, call, or raise. Lets say all players decide to check. If that is the case it is time for all remaining players to reveal there cards and determine the winner. The player with the highest ranking hand is the winner. They receive the full pot and a new game begins.

Ties

In the chance of a tie between hands the following tie-breakers are used:

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Pairs– if two players are tied for highest pairs a “kicker” or the next highest-ranking card is used to determine the winner. You continue until one player has a higher-ranking card or both are determined to have the same exact hand, in which case the pot is split.

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Two pairs– in this tie, the higher ranked pair wins, if top pairs are equal in rank you move to the next pair, then move to kickers if necessary.

Three of a kind – higher ranking card takes the pot.

Straights – the straight with the highest-ranking card wins; if both straights are the same the pot is split.

Flush – The flush with the highest-ranking card wins, if the same you move to the next card till a winner is found or hands are the same. If hands are the same split the pot.

Full house – the hand with the higher ranking three cards wins.

Four of a kind – the higher ranking set of four wins.

Straight flush – ties are broken the same as a regular straight.

Royal Flush – split the pot.

Hand Ranking

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2. Pair – Two of the same the same card (9,9,6,4,7)

3. Two pair – Two pairs of the same card (K,K,9,9,J)

4. Three of a kind – Three cards of the same ( 7,7,7,10,2)

6. Flush – Five cards of the same suit

7. Full House – Three card of a kind and a pair (A,A,A,5,5)

9. Straight Flush – Five cards in order all of the same suit (4,5,6,7,8 – same suit)

10. Royal Flush – Five cards in order of the same suit 10- A (10,J,Q,K,A)