Hand

A screen shot from Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters to know what your hand looks like when holding cards. The number of cards a player can have in their hand during the End Phase without discarding cards is six.

See the article on Hand Size Limit for more information on the maximum number of cards a player can have in their hand during the End Phase.

The Hand in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG and OCG is generally known as the amount of unplayed cards in your possession that you have drawn from your Deck or otherwise. Zero cards in your hand is still considered a Hand i.e. you have no cards in your hand. As implied, you would generally be holding these cards in your hand. You are generally, but not limited to the following, able to Normal Summon or Set the Monsters in your Hand, set the Trap cards in your hand, and Activate or Set the Spell cards in your Hand.

During your Draw Phase after you draw a card it is added to your hand. The hand size limit is six, so during your End Phase if you have more than six cards in your hand, you must discard cards until you have six cards left. Hieroglyph Lithograph extends the hand limit to seven cards, while Infinite Cards removes this limit for both players. There is also no minimum hand size limit. You are not required to hold cards as part of your Hand but are still considered to have a hand.

Certain cards can interact with cards in either yours, your opponents, or both sets of hands. Spirit Reaper can discard 1 card from your hand as part of it's effect, and Exchange allows you to swap one card from your hand with one card in your opponent's hand. Some cards such as Raigeki Break require you to have at least one card in your hand to pay the cost of activation.