Poker is a game of chance. This is site is meant as
a basic starter into the rules of poker, for more information,
I have other links to more advanced poker and strategies at the bottom of the screen. Believe me, at the very least please read these sites, it is just too expensive to learn the hard way.
The site is broken into several sections:
Basics of Poker
Ranking of Hands
Descriptions of Hand Ranks
Betting
An Example (5-Card Draw Hand)
The Basics
Poker is played from a standard pack of 52 cards. (variations use multiple packs or add a few cards called jokers.) The cards are
ranked Ace (highest), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5,
4, 3, 2(lowest), Ace. (Ace can be high or low, but is usually high). There
are four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs); no suit
is higher than another. All poker hands contain five cards, the highest
hand wins.
Some games have Wild Cards, which can take on whatever
suit and rank their possessor desires. Sometimes jokers will be
used as wild cards, other times, the game will specify which cards
are wild (example: dueces -- would be 2s are wild).
A five of a kind (which is only possible when using wild cards)
is the highest possible hand. If playing with more than one hand has five of a kind,
the higher card wins (Five Aces beats five kings, which beat five queens,
and so on).
Straight Flush
A straight flush is the best natural hand (if your not playing with wild cards). A straight flush is
a straight (5 cards in order, such as 2-3-4-5-6) that are all of the
same suit. A regular straight, you can have an ace either high
(A-K-Q-J-T) (this is called a royal flush) or low (5-4-3-2-1). However, a straight may not 'wraparound'.
(Such as K-A-2-3-4, which is not a straight).
Four of a Kind
Four of a kind is simply four cards of the same rank. The hand with the higher-rank four of a
kind wins, if by chance there are 2 or more hands with 4 of a kind. If, in some odd cases game (may occure with many wild cards), there are two
four of a kinds with the same rank, then the one with the high card outside
the four of the kind wins. General Rule: When hands tie on the rank
of a pair, three of a kind, etc, the cards outside break ties following
the High Card rules.
Full House
A full house is a three of a kind and a pair, such as Q-Q-Q-4-4-.
Ties are broken first by the three of a kind, then pair. So Q-Q-Q-2-2
beats J-J-J-A-A, which beats J-J-J-10-10. (Obviously, the three of a kind
can only be similiar if wild cards are used.)
Flush
A flush is a hand where all of the cards are the same suit, such as
k-J-10-8-6, all of spades. When ther is a tie of flushes, follow the gneral rules for
High Card.
Straight
A straight is 5 cards in order, such as 5-6-7-8-9. An ace may either be can be added as a straight to
(A-K-Q-J-T) or (5-4-3-2-1). However, a straight may not 'wraparound'.
(Such as Q-K-A-2-3, which is not a straight). When straights tie,
the highest straight wins in order of ranking. If
two straights have the same value (AKQJT vs AKQJT) they split the pot.
Three of a Kind
Three cards of any rank, with two cards that are not a pair (otherwise
it would be a Full House). Again, highest three of
a kind wins. If both are the same rank, then the
High Cards general rules apply.
Two Pair
This is two distinct pairs of card and a 5th card. The highest pair wins, if there are more than one hand with pairs.
. If both hands have the same high pair, the second pair wins. If
both hands have the same pairs, the high card wins.
Pair
One pair with three distinct cards. High card breaks ties.
High Card-- General Rule
This is any hand which doesn't qualify as any one of the above hands.
If nobody has a pair or better, then the highest card wins. If multiple
people tie for the highest card, they look at the second highest, then
the third highest etc. High card a general rule to break ties when
the high hands both have the same type of hand ( flush, straight,
etc), then high card breaks this tie.
How much to gamble
Poker is, for most part a gambling game. In most games, you
must 'ante up' something into the pot, just to get dealt cards. After that
players bet into the pot in the middle. At the end of the
hand, the highest hand (that hasn't folded) wins the pot.
Basically, when betting
gets around to you (betting is typically done in clockwise order),
you have one of three choices to make:
Call
When you call, you bet enough to match what has been
bet since the last time you bet.
Raise
When you raise, you first bet enough to match what has
been bet since the last time you bet (as in calling), then
you 'raise' the bet another amount (your choice as to how much but typically a limit.)
Fold
When you fold, you drop out of the current hand (losing
any possibility of winning the pot), but you don't have to
put any nore money into the pot.
Betting continues until everyone calls or folds after a raise
or initial bet.
Some Standard Betting Rules
An Example Five Card Draw Hand.
Five card draw is one of the most common types of poker hands. Each
player is dealt five cards, then a round of betting follows. Then
each player may discard up to 3 cards (4 if your last card is an ace
or wild card, in some circles) and get back (from the deck) as many
cards as he/she discarded. Then there is another round of betting for those who have not folded,
and then hands are revealed and the highest hand wins
the pot.
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