Poker is a game of chance. However, when you introduce the conceptof betting, poker gains quite a bit of skill and psychology. (This isn't to say that there isn't skill at poker when nothing isat risk, there just isn't nearly as much). This is meant asa very basic primer into the rules of poker, for more information,get a book on the game (or start playing with a group of people whoknow how. It's more expensive than reading a book, but the groupwon't mind. *Snicker*).
This list is currently broken into several parts:
See Also
Learn How to Use Poker Probability to Up Your WinningsRules of Card Games: Poker Hand RankingiStockThe Poker Hand Rankings | Pokerology.com- The Very Basics
- How the Hands are Ranked
- Descriptions of Hand Ranks
- Betting
- An Example 5-Card Draw Hand
The Very Basics
Poker is played from a standard pack of 52 cards. (Some variant gamesuse multiple packs or add a few cards called jokers.) The cards areranked (from high to low) Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace. (Ace can be high or low, but is usually high). Thereare four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs); however, no suitis higher than another. All poker hands contain five cards, the highesthand wins.Some games have Wild Cards, which can take on whateversuit and rank their possessor desires. Sometimes jokers will beused as wild cards, other times, the game will specify which cardsare wild (dueces, one-eyed jacks, or whatever).
How the hands are ranked
Hands are ranked as follows (from high to low):- Five of a Kind
- Straight Flush
- Four of a Kind
- Full House
- Flush
- Straight
- Three of a Kind
- Two Pair
- Pair
- High Card
Descriptions of Hand Ranks
Five of a Kind
A five of a kind (which is only possible when using wild cards)is the highest possible hand. If 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. A straight flush isa straight (5 cards in order, such as 5-6-7-8-9) that are all of thesame suit. As in a regular straight, you can have an ace either high(A-K-Q-J-T) 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). An Ace high straight-flushis called a Royal Flush and is the highest natural hand.Four of a Kind
Four of a kind is simply four cards of the same rank. If thereare two or more hands that qualify, the hand with the higher-rank four of a kind wins. If, in some bizarre game with many wild cards, there are two four of a kinds with the same rank, then the one with the high card outsidethe four of the kind wins. General Rule: When hands tie on the rankof a pair, three of a kind, etc, the cards outside break ties followingthe High Card rules.Full House
A full house is a three of a kind and a pair, such as K-K-K-5-5.Ties are broken first by the three of a kind, then pair. So K-K-K-2-2beats Q-Q-Q-A-A, which beats Q-Q-Q-J-J. (Obviously, the three of a kindcan 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 J-8-5-3-2, all of spades. When flushes ties, follow the rules forHigh Card.Straight
A straight is 5 cards in order, such as 4-5-6-7-8.An ace may either be high(A-K-Q-J-T) or low (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. (AKQJT beats KQJT9 down to 5432A). Iftwo straights have the same value (AKQJT vs AKQJT) they split the pot.Three of a Kind
Three cards of any rank, matched with two cards that are not a pair (otherwiseit would be a Full House . Again, highest three ofa kind wins. If both are the same rank, then the compareHigh Cards.Two Pair
This is two distinct pairs of card and a 5th card. The highest pair winsties. If both hands have the same high pair, the second pair wins. Ifboth hands have the same pairs, the high card wins.Pair
One pair with three distinct cards. High card breaks ties.High Card
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 multiplepeople tie for the highest card, they look at the second highest, thenthe third highest etc. High card is also used to break ties whenthe high hands both have the same type of hand (pair, flush, straight,etc).Betting
So, how do you bet?Poker is, after all, a gambling game. In most games, youmust 'ante' something (amount varies by game, our games aretypically a nickel), just to get dealt cards. After thatplayers bet into the pot in the middle. At the end of thehand, the highest hand (that hasn't folded) wins the pot.Basically, when bettinggets around to you (betting is typically done in clockwise order),you have one of three choices:- Call
- When you call, you bet enough to match what has beenbet since the last time you bet (for instance, if you bet adime last time, and someone else bet a quarter, you would owefifteen cents).
- Raise
- When you raise, you first bet enough to match what hasbeen bet since the last time you bet (as in calling), thenyou 'raise' the bet another amount (up to you, but thereis typically a limit.) Continuing the above example, ifyou had bet a dime, the other person raised you fifteencents (up to a quarter), you might raise a quarter (upto fifty cents). Since you owed the pot 15 cents for calling and 25 for your raise, you would put 40 centsinto the pot.
- Fold
- When you fold, you drop out of the current hand (losingany possibility of winning the pot), but you don't have toput any money into the pot.
Some Standard Betting Rules
In the group I play in, we ante a nickel. The maximum firstbet is fifty cents, and the maximum raise is fifty cents. However,during one round of betting, raises may total no more than one dollar.An Example Five Card Draw Hand.
Five card draw is one of the most common types of poker hands. Eachplayer is dealt five cards, then a round of betting follows. Theneach player may discard up to 3 cards (4 if your last card is an aceor wild card, in some circles) and get back (from the deck) as manycards as he/she discarded. Then there is another round of betting,and then hands are revealed (the showdown) and the highest hand winsthe pot. So you are the dealer at a five card draw game (against fourother players, Alex, Brad, Charley and Dennis (seated in that orderto your left). Everyone puts a nickel into the pot (Ante) and youdeal out 5 cards to each player.You deal yourself a fairly good hand Ks-Kd-Jd-5c-3d. A pair of kingsisn't bad off the deal (not great, but not bad). Then the bettingstarts...
- Alex 'Checks' (checking is basically calling when you don't oweanything to the pot).
- Brad bets a dime.
- Charley calls (and puts a dime into the pot).
- Dennis raises a dime (and puts twenty cents into the pot).
- Well, it's your turn. Twenty cents to you. You can fold, callor raise. Like I said before, pair of kings isn't bad, not good butnot bad. You call and put twenty cents into the pot.
- Back to Alex, who grumbles and tosses his cards into the centerof the table, folding. (Note, when folding, never show your cardsto anyone).
- Brad calls. The total bet is twenty cents, but he had alreadybet a dime, so he owes a dime, which he tosses into the pot.
- Charley is in the same position as brad, and tosses a dime into thepot.
What do you suppose the others were trying for? Well, Brad kept two cards,so he probably had a pair (just like you) but it probably wasn't aces, soeven if brad got a three of a kind, you probably beat him. Charleykept four cards, so he was probably trying for a straight or flush. (If Charley had four of a kind, he might have bet much harder). Thebig problem is Dennis. He raised earlier, and only drew two cards. He might be bluffing, but he could have had three of a kind off the deal...In any case, the second round of betting starts (with dealers left).
- Brad bets a nickel.
- Charley folds (I guess he didn't get his straight or flush).
- Dennis raises twenty cents (to a quarter total).
- You call.
- Brad looks at his cards, then calls (betting twenty cents).
- Again, everyone called Dennis's raise, so the round of bettingis over.
- You had Ks-Kd-Kc-4c-8h.
- Brad had Jh-Jd-3c-3s-Ah.
- Dennis had Qh-Qs-Qd-As-7s.
