| Accepting Most USA players | Accepting Most USA players | Accepting Most USA players | Accepting Most USA players | Accepting Most USA players | No USA players | No USA players | ||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
HOW TO PLAY POKER
Poker uses a standard pack of playing cards, 52 cards (there are some poker
games that uses more or less depending on the
variations such as adding wild cards like jokers). The card ranking is as
follows Ace (the highest), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7,
6, 5, 4, 3, 2 (the lowest), Ace (this may also be the lowest card depending on
the variations you are using, but it is usually the
highest).
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.
The use of Wild Cards depends on the variations, wild cards take on whatever
rank or suit you want it to take. A wild card can
either be a seperate card added like a joker or you may specifiy a certain card
in the standard deck to be wild (such as dueces
wild).
The number of cards dealt is dependant on what type of game you are playing: in
5 card stud, you are dealt five cards; in 7 card
stud, you are dealt seven. I know this is obvious, but I don't want anyone to
get confused. Five card draw is the standard poker
game where 5 cards are dealt to each player face down.
Poker rules of Betting Procedures - In most poker games you start the betting
with an ante just to get the cards dealt. The
money is put in the center of the table and is called the "pot".
When the betting gets to you (betting is handled in a clockwise order), you have
three choices:
Call - betting enough to match what has been bet since the lasttime you bet in
that particular betting round. An example would
be if you bet 50 cents and somebody then bid $1.00, you you would owe another 50
cents . If you decide to Call then you would
put the amount that you owed into the pot and you would stay in the hand.
Raise - when you raise you first put enough in the pot to match what has already
been bet and then you raise the pot by putting
an additional amount in (the limit on how much you can raise depends on the
game). So lets say the initial bet was 25 cents, you
could say you're raising by 25 cents and you would then have to put a total of
50 cents in. Now the other players will either Call,
Raise, or fold.
Fold - dropping out of the current hand and losing the possibility of winning
the pot. You don't have to put money in and you
would only lose the ante, if it's on the first turn, or whatever you put in the
pot later. Sometimes it's better to get out than to
waste money on bad cards.
Each poker game has a predetermined number of betting rounds. The highest hand
at the end of all betting rounds wins the pot.
Ranking of Poker Hands - it wouldn't be a bad idea to print a copy of this for
use during your first poker game, but I would
recommend memorizing it in order to prevent uncontrolled laughter from your
opponents (if you're playing online however, feel
free to use it without embarassemt ;-) Also check our Poker Hand Ranks for more
examples.
Royal Flush - The best possible hand. Ace, King, Queen, Jack and 10, all of the
same suit.
Straight Flush - A straight flush is a straight (5 cards in order, such as
7-8-9-10-J) that are all of the same suit. As in a regular
straight, you can have an ace either high (A-K-Q-J-T) or low (A-2-3-4-5). You
can not use the Ace in a wraparound and example
would be K-A-2-3-4, which is not a straight.
Four of a Kind - Four cards of the same rank like four Aces or Four Kings. If
there are two or more hands that qualify, the hand
with the higher-rank four of a kind wins.
Full House - A full house is a three of a kind and a pair, such as K-K-K-2-2.
When there are two full houses the tie is broken by
the three of a kind. An example would be J-J-J-5-5 would beat 9-9-9-A-A. If for
some reason the three of a kind cannot determine
the victor then you go to the pair to decide (this would only happen in a game
with wild cards).
Flush - A flush is a hand where all of the cards are the same suit, such as
A-J-9-7-5, all of Diamonds. When flushes ties, follow
the rules for High Card.
Straight - Five cards in rank order, but not of the same suit (it can be any
combination of the four suits). An example of a straight
is 2-3-4-5-6. The Ace can either be high or low card, either A-2-3-4-5 or
10-J-Q-K-A. Wraparounds are not allowed (an example
being K-A-2-3-4). When two straights tie, the highest straight wins, K-Q-J-10-9
would beat 5-4-3-2-A. If two straights have the
same value, AKQJT vs AKQJT, the pot is split.
Three of a Kind - Three cards of any rank with the remaining cards not being a
pair (that would be a full house if it were). Once
again the highest ranking three of a kind would win. K-K-K-2-4 would beat
Q-Q-Q-2-3. If both are the same rank (only in a wild
card game), then the High Card rule come into effect with the remaining two.
Two Pair - Two distinct pairs of card and a 5th card. The highest ranking pair
wins ties. 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. Highest ranking pair wins. High card
breaks ties.
High Card - When a hand has none of the above qualications of any of the ones
listed above, nobody has even a pair or better,
then it comes down to who is holding the highest ranking card. If there is a tie
for the high card then the next high card
determines the pot, if that card is a tie than it continues down till the third,
fourth, and fifth card. The High card is also used to
break ties when the high hands both have the same type of hand (pair, flush,
straight, etc).
| No USA players | Accepting Most USA players | No USA players | Accepting Most USA players | No USA players | No USA players | Accepting Most USA players | ||||||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |