The Basics of Poker

Poker is a gambling game that involves skill and psychology as well as a bit of luck. It has been around for almost two hundred years and in that time poker has become one of the most popular card games in the world and can be found at most online casinos. Over the past twenty years with poker tournaments being televised millions of people have discovered the game and they play in poker rooms, in land based casinos and in online casinos. Many people are eager or at least curious to try playing poker but are scared by the misconception that poker rooms are full of cardsharps or that poker is a game of chance. Neither of these is true. Most poker rooms at online casinos are full of people just like you and me who play poker for fun and relaxation but of course don’t forget, we also like to win.
Poker is a game played against the other players using skill, not a game played against the house dependent only upon you drawing good cards. Good cards help but if you learn to play reasonably well, they aren’t crucial to winning at poker. Poker is a game of strategy and just like anything else can be learned with a little time and a little effort.
If you learn the right strategies, know when to fold your hand and most importantly KEEP YOUR COOL, you will start to see stacks of chips in front of you at the table and people asking how you do it.
First things first, you must learn the rules…

The Cards

Poker, regardless of where it is played usually uses a standard deck of 52 cards although some games will add jokers as wild cards or use several decks. The cards are ranked from 2 through 10 then Jack, Queen King, Ace and sometimes the Ace can be used as a 1 card. There are four suits, which are the symbols on the cards. These are Clubs, Spades, Hearts and Diamonds. All suits are equal and the point of the game is to get the highest ranking set of 5 cards called a hand.

Betting Terminology

Now that you know what the cards you’ll be using are you must learn the language of Poker betting. In most all Poker games before the hand starts every player must ‘Ante Up’. That means each player must put a minimum bet into the pot and after the hand starts every bet made goes into the pot. When the betting comes around to you there are several options ;

1.Raise. To raise means that when the bet comes around to you you increase your bet over the previous players bet to raise the stakes for the hand.

2. Check. If there was no raise by the player before you you can ‘Check the Bet’ which means you will not raise but you will stay in the game.

3.Call. This means that you will match the previous bet mad by the player before you but will not ‘Raise’ or increase the bet.

4.Fold. To fold means that you will not place any additional bet above the ante and you will withdraw from the hand.

Betting and raising will continue until everybody calls or folds and then all the players show their cards and a winner is determined.

The hands are ranked the same in all forms of Poker and in order from lowest to highest are;
1.High Card
2.One Pair
3.Two Pair
4.Three of a Kind
5.Straight
6.Flush
7.Full House
8.Four of a Kind
9.Straight Flush
10. Five of a Kind(only in games using wild cards)

Descriptions of Hands

1. High Card. This is the highest single card which will win if there are no other hands of a pair or better. Also the tie breaker if two players have the same winning hand.

2. A Pair. A pair consists of two cards of the same rank. A hand will consist of two like cards and three additional cards the highest of which will break a tie.

3.Two Pair. Two pair is two separate pairs of cards not to be confused with four of a kind. For example two pair would consist of two 3’s and two 7’s with a fifth card that will be a tie breaker.

4.Three of a Kind. A hand with three of a kind has five cards in total of which three are the same rank.

5.Straight. A straight is five cards in numerical order that are of different suits. For example 4,5,6 of Spades with 7,8 of Clubs.Straights cannot ‘wrap-around’ meaning they cannot continue through the ace, such as Queen, King, Ace of Hearts and 2,3 of Diamonds. That is a wrap-around straight and is not playable.

6.Flush. A flush is five cards of the same suit, not in numerical order. 2,4,5,8,9, of Hearts is a flush.

7. Full House. Also called a full Boat, is three of a kind and two of a kind in the same hand.

8.Four of a Kind. This is just what it sounds like, four cards of the same rank. In a tie the high card will determine the winner.

9. Straight Flush. This is the best possible natural hand. A Straight Flush is five cards in numerical order all of the same suit; 3,4,5,6,7 of Clubs is a straight Flush. The highest possible natural hand is a version named the Royal, or Ace High Flush which is a Straight Flush to the Ace. It looks like this; 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace of the same suit.

10. Five of a Kind. Only possible when playing with wild cards is four of a kind with a wild card which makes up the fifth.

Summary

These are the very basics of the game of Poker and you must know and understand them to be able to begin to play the game. In the next article Poker for Beginners 2 you’ll get an introduction to two of the most popular casino poker games.