Poker

One of the most ancient and challenging of gambling games is Poker. This time-tested card game with the Hollywood reputation is one of the most popular of draw-cards at casinos (and in lounge rooms) around the world.

Card Types | Rules | Hints

So if you want to (in the immortal lines from The Gambler) "know when to hold 'em, and know when to fold 'em" this is the place to begin.

While there are many forms of this card game, we should begin with regular poker (also known as 5-card draw).

THE CARDS
Played with a standard deck of 52 playing cards, Poker values the cards from highest to lowest in the following order:
· Ace *
· King
· Queen
· Jack
· 10
· 9
· 8
· 7
· 6
· 5
· 4
· 3
· 2
* Aces are ALWAYS high!

The cards are also separated into four suits, all of equal value:
· Clubs:
· Spades:
· Hearts:
· Diamonds:

THE CARDS ON THE TABLE | top

OK - so we know the cards and they are about to be dealt. What happens next?
The dealer will hand each player five cards. Possible hands, listed in order from the best to least valuable, are:
Royal Flush
Straight Flush
Four of a Kind
Full House
Flush
Straight
Three of a Kind
Two Pair
One Pair
High Card

Hands are dealt once only and money staked on the confidence the player places in his/her hands value against the rest of the players at the table.

Royal Flush
The all-time poker-playing hand that all gamblers dream of - nothing beats this hand! The most valuable of all poker hands, a Royal Flush is composed of 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace (all of the same suit) such as:
A
K
Q
J
10

Straight Flush
Another rare and valuable hand is the Straight Flush. This occurs when you are dealt five cards of the same suit, in a direct* numerical run:
2
3
4
5
6
If there are two Straight Flushes at the table, the one with the highest card value wins. In this case, the following hand would beat the one used above:
9
10
J
Q
K

* You cannot claim a straight flush when your cards "wrap around" (eg Q-K-A-2-3).

Four of a Kind
This is fairly self-explanatory - four cards of the same numerical value (and another random card*) are held to claim this hand.
6
6
6
6

J *
When two or more hands qualify at the table, the hand with the highest-ranking Four of a Kind card wins. For example, the hand below would beat the one illustrated above:
J
J
J
J

5 *

Full House
This is a combination hand - where three out of the five cards you are dealt have the same numerical rank, with the two remaining cards also of same numerical rank:
J
J
J
4
4
Where more than one player claims a Full House, ties are broken first by the Three of a Kind. So the following hand would beat the one illustrated above:
Q
Q
Q

7
7
If the hands still cannot be separated, the value of the Pair is judged. So the following hand:
K
K
K

3
3
would beat:
Q
Q
Q

A
A

Flush
A Flush is claimed when all five cards in the hand are the same suit (regardless of numerical value).

5
6
9
10
Q

A tie is simply broken - whoever has the highest-ranking card wins. In this way, the following hand would beat the one illustrated above:

2
4
7
J
K

Straight
Claimed when the five cards are in numerical order (regardless of their suits). A Straight cannot "wrap around" (similar to the Straight Flush):
3
4
5
6
7

In case of a tie, the Straight that goes to the highest-ranking card wins. By this rule, the example below beats that illustrated above:
7
8
9
10
J

Three of a Kind
When the hand offers three cards of the same numerical rank, plus two random cards (not a pair), for example:
10
10
10

3
Q

Two Pair
When the hand offers two sets of pairs, plus another random card. For example:
J
J

7
7

5
When more than one person has a Two Pair, the hand with the highest-ranking pairs wins. For example, the hand below beats the one illustrated above:

Q
Q

7
7

2

One Pair
To claim One Pair, you must have one pair, along with three random cards:
2
2

3
4
5

When more than one person has a One Pair, the hand with the highest-ranking pair wins. For example, the hand below beats the one illustrated above:

8
8

3
K
5

High Card
When no players offer any on the hands described above, the player holding the highest-valued card wins. (i.e. a 2 is the lowest card, and the Ace the highest).

In the case of a tie, the dealer looks to the next highest card to split hands, and so on. For example the first hand would beat the second hand illustrated below:
1.
Q
10
9
8
2
2.
Q
10
5
4
2

THE RULES | top

These are the basic guidelines to Poker:

1. Players offer an ante or "token bet" (this can be anything from a nickel up) into the pot before the cards are even dealt. The ante guarantees someone will always win something on each hand.
2. The dealer deals the cards face down around the table, starting at his/her left and continuing clockwise. Each player is dealt their cards one by one. As soon as everyone has five cards, the remainder of the deck is placed in the middle of the table, and play begins.
3. Players now check out their cards and the first player places a bet. (There are several ways of deciding who bets first, novices are best off letting the player directly to the left of the dealer make the first bet. The first bet honor can be passed along to the person at their left on the next hand.)
4. If no one has made a bet yet, you have two choices:
A: Open: If no betting has begun when your turn comes, you may "open" - this simply means that you make the first bet (any amount up to the agreed betting limit).

B: Check: The opportunity to "check" only occurs if no one has yet opened the betting when it comes time for you to decide what to do. When a player checks, it means that he or she doesn't want to open the betting, but doesn't want to quit either. It basically means "I'm not going to open the betting, but I'll stick around and see what happens."
5. Once betting has opened, there are 3 choices:
See: You "see" another player, you match their bet. For example if someone bets $1 and you want to stay in the game, you "see" their $1 by putting $1 of your own into the pot.

Raise: When you "raise," you first "see" the previous bet, and then increase the bet. For example, if the previous person bet 10 cents, and you want to bet more than that, you would say "I see (match) your 10 cents and raise you another 10 cents."

Fold: This option is used when you think your hand is too weak to compete. If someone else opens, you can always decide to throw in the towel - i.e. you "fold." The act of folding is to "give up," place your cards face down on the table and forfeiting whatever you've bet so far.
6. Once a round is completed, all the players who haven't
folded are allowed to get rid of (up to 3) cards they don't want and replace them with cards from the deck. The discarded cards always remain face-down.
7. After every player draws 0 to 3 new cards, the betting begins again. You can now choose between opening or checking, and once someone opens, you can see, raise, or fold.

8. The game ends when there are no more raises (everyone saw everyone else's bet), or everybody folds (except for the winner).

9. Everyone must turn their cards over and see who actually had the best hands. The player with the highest hand wins the pot.

HINTS | top
The only way to stay in the game is to not fold.
Ø If you have a bad hand and want out quick, then you'd seriously consider folding.
Ø If you have what you think could be a good hand (if you could take a few new cards and get good ones), then you would seriously consider staying in.
Ø If you have an outstanding hand, then you'll definitely want to stay in. BUT you don't want everyone to know you have a great hand, or else they'll all fold, letting you win the tiny ante pot.
The trick is to make everyone else bet a lot, and win even more money