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The rules of playing poker

Before you start to play poker, go over these basic rules. If you aren't familiar with these rules, I suggest you play poker with your friends or play for free before you begin to bet real money. You should download the poker software and play for free without depositing cash.

In poker, you use a standard 52 card deck. I refer to regular poker and not to any kind that uses wild cards. The cards are ranked from top to bottom in this manner:

1. ace (the highest)
2. king
3. queen
4. jack
5. ten
6. nine
7. eight
8. seven
9. six
10. five
11. four
12. three
13. two
14. ace (you could use it here for closing a sequence)

The four colours of the deck are called suits and in poker they are all equal: hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades. Each hand consists of five cards and the highest sequence wins.

The poker rankings are as follows (numbered highest to lowest):

1. Royal flush
2. Straight flush
3. Four of a kind
4. Full house
5. Flush
6. Straight
7. Three of a kind
8. Two pair
9. Pair
10. High card

For further explanation on these poker sequences, click on the link "Hands", this is situated on the right sidebar.

Depending on the game you are playing you receive your cards. In a five cards draw, the standard poker game, you receive five cards. In 5 card stud you get five and in 7 card stud you get 7.

Betting:

Generally, before the start of every poker game you need to place a fixed sum in the pot. This fixed sum is called the ante. If playing with friends, you should fix a small sum like a nickel as your ante. This fixed sum is placed in the middle of the table and called the poker pot. The winner takes this pot.

Turns move clock-wise and you have three options when your turn arrives:

1. Call or Bet: you can either place a bet according to the limit allowed or call a bet if someone raised your bet and you do not wish to raise it further. Note that if another raises your bet you either call or raise the bet or fold and leave this poker session.
2. Raise: this means placing the sum that another player bet at your poker game and adding to it. If you are playing with friends, I recommend setting a limit.
3. Fold: if you decide that your cards just aren't strong enough then you can fold and exit this poker hand. You lose any cash you have already placed in the pot, but you also save on money that you would have bet and lost. Sometimes it's better to lose a small amount at poker by folding then by losing a bigger amount by betting.

The way and style you bet depends on whom you are playing against. If its friends, remember that thrashing them completely might make you a bit richer, but you might lose a friend. Decide what's more important, play poker accordingly and enjoy!