Poker Basics

So what do I do?

Standard 52-card deck of playing cards for most games.
No national or international regulating organization for the game of poker…yeah !
House rules apply…so ASK before you buy-in.
It's still a bad idea to violate a house rule at the table.

In most poker games, money is traded in for chips before the game begins. The chips are what the players are actually putting into the pot. At the end of the game, they can trade their chips for money ("cashing out").

Dealing

Dealing is generally done by rotation among the players. There is a dealer button, or buck which the current "dealer" for a hand will hold. After the hand has been completed, the button will be passed to the player on the left. The expression "passing the buck" came from this practice passing the dealer button around the poker table.

The common Poker games: Five-Card Draw & Texas Hold'em

Five-Card Draw – the traditional poker

Five cards are dealt face down to each player.
Then follows a round of betting.
Starting at the dealer’s left, each player can discard as many cards as he likes. He will then get the same number of cards from the dealer.
The house rule would set a limit to the number of cards a player can draw
You should fold, in compliance with poker strategy, if you need to draw more than the limit.
Another betting round will start when all players have drawn.
Then comes the showdown.

Texas Hold'em – The modern version

Texas Hold'em uses, instead of antes, a large blind and a small blind. This makes the game more interesting.
It works this way:
- The small blind, usually half the amount of the lower betting limit at that table, is posted by he player to the left of the dealer
- The large blind, half the amount of the higher betting limit, is then posted by the player to the left of the small blind
- In other words, at a $10-$20 Texas Hold'em table, the small blind would be $5 and the large blind would be $10.
Two cards are dealt face down to each player. These are the hole cards.
Then comes a betting round.
Next comes the flop, a three-card deal with face up at the center of the table.
The face-up cards dealt are called the board. At the showdown, any player at the table can use these, so-called, community cards.
Then there is another betting round.
A fourth card is turned face up on the board. This card is known as the turn.
Another betting round follows.
Then flows the river, fifth board card dealt face up.
A final betting round comes before the showdown.

The goal of this poker game is to use any combination of the two hole cards and the five cards on the board to create the best possible five-card hand.

Whose hand is good…yours or mine?? Rank of Hands

A poker hand is ranked higher if the odds are against drawing it : rarer the hand, the stronger it is. In case of a tie in terms of rank, the decision goes in favour of the hand holding the highest card. in the hand In case of a tie, a Pair of Kings e.g. will beat a Pair of Tens, and a Straight 7-8-9-10-J will beat a Straight 3-4-5-6-7.

Following is the ranking of the cards from lowest to the highest:

No Hand

this hand has nothing, no pairs, no Straight
when such a hand manages to reach showdown without folding, it is called "King High".

One Pair

two cards of the same value and three other cards unrelated

Two Pair

Twice two cards of the same value plus one card unrelated
If there is a tie because two players have Two Pair, then to break the tie, the rank of the highest pair in each hand will be compared. If the tie still exists, the low pairs will be compared. If the hands still remain tied, the unmatched card in each hand will be compared, high card winning. If even then the hands remain tied, the pot will be split.

Three of a Kind

Three cards with the same value plus two cards unrelated.
This hand beats Two Pair and is known as a Set or Trips.

Straight

A Straight is made of 5 cards of any suit in uninterrupted order of value.
An Ace can be counted either as the low or the high card, but it is not allowed to build a Straight between a King and a Two.
Q-K-A-2-3 is not a Straight, but A-2-3-4-5 is one.

Flush

A Flush is made of five cards of the same suit, with any value.
For example, 7-6-K-9-A of the same suit is a Flush.

Full House

Three of a Kind and One Pair.

Four of a kind

Four cards having the same value, and one card unrelated.

Straight Flush

Straight Flush is a combination of a Straight and a Flush.
Made up of five cards of the same suit, in uninterrupted sequence.

Royal Flush

Royal Flush is a Straight Flush crowned by an Ace, an unbeatable hand: 10-J-Q-K-A.

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