How to Play Poker

The objective of Poker is to win the pot - the collection of money, chips or other bets made by the players during a hand of poker. Basically, there are two ways you can win:

1) Have the highest ranking hand

2) Bluff the other players into folding by making them believe you have the winning hand. It is from this strategy that made the "poker face" famous.

As in other casino games, there are strict rules to abide by. But in poker, it is very important to know the specific order of hierarchy, poker hands and poker odds. The lower the probability of getting the hand, the higher the rank and the stronger the hand, the better chance you have at winning the pot.

The game starts with the dealer handing out the cards clockwise from his or her left. As soon as the cards are dealt, the players are left with four options. You may check the bet (bet nothing but still remain in the game), call the previous bet (bet the same amount as the previous bet), raise the previous bet (increase the amount of the previous bet), or fold (giving up a chance to win the pot by not matching a bet). You can only check when no other players have made any bets and it's your turn in that round.

There are commonly only three rounds of betting allowed in casino poker. When a player makes his or her bet, the next player can call, raise, or fold. To stay in the game you must at least match the previous player's bet. However, you can always forfeit you chips or money by folding. As in all organized games, there is a betting structure in casino poker. For example, if you're playing at a $2-$5 table, you can only bet at increments of $2 until a player has a pair showing or until the bet has gone around the table once or twice (depending on which casino).

Only at that point can the betting increments be raised to $5. Since all the players are trying to win the pot, they are virtually all playing against one another (unlike Blackjack). The casino makes money by charging 10 percent of the pot for each hand of poker. The maximum house take on the pot is usually set at $3, although that maximum can vary by casino and by table, depending on the betting increments.

Poker Hand Rankings

1. Royal Flush: A, K, Q, J, 10 all of the same suit
2. Straight Flush: Any five card sequence in the same suit(Ex: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
3. Four of a Kind: All four cards of the same index (Ex: Q, Q, Q, Q)
4. Full House: Three of a kind combined with a pair (Ex: K, K, 3, 3, 3)
5. Flush: Any five cards of the same suit, but not in sequence
6. Straight: Five cards in sequence, but not in the same suit
7. Three of a Kind: Three cards of the same index
8. Two Pair: Two separate pairs (Ex: Q, Q, 7, 7)
9. Pair: Two cards of the same index
10. High Card:

Poker Rules

Why are poker rules important? Why do poker rules help settle arguments? And why isn't there an official set of Hold’em rules in the same way that there are official rules for other games? Read on and find out!

Setting up a regular game of poker in your home or at a local social club is something can be extremely rewarding. You get to spend time with your friends, practice your poker skills and enjoy the never-fading buzz of competing to win.

Alas, home games don't always go smoothly. In the heat of poker battle some players tend to get a little "confused" about the poker rules governing the game and if you aren't careful you may find yourself sitting in the middle of an equally heated argument about which Hold’em rules need to be followed.

To bring such episodes to a fast and amicable end - and to prevent arguments arising in future games - you need a firm set of poker rules that all players can agree on and adhere to from the outset. If you have this then settling an argument is a simple case of referring to the book of poker rules and acting accordingly.

Unfortunately, most card games (apart from ones like contract bridge) don't have any definitive, official set of rules. This means that poker rules can and do vary from place to place, and the normal procedure is for a serious game organiser to spend a lot of time and effort putting his own set of poker rules together.

To help you avoid that investment of time and effort, we've done all of the hard work for you. We've scoured the planet to locate all of the best and most comprehensive poker rules available and - in the tradition of card rooms all over the globe - we've written our very own book of Hold’em rules. Even better, we've presented it in a user-friendly section-by-section format so that you can refer to and use it with ease.