Basics of Poker – Card Game Rules

Poker is known as a game of luck. But when you introduce the concept of betting in poker, it requires learning psychology and skill. Learning how to play poker is not as hard as it might seem. There are two types, Stud Poker & Draw Poker, and the rules of these games are identical.

In stud poker, each player deals with five cards or seven for some games. Players assess the strength of their hands and wager chips. When a player who bids, most of the chips always win unless someone else is willing to match that bet. In this scenario, those players show their cards and the best hand wins all the chips.

In draw poker, each player deals with five cards before the betting starts. The remaining players might attempt to improve their hands by trading as many as three cards from the deck. If a player has an Ace, he can trade all four of his other cards.

Betting rounds start from the left of a dealer where each player has four options:

1. Raise: A player who has a good hand or might want to show others that he has a good hand might increase the wager required to continue playing.
2. Fold: A player might think that his hand is not good enough to win, and if they don’t want their wager to increase, the amount can lay down his cards. They might not win a hand, but they might lose any more chips.
3. Call: Once when a player has raised their stakes, each of them must decide on whether to raise the stakes again, fold the current hand, or to make a call. It means to equal the amount wagered by the player who raised.
4. Check: If no one on the table has increased the wager that is required to continue, a player can stand pat by checking, or passing on his option to bet.

While there are various types of poker games and these basic rules apply to almost all of the download poker games.

Here are the description of hand ranks:

1. High card: This hand in a rummy game, if nobody has a better pair then the highest card wins. When multiple people tie for the highest card, then you can look for the second-highest, or the third-highest to win. High cards can also break ties when the high hands have the same type of hand (pair, flush, straight, etc).
2. One Pair: One pair formed when you have three distinct cards.
3. Two Pairs: It consists of two distinct pairs of cards and the fifth card in a rummy game. The highest pair also wins the tie in this hand. If both hands have the same high pair, the second pair wins. But, if both hands have the same pairs, then the high card wins.
4. Three of a Kind: When three cards of any rank match with two cards that are not a pair, then it becomes this hand. Then the highest of a kind wins.
5. Straight: A straight is having five cards in order, such as 4-5-6-7-8. An ace can be either be high, i.e. A-K-Q-J-T or low, i.e. 5-4-3-2-1. In a tie, the highest straight wins. If two straight have the same value as AKQJT vs. AKQJT, then split the pot.
6. Flush: A flush is a hand, where the cards are of the same suit like J-8-5-3-2, all of them being spades. When in a tie, follow the rules of high cards.
7. Full House: A full house is basically a three of a kind and a pair like K-K-K-5-5. You can break a tie in a full house by the three of a kind, then pair.
8. Four of a Kind: Four of a kind is of four cards of the same rank. If there are two or more hands, then hand with the higher-rank four kind wins.
9. Straight Flush: A straight flush is a natural hand. It is straight with five cards in order, like 5-6-7-8-9, that are all of the same suit. With a regular straight, you can have an ace or low. An Ace high straight-flush is known as a Royal Flush and is the highest natural hand.
10. Five of a Kind: A five of a kind is the highest hand in poker. If more than one hand has five of a kind, then the higher card wins.