Poker rules
Introduction:
Poker consists of several games and in this section we will show you the rules and teach you how to play almost all of them. If you dont know any of the words we will be using, please go ahead, and check them on our Poker Dictionary.
The basics of Poker:
The goal on poker is winning money. You win money by winning pots (the money or chips bet during each hand). You win pots either having the best hand (showdown) or making anyone folding their hands. A hand refers to five cards in the possesion of a player. The best hand can be either a high hand or low hand. It depends from the game. In some games the pot is sometime split between high and low hand.
Most games require ante or blind. With ante, each player must post an amount of money in order to receive cards. With blinds, one or two players are required to make a bet before the hand is dealt. The requirement rotates around the table so that everyone will fairly pay his part.
Each time a round of cards is dealt, the players can either check, bet, fold, call or raise. If a player bet or raise and no one calls the hand is over and that player won while if there are 2 or more players still in the game at the end of the hand, the best hand will win.
Hand Rankings:
Even if some games are played with seven cards, the best hand refers to the best five-card hand. Hand rankings are a function of probability. Rarer the hand, stronger it is.
High hands
Royal Flush: A, K, Q, J, 10 all of the same suit.Straight Flush: Any five card sequence in the same suit (Ex: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
Four of a Kind: All four cards of the same index (Ex: Q, Q, Q, Q)
Full House: Three of a kind combined with a pair (Ex: K, K, 3, 3, 3)
Flush: Any five cards of the same suit, but not in sequence.
Straight: Five cards in sequence, but not in the same suit.
Three of a Kind: Three cards of the same index.
Two Pair: Two separate pairs.(Ex: Q, Q, 7, 7)
Pair: Two cards of the same index.
High Card: Without any kind of combination the higher card will win the hand.
Low hands
In split pot game the best low hand composed of five unrelated cards with the rank of 8 or lower will win half pot. In low game as Razz the best low habd composed of five unrelated cards will win all the pot. A,3,4,6,8 beat A,3,5,6,8 but will lose to A,2,3,4,8.
Betting
Betting is the key of poker. without it poker would be a game of luck and the best hand will always win. Different games have different kinds of betting:Fixed limit: No one canbet or raise more than a predetermined ammount. Usually betting limits double from the 3th round.
Spread limit: Similar at fixed limits but the bet is not fix but can move between 2 margins.
Pot limit: The bets or raises are only limited from the ammount of the chips already in the pot.
No limit: The bet can be any ammount of chips the player has in front of himself.
List of Poker Games:
Seven-card StudSeven-card Stud/8
Texas Hold'em
Omaha high
Omaha high low
Pineapple
Five-card Draw
Lowball
Five-card Stud
Baseball
Indian poker
Razz
HORSE and other Mixed games
