Better Poker

Because the game of poker is the most popular card game in the world, and so many versions of it exist, there has to be a standardizing format that applies to the basic game itself and encompasses as well all the variations. This standardized format exists in the form of the official poker rules, so that one can play the game anywhere in the world, and the basics of play apply.

First of all, the most important part of learning poker, is to learn the poker hand rankings—you cannot play an effective game if you don’t know the respective rankings of the cards and how they relate to each other. The official poker rules state that a poker game is played with a deck of 52 cards and the cards are numbered from A-9 with KQJ being the face cards. If you’ve ever played poker around someone’s kitchen table, you know there are “wild card” poker games that use the jokers-but they usually are just for fun and never played in tournament situations. There are 4 suits in each card deck: they are Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs—-and are never used to break ties: a 9 of Spades is equal to a 9 of Diamonds, and so on. The rankings of the poker hands in ascending rank is as follows: no pair, 1 pair, 2 pair, 3 of a kind, straight, flush, full house, 4 of a kind, straight flush, and royal flush.

Poker may have its many varieties, but there are 3 basic groups that make up the games most often played: they are; Community card games, Draw poker games, and Stud poker games. Community games is the category that includes Texas Hold Em, Omaha, and Pineapple Hold Em. Draw poker involves games where you can discard the cards you are dealt and draw new ones, like in Jacks or Better, and Lowball (the lowest ranked hand wins). And last but by no means least, is the Stud poker group; hands are played with cards face up on the table, some face down, and hands consist of 5 or 7 cards in various combos.

The next most important facet one should know about poker playing is how to bet your hand and just how the betting sequences work. First, the betting moves in a clockwise motion around the table, and one never bets out of turn. The first person to bet by putting money in the pot is said to open the action, and that betting is done by announcing your intentions or moving your chips in the direction of the pot. Never toss the chips into the pot, that is referred to as “splashing” and no one can effectively tell if you put in the number of chips that you said you did—it’s not allowed. Raising a bet increases the amount of the last bet and you announce your intentions before you raise-rules are different in different games, but most games have a cap on the amount that is allowable to bet. Calling a bet is simply matching the amount already bet so the player can remain in the game. Checking your bet is when you decide not to bet or fold by tapping the table or saying “check” and remaining in the game. Folding is just that, you fold your cards into a pile and toss them toward the dealer or “into the muck” and you are no longer in the game.

Poker has a set way of play no matter the variation of the game you are in; the official poker rules have made that a mandate; and the play progresses in an orderly fashion around the table. To be a good player and hold your own at a playing table, you must know the rules, know the rankings of the hands, and know how the play and the betting proceed. The actual play starts with the dealing of the cards, then the opening bid; everyone bets; play action; more betting again; another round of play action and so on until there is only one player left who has not folded and he wins the pot. Occasionally, you have a tie where 2 hands are equal in value at the end of the game—-in that case the 2 players split the pot, or in the case of a showdown, one or the other takes it.

To get into the betting process a little more deeply as illustrated by the official poker rules, brings up the subject of Antes and Blinds. To translate that, is to say that they are types of forced betting that are used in poker to keep the game moving. Antes are paid every hand by every player at the start of the game—-this is where the expression “to ante up” comes from. Blinds are also antes, but they rotate around the table and are determined by the position of the player button. And finally, the big daddy of betting is the ability to bluff your hand or Bluffing. You may have a bust hand, but you think you have a handle as to what the other players are holding by their bets, so you bluff—-making them think your hand is better than it is—–and in doing so, you scare them into folding, and you win the pot. Just be careful—-being too cocky and bluffing too much or not well, can cost you big time.

It’s no secret why poker is the most beloved of all the card games on the planet. It is played for stakes, uses all kinds of psychology to be played well, and has the official poker rules in place to keep all the games and players on an even keel. With that kind of combination, it will remain king of the hill for a long long time.

Dean Evert is an author and publisher on such topics as Poker Guide. For more information on Poker Hand Rankings visit our site.

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