Poker for beginners

The game of poker takes only a few minutes to learn but a lifetime to master. For all you poker beginners out there, this article should take you through the basics of what you need to know to get you playing.

Hand ranking is the most important aspect of the game of poker. In a regular poker deck you have a total of fifty two cards broken up into four suits – spades, diamonds, hearts, and clubs. There are a total of thirteen cards per suit – Ace, King, Queen, Jack, then ten through two. In hand ranking the Ace ranks the highest. One pair will beat an ace high. If you are holding two of the same card you have a pair. If you’re holding the ace of spades and the ace of hearts you have one pair. Another example of a pair would be the six of diamonds and the six of clubs. Two pair is better than one pair. As the name implies you would be holding something like the nine of diamonds, the nine of spades, the four of clubs, and the four of hearts for two pair. Three of a kind comes next. An example of three of a kind would be the king of spades, diamonds, and clubs. Three of a kind loses to a straight. Next up is the straight, which is five cards in a row of varying suits. Ace, king, queen, jack, ten of various suits is the best straight. The ace plays as a low card as well. The lowest straight is nicknamed “the wheel” and consists of the ace, two, three, four, and five. Straights must be in order! Queen, King, Ace, Two, Three does not count as a straight, the ace is either high or low, not both.A flush will beat a straight. If you have five cards of the same suit you have a flush. Five clubs is a flush, five diamonds is a flush, five hearts is a flush, and five spades is a flush. This brings us to the full house. Three of a kind and a pair is a full house with our example here bearing the ace of clubs, diamonds, and spades and the king of clubs and diamonds. Four of a kind will beat a full house. The best four of a kind would be the ace of clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades. The straight flush is the best hand in the game of poker. If you have five cards in a row in the same suit you have a straight flush. An example of this would be 3,4,5,6,7 of spades. The royal flush is the best straight flush in the game and consists of the 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace.

After you understand hand rankings you graduate up to understanding betting. If you are playing texas holdem, there will be two players at the table who have to place what are known as blinds before the cards are dealt. Blinds are forced bets made by the two players sitting directly to the left of the dealer. The player directly to the left of the dealer has to place ½ the size of the bet into the pot before seeing any cards. This is known as the small blind. The player directly to the left of the small blind is known as the big blind, and has to place the full size of the bet into the pot before seeing any cards.

After each player has two cards face down in front of them the player directly to the left of the big blind is the first player to act. There are three options available. The player can fold, meaning he surrenders his cards and risks nothing, call, meaning he places the minimum bet in the middle of the table, or raise meaning he places a minimum of 2 times the minimum bet in the middle of the table. This continues in a clockwise fashion until the small blind is up to decide. If no one has raised the pot, the small blind only has to put the other ½ of the bet into the middle to make it to the next round of betting. Once that is complete the big blind has the option to check to see the next round of betting if no one has raised the pot.

The second round of betting now begins with three cards being placed face up in the middle of the table, which is known as the flop. Players use the cards in the middle of the table with the cards in front of them to make up their poker hand. The small blind is the first to act on the flop. If the small blind has folded, the big blind would be first to act. Play moves about in a clockwise fashion until all players have either folded or matched the bet. Now we have the turn, which is one card face up in the middle of the table. The small blind is again the first to act. Once all the bets have been placed we have one final card placed face up in the middle of the table known as the river. After bets have been placed the players turn over their hands in a clockwise fashion to see who has the highest hand ranking. The winner receives all the chips in the pot.

The easiest way to learn betting order is to play online where the computer takes care of this order, as well as placing the blinds for you. This is the best option available for poker beginners, and can be enjoyed for free from the comfort of your home.