How to play Poker

How to Play Poker

Introduction to Poker

            Poker is one of the fast rising card games of our generation. It’s enjoyed by all ages as long as you understand how the game goes (The rules are pretty simple but there’s a whole lot more than adhering to the rules). The reason of its popularity is its unpredictability and exciting pace.

            In order to keep up with professionals of this game, let’s start by going through the basics.

Requirements

Ø      A deck of playing cards, it doesn’t need to be a special deck of cards, which contains 52-cards of four suits.

Ø      Poker Chips. Used as “money” mostly in professional games. (However in casual games, as long as it’s discussed by the players, anything that you can gamble with would do.

Ø      Dealer Button. Used in professional tournaments to dictate the “dealers” for each round. It rotates around the table moving from player to player. (Optional if played casually)

Ø      Poker Table. A must in a professional game for it adds security for the players to avoid other players to have a peek on your card.

Ø      Dealer. A person who distributes the cards and organize bets. A dealer cannot deal and play at the same time.

Now we have all the requirements needed to play the game, let’s now proceed on how the game is played.

Mechanics

Ø      Suggested number of players : 2-10

Ø      The objective of the game is to win the “pot” which is the combination of all the players bet in each round. Eliminate all your opponents by getting all their poker chips.

Ø      The game starts with the two players on the left of the dealer (not the distributor but the one who have the dealer button) to place the small blind and the big blind. (small blind and big blind are initial bets to guarantee that someone will get a winning for every round and someone will lose some as well, the amount of the big blind and small blind differs depending on the tournament and is increasing gradually on the course of the game)

Ø      Each player would then acquire 2 cards each from the deck (distributed by the dealer).

Ø      The player on the left of the big blind will get to play first and will decide on how he/she will react or bet. (Betting will be discussed later on)

Ø      Each player will have their turn right after the other in a clockwise rotation.

Ø      After every player made their bet, The dealer (distributor of cards) will then show them three cards from the deck which is called “the flop”.

Ø      After seeing and comparing their cards to “the flop”, the players will start betting again on the same rotation that they started with.

Ø      After betting on the flop, the dealer (distributor) will show them another card which is called “the turn” and players will do the betting again on the same rotation they had after the flop was shown.

Ø      After the turn, the river will then be drawn and the players will do the same procedure they had with the flop and the turn.

Ø      The players will then show their cards and compare it with the 5 cards on the table and the player who has the strongest card wins the pot. (Strength of cards or hands will be discussed later)

Ø      The players will continue playing until a player collects all the chips of his/her opponent and will be declared the winner.

Now we know the rules, we are ready to understand how betting are done. There are four options that you can choose from as a form of betting however, they may not be available at all times.

Betting

Ø      “Call”: This can be performed if you want to match the bet of the previous player/s.

Ø      “Fold”: If you think your hand is weak or you are having second thoughts to match or call the bet of the other players, you can perform this maneuver to instantly take you out of the round. You cannot take back what you already placed on the pot or the chips that you already bet; this can just avoid you putting more chips on the pot.

Ø      ‘Raise”: This is simply betting more than what the other players had placed on the pot.

Ø      And lastly “Check”: If other players started checking after a card is shown by the dealer then you can perform this move to let the play continue without betting any chip. There are cases where if you are the “big blind” and every player just called the blind then you can check as well.

Next would be on how to determine the strongest hand among the players.

Strength of Cards

            In poker, the two cards on your hand would be compared with the five cards on the board and there are ranks to be followed among the highest ranking cards on your hand and on the board.

Let us start with the ranks of cards individually and the four types of suit.

Ø      The highest ranking card is the Ace followed by King, Queen, Jack and 10 below.

Ø      The types of suits are: Diamond, Heart, Spade and Club. Suit doesn’t have their ranking and are all equal in poker unlike in other card games.

Now let’s start with the set of cards that you can have in the game and how powerful they are.

• The strongest hand in poker is the “Royal Flush”: when you have the five highest ranking cards in the game of the same suit.
• Next to this is a “Straight Flush”: consist of five sequential cards of the same suit.
• Third one is a “Four of a Kind”: consist of four cards of the same rank and a kicker (a fill in but sometimes the game is decided by who’s got the highest kicker).
• This is followed by a Full House: three cards of the same rank together with two cards of the same rank.
• After full house is the “Flush”: five cards of the same suit in any order.
• Next is a “Straight”: five cards of a different suit but is sequential in order or in rank.
• Seventh is a “Three of a Kind”: three cards of the same rank and two highest ranking cards on your hand or on the board of a different rank.
• Followed by a “Pair”: two cards of the same rank and three highest ranking cards on your hand or on the board of a different rank.
• And lastly is a “High Card”: if there is no pair or greater then the player with the highest ranking card wins.

Tips

Ø      Showing emotions and reading the emotions of your opponents is very important in this game. You could hide your emotion if you have a “Royal Flush” and act as if you only have a pair or lower so your opponent would keep on betting which will give you an opportunity to gain more.

Learning how to read you opponents emotion can save you from bluffs (Showing a different emotion by means of facial expressions, body movements and way of talking) so you can avoid folding for a lesser card.

Ø      Enjoy the game and show your skills to the world.

Now you are ready to face the pros, keep on practicing and continue to learn the game of Poker.