Poker Rules
Here are the basics to playing poker. Poker uses a standard pack of playing cards, 52 cards (we won't even bother going into wild cards and jokers). The card ranking is as follows Ace (the highest), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 (the lowest). The Ace may also be the lowest card depending on the variation of the game you are playing but in most cases can be lowest and highest. There are four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs) and no suit is higher than another.
All poker hands contain five cards (except casino games) and the highest hand wins. The number of cards dealt is dependant on what type of game you are playing. Now read the rankings of the hands and you have the basics to the game of poker.
Now lets move on to the rules. There are over 30 known variations to poker and dozens more that include wildcards and jokers. I have listed below the complete rules to the most commonly played nine games.
1. Texas Holdem Poker Rules
Two pocket (hole) cards are dealt face down to each player and five community (board) cards are dealt face up in the center of the table. Each player makes their best 5 Card hand from the 7 total cards available to each player.
2. Omaha Rules
Omaha is a variation of Hold'em that is played with each player being dealt four pocket card face down and then five community cards are dealt face up in the center of the table. Any combination of two pocket cards and 3 community cards must be used to make your best poker hand.
3. Omaha Hi-Lo or Omaha/8 Rules
The same rules as Omaha, along with the following: The pot gets split between the best high hand and the best low hand if someone qualifies for the low hand. Otherwise, the high hand wins the entire pot. To qualify for the low hand, the 5 of your cards in use must be lower than an 8. To make your hand, you must use exactly 2 pocket cards and 3 community cards. Different card combinations can be used for the high end and the low end.
4. 7 Card Stud Rules
Each player is dealt two cards face down and a third (personal) card face up. Three community cards are then dealt in one card rounds. The final and seventh card is dealt face down. In the showdown, each player must make their best poker hand out of any combination of the seven cards dealt to them.
5. 7 Card Stud Hi-Lo Rules
The same rules as 7 Card Stud, along with the following: The pot gets split between the best high hand and the best low hand if someone qualifies for the low hand. Otherwise, the high hand wins the entire pot. To qualify for the low hand, the 5 of your cards in use must be lower than an 8. To make your hand, you must use exactly 2 pocket cards and 3 community cards. Different card combinations can be used for the high end and the low end.
6. Razz Rules
This is Seven Card Stud Lo where the player with the lowest hand wins the pot. Straights and flushes are not counted so the best possible hand is 5-4-3-2-A.
7. 5 Card Draw Rules
A form of poker in which each player receives five cards and then has the option of discarding one or more of them and receiving new cards in their place.
8. 5 Card Stud Rules
Each player gets one concealed card and four exposed cards.
9. Crazy Pineapple Rules
This game is a variation of Texas Hold'em but players are dealt three pocket cards up front. After the betting round on the flop each player must discard one card.
10. Triple Draw 2-7 Poker Rules
A 5 card draw game with three draws. There are 4 rounds of betting and the lowest possible hand wins at this game.
After you have chosen a game to play, and we recommend Texas Holdem initially, you should choose a poker room to play in by going to our poker room reviews page or simply clicking each of the review pages directly from our toolbar.
Once you have chosen a game to play, you can play ring games or tournaments. Most players mix it up and play a bit of both. The individual ring games are dictated by the betting amounts: limit, pot limit and no limit. If you are new to poker- play limit only. Do not play pot limit or no limit. Depending on your bankroll, we recommend very low stakes initially, 5 cent-10 cent blinds. We also believe that you should not miss out on the tournament experience and we recommend you play low stakes tournaments, which many rooms have for as low as a dollar or two. To better understand poker tournaments, read this article. | 