How To Play Poker

How to Play Poker

Fans of the game insist that poker is the perfect combination of skill and luck. However, you can play for years and find that you still have a lot to learn. You should pay close attention to the instructions below if you find yourself to be making the same mistakes over and over, or if you are a novice just getting into the game. These steps are geared toward five-card draw, but the general strategy and psychology apply to any version of poker.

Instructions

STEP 1: Know the ranking and probabilities of possible poker hands (while keeping in mind the psychology of the game). The best hand is a straight flush, comprised of five consecutive cards of the same suit. The best possible straight flush, a royal flush, is 10 through ace of any one suit. In descending order, the remaining hands are: four of a kind (four of the same card from different suits), full house (three matching cards combined with a pair), flush (cards of all one suit), straight (five consecutive cards), three of a kind, two pair and one pair. There are roughly 2.5 million possible poker hands. The likelihood of a hand containing a pair is about 42 percent. The likelihood of a straight flush is about .0015 percent.

A deck consists of 52 cards. These cards are divided into four suits, each of which contains 13 ranks.

The Four Suits

The suits are all of equal value. That is to say, no suit is higher than any other suit.

In poker, the ace is the highest card and the 2 (deuce) is the lowest. However, the ace can be used as a low card to form the straight 5432Ace.

The Thirteen Ranks

In the event of a tie with either four of a kind, three of a kind, two pair, or one pair, the highest unpaired side card or 'kicker' in a player's hand wins the pot.

For example: Player A has: King of clubs, King of hearts, 6 of spades, 6 of hearts, and Queen of hearts

Player B has: King of spades, King of hearts, 6 of spades, 6 of hearts, and 9 of diamonds

Player A wins the hand because of the Queen kicker.

STEP 2: Make sure you know the basic rules and terms. After the cards are dealt, the player to the left of the dealer has the option to fold, check or bet. To fold is to retire your hand because you do not think you are capable of winning. Folding results in the loss of any money you have so far put into the pot (the money in the middle of the table that the players are trying to win) but

prevents you from losing more. To check is to stay in the game but to decline to bet. Betting means that you put additional money in the pot, and anyone wishing to stay in the game must do the same.

STEP 3: Prepare for the draw (the option of discarding one or more of your cards and replacing them with new ones to attempt to make a better hand) by deciding which cards you want to keep. Experienced players try to avoid drawing more than two cards, because doing so signals that you have a weak hand and limits your ability to bluff. Right after the draw is another round of betting in which you now only have the option of folding or raising (increasing the previous bet) your opponent.

STEP 4: Understand that the game changes as the stakes increase. As bets increase, bluffing becomes a more effective technique.

STEP 5: Poker is primarily a game of psychology, not chance. You are playing against other