Poker Rules

Hand Rankings

High Card                   Highest card counts, if the same second highesst and so on     
One Pair                     Two cards of the same value (KK)   
Two Pairs                   Two times two cards of the same value (KK JJ)   
Three of a kind           Three cards of the same value (AAA)                                                                                        Straight                      Five adjacent cards of any colour (AKQJ10)   
Flush                           Five cards of the same symbol (Hearts or Spades)   
Full House                   Three of a kind and one pair (KKKQQ)   
Four of a kind             Four cards of the same value (JJJJ)   
Straight Flush             Straight in one symbol (QJ1098 in Hearts)   
Royal Flush                 Only Straight from AKQJ10 in one symbol   


Five Card Draw

Five-card draw is often the first poker variant learned by most players, and is very common in home games although is now rare in casinos and tournament play, Three to six players is common and each player posts an ante before the cards are dealt.

Before the draw

Play begins with each player putting an ante and is dealt five cards, one at a time, all face down. Players pick up the cards and hold them in their hands. The first "before the draw" betting round occurs at this point, starting with the player to the dealer`s left (or to the left of the bog blind if blins are used). Players may check, bet, call, raise, reraise and fold. Betting goes on until every player in one betting round has put an equal bet or folded.

Draw

Each player specifies how many of his cards he wishes to replace (up to four cards usually), and discards that many from his hand. A common"house rule" in some places is that players may not replace more than 3 cards, unless he draws four cards while keeping an ace wich he shows to the other players.

Showdown

A second "after the draw" betting round occurs after the draw phase, beginning with the player to the dealers left. The player with the biggest ranking hand or the only player left (if everybody folds) wins the pot.






Texas Holdem Poker

Texas Holdem is the most popular poker game and is also the most common game in tournament play. It is a community card game which can be played from 2 (Heads up) up to 10 players. Every player got two cards face down and 5 community cards.

Preflop

The two players on the left of the dealer put down the "small blind" and the "big blinds", then every player is dealt 2 cards and the first betting round occurs. It goes on until every player has put an equal bet or folded.

Flop

Now the "flop" (the first 3 community cards) is dealt. The second betting round starts and the minimum bet is usually the "small bet" (1/2$ game 1$ or in a 5/10$ game 5$) but players can still raise or fold.

Turn

On the "turn" there will be another card dealt (the fourth community card), and another betting round starts for the river and the "big bet" is posted. The minimum bet is usually the double of the initial bet on the flop (1/2$ game 2$   5/10$ game 10$). After this round the final "river card" is dealt and the "showdown" begins.

Showdown

The "showdown" is the last betting round and after tis betting round the winner is the player with the highest card or the only player left if everybody folded. For the winning hand the player can combine one or two "pocket cards" with the comunity cards.