How to Play Poker.

 (See also Variations of Poker, Hole Card Strength and Hand Rankings )

What is Poker ?

Poker is a card game with many variations, most of which are played with a single deck of 52 playing cards. It is usually played for money, often in the form of "chips". Poker is normally played by a group of between two to ten players; it cannot be played by just one player.

There are many variations of poker , but all are based on the same fundamental principles.

Unlike most gambling card games played for money, there is no "house advantage" in poker. If the cards are shuffled and dealt fairly, no player at the table has any statistical probability of winning more than any other player.

This is as opposed to a traditional gambling card game like Blackjack, where the person acting as "dealer" has a large statistical edge in the game.

Skill Versus Luck

In most forms of poker, players have a number of opportunities during play to make decisions which affect the outcome of the hand being played.

Because correct decisions made at the correct times can increase a player's winnings at the game and decrease their losses, the skill of an individual player plays a large part in determining the overall outcome for a player.

While luck determines the individual cards dealt to the player (and to the other players), in the long run, luck will tend to average out for all players - but each player's skill in playing the various hands they are dealt will determine their overall net winnings.

The more decisions a player must make to play a particular variant of poker, and the more information available to assist in making those decisions, the more that an individual player's skill will affect their winnings.

Poker, more than any other gambling card game, provides a vast array of decisions for a player to make, and therefore a much higher probability that a skillful player will win.

The Principles of Poker

A standard poker hand consists of five cards. The possible poker hands rank from High Card (the lowest rank) to a Royal Flush (the best type of hand possible).

Players are given the opportunity to place bets on the relative strength of their hands (to bet that their hand is the best amongst all the players in the game). The money a player bets is placed in a central area along with all other bets and forms the prize which the eventual winner of the hand will win, called the "pot."

To continue to play in a hand, a player must at least match any bet made by any other player. At the end of a hand, all the remaining players show their cards and the player with the best hand wins all the money in the pot.

If only one player remains in the hand (that is, no other player was willing to match their bet), that player wins the pot no matter what cards they hold - this is what gives the opportunity for bluffing!

Each poker player must therefore try to make accurate judgements about how likely they are to win the pot. He must decide when to fold (drop out of a hand) and when to bet as well as how much to bet.

Good players make a profit by losing as little money as possible when they don't have the best hand, winning as much as possible when they do have the best hand and winning the occasional pot by bluffing - i.e. by betting without a good hand and convincing everyone else to fold.

The ability of a player to make good decisions will depend on their understanding of two main areas: probability and psychology.

Probability helps players decide things such as how likely it is they will get the cards they need to make a better hand than the other players.

Psychology helps them work out what cards the other players have through interpreting the available clues - such as their opponents' betting patterns and their body language. It also helps players recognise good opportunities for bluffing and, perhaps most crucially of all, helps them understandtheir ownpsychology-self-awarenessiscritical topokersuccess!

THE BASICS OF PLAY

In Hold'Em, each player is dealt two cards, face down from the dealer. These cards are called Hole Cards and belong to one player, and one player alone. Each player must first make a betting decision based on the value of these two cards. To see the relative strength of your HOLE CARDS click here.

The player immediately to the left of the dealer is the "small blind" and has to put a pre-determined amount into the pot. The player to the left of the "small blind" is the "big blind" and will also have to put a pre-determined amount into the pot - normally twice the amount od the small blind.

Each player (in a clockwise order) will then have to decide to "fold", "call" or "raise". To "fold" is not to bet and throw in your cards. To "call" is to match the highest bet made to that point. To "raise" is to bet an amount higher than the highest bet made to that point. < /p > <p> 

This continues until it is the turn of the first player who made a bet of the current level. That player can then either "re-raise" or "check"

A "re-raise" is to increase the size of the bet again, in which case all remaining players will have to make a further decision as to "fold", "call" or "raise".

If the player decides to "check" then that round of betting ends.

Next comes The Flop.

The dealer first discards the top card, this is known as "burning the card" and then deals three community cards face up in the middle of the table - this is called The Flop.

Each player can use these three community cards along with their own personal hole cards to make the best five-card poker hand. Now there's another round of betting as described above.

At the end of the betting round, the dealer burns another card and deals the fourth community card, face up, in the middle of the table. This is called The Turn.

Now there's another round of betting.

At the end of this betting round, the dealer again burns a card and deals the fifth and final community card, face up, in the middle of the table. This is called The River.

Players now have seven cards available to them (5 community cards and 2 hole cards) from which to make the best five-card poker hand.

Then one final round of betting.  If a player bets and no one calls then that player wins the pot. If no one bets, or bets are called then the remaining players must show their cards, face up, on the table. This is called The Showdown, and the best hand wins the pot.

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