Poker Rules: How to Play Poker

Poker is a widely popular card game across the world, with major tournaments like WSOP (World Series of Poker) taking place in Vegas. But, the origins of poker as a game is a little less defined. In the early 16th century, the Germans played a bluffing game called ‘Pochen’, which was later developed by the French into another version called ‘Poque’. 

During the Civil War, a key rule was added to the game of poker – drawing cards to improve one’s hand. Thus, the ‘Stud Poker’ variation came into play during that time. Currently there are many variants of poker played both online, and offline across the world for real cash prizes.

The most popular, and widely played variation of poker is Texas Hold’em. But, the different forms of poker share several underlying characteristics and rules. The importance here is to understand the hand rankings, to know which hand wins. Also it is critical to understand the betting structures applied in different variants like – no-limit, pot-limit, and fixed-limit.

Basic Poker Rules

Poker is played with a standard 52-card deck, and usually in all its variants only one such pack is used. 2-6 players can play at a time with one standard deck of cards. The printed joker cards are not used, and are kept aside at the time of dealing.

In almost all poker games, the players have to make the best five card poker hand using the standard poker hand rankings. The following hand rankings apply to most poker variants, except the ‘Lowball Poker’ variant. The best poker hand is the ‘Royal Flush’, with the second strongest hand being the ‘Straight Flush’ and so on. The lowest hand in the standard rankings is the ‘High Card’.

How to Play Poker

Poker is an incredibly popular card game that is easy enough to learn for beginners, but difficult to master. In this ‘How to play poker?’, we will simplify the poker rules for beginners in a step-by-step format to get you started.

Let us understand a few common poker terms first, before going into the structure of the game, and how it is played:

1. Blinds – These are forced bets made by players to the left of the dealer button in poker games that involve a ‘Flop’ style. Usually there is a small, and a big blind, but the number of blinds can range from two to three.
2. Ante – In a game of poker this is the amount of money that a player puts in the pot before the hand begins. These are usually mandatory bets posted by all players at the table.
3. Check – This generally means that a player refrains from betting when it is their turn. Performing this action will pass the turn to the next player.
4. Fold – If a player feels that they do not possess a strong enough starting hand to win the pot, they can choose to ‘Fold’. Folding means you put your cards down for the current round, and forfeit the pot.
5. Call – To perform this action means calling the previous bet made by the last player. Basically matching the previous bet, and continuing in the round without making a raise.
6. Raise – This is an action you take if you want to increase the opening bet or the ongoing bet amount, and challenge other players to either match it or re-raise.

Now that we have the basic terms out of the way, let’s get down to the rounds in a standard game of Hold’em poker, the most popular variant:

• Dealing: The player with the dealer button has the responsibility of dealing out two hole cards face down to each player at the start of each hand.
• Posting Blinds: The two players to the immediate left of the dealer put in the small blind and big blind amount respectively.
• Pre-Flop Betting: Once all players have put in their blind amounts, every player has the opportunity to make a pre-flop bet based on the strength of their hole cards alone. If a bet is made by one of the players, then all others must match that bet to open the ‘Flop’.
• Flop: After the blinds are put in, and the pre-flop betting is over, the first three community cards are opened face up on the table. All players can use these community cards to start forming their hands, and another round of betting follows.
• Turn: This is the fourth community card that is opened face up on the table. By this round, all players know if they have strong hands forming or if they should fold to save their money. Another round of betting takes place, where the remaining players can check, call, raise or fold.
• River: The fifth and last community card is opened face up. A final round of betting takes place. The player to raise the bet first is known as the aggressor here, and must show his hand first at showdown. The others must match that bet to stay in the game, and for showdown to happen.
• Showdown: All remaining players show their hole cards face up, and the player with the best five card hand combination along with the community cards, wins the pot.

Poker Hand Rankings

In most of the popularly played variants of poker, players have to make their best possible hand using standard poker hand rankings or poker rules chart. The following poker hand rankings apply to most poker games, except the lowball poker variant.

1. Royal Flush:

The highest and the strongest ranked poker hand sequence comprising 10-J-Q-K-A of any of the four but same suit. Example: (A♦ K♦ Q♦ J♦ 10♦)

2. Straight Flush:

The second-highest poker hand, with 9-10-J-Q-K being the highest while A-2-3-4-5 being the lowest straight flush. Example: (10♠ 9♠ 8♠ 7♠ 6♠)

3. Four of a Kind:

The same card in all four suits is four of a kind.
Example: (K♣ K♦ K♥ K♠ Q♥)

4. Full House:

Three cards of one rank (three of a kind) and two cards of another rank (two pair). Example: (A♠ A♥ A♣ K♣ K♦)

5. Flush:

Five cards of the same suit in any order.
Example: (3♦ 5♦ 8♦ j♦ K♦)

6. Straight:

Five cards in sequence, and can be from any of the four suits. Example: (5♦ 6♣ 7♦ 8♠ 9♣)

7. Three of a kind:

Three cards of the same rank in different suits and two unrelated side cards. Example: (8♣ 8♦ 8♠ 7♣ k♦)

8. Two pair:

A hand consisting of two sets of pairs. Each pair consists of two cards of the same rank. Example: (7♦ 7♠ Q♦ Q♥ 6♣)

9. One Pair:

Two cards of the same rank in different suits. In case of a tie, the highest pair wins. Example: (J♦ J♠ 4♠ 8♦ 10♣)

10. High Card:

The lowest-ranked poker sequence.
Example: (A♣ 8♥ 7♦ J♦ K♠)

Popular Poker Variants and Their Rules

Here we will discuss the most popular variants of poker that are played across the world, and in major tournaments.

Texas Hold’em Rules

Texas Hold’em is the most popular variant of poker, and is played in most private games, tournaments, as well as in online cash games.

Every player in a game of Texas Hold’em gets dealt two hole cards that are placed face down, and five community cards open up on the table, which is common to all. The main objective is to make the best five card hand combination with the two hole cards, and three of the five community cards. The best five card hand wins according to the poker hand rankings rule.

There are four rounds of betting in Texas Hold’em, as described in order below:

• Pre-Flop: After the two hole cards have been dealt to each player, and they have placed the mandatory blinds in the pot, some players might choose to bet an amount higher than the big blind based on the strength of their hole cards. This is known as Pre-Flop betting.
• Flop: Once the previous round of betting has been done, three community cards open up on the table, known as the Flop. Players can see these cards, and choose to do either of these actions – check, call, raise or fold.
• Turn: After a round of betting, a fourth card opens on the table, known as the Turn. By now players can judge their own strength, and compare it with their opponents, based on betting patterns. Another round of checking, calling, raising or folding takes place among the remaining players.
• River: This the fifth and final card that opens up. Players now know the type of hands they have. They can choose to either fold or call another player who has betted. Once everyone has completed their action, Showdown happens, with all remaining players showing their hands. The winner is always the player with the strongest possible hand according to the poker rules sheet.

Omaha Poker Rules

Omaha poker, also known as Pot Limit Omaha or Omaha Hold’em, plays out just like Texas Hold’em, but with a few differences in rules. The main objective though is still the same, where the player has to make the best possible five card hand combination, using the hole cards and community cards.

In Omaha however, the players are dealt four, five or six hole cards depending on whether PLO4, 5 or 6 is being played. The difference with Texas Hold’em is the number of hole cards that are dealt out. Players still have to use two out of four, five or six hole cards, and combine with three community cards out of five to make their best hand.

Omaha Hi is usually played with either pot limit or limit betting rules. PLO is the second most popular variant of poker after Texas Hold’em.

Seven Card Stud Rules

Stud variant of poker is almost always played with limit betting rules. Unlike Hold’em or Omaha, where two players to the left of the dealer have to start with the small blind and big blind, in Stud the rule is that all players have to put the Ante into the pot. This is usually 5% of the big blind, and is placed in the pot at the start of the hand.

There are no community cards in Stud poker, instead each player receives seven cards. In the first deal each player receives two face down cards, and one card face up. The second and three more rounds of betting take place with each player given one card after each round.

After all seven cards have been dealt out, all players will have three cards face down, and four cards face up. After the final round of betting, there will be a showdown where the player with the best hand wins.

Betting Rules in Poker

Betting is the key to poker as a game. In the course of a hand there will be one or more rounds of betting. Minimizing losses with bad hands, and maximizing gains with good hands is the best skill a poker player can master.

• Bet: To ‘Bet’ is to put more money into the pot which is at a higher value than the big blind. Usually done by players who know they have a good hand, or they are bluffing.
• Call: Once a player has made a higher bet, all other players have to ‘Call’ to match that bet and keep the game flowing or basically stay in the game.
• Raise: Once someone has made a bet, another player can choose to raise that particular bet to an even higher amount. This is called a ‘Raise’, usually done by players who know that someone is bluffing or they themselves have better cards.
• Fold: This action is performed to drop out of the current hand, if a player feels that they don’t have a good enough hand to continue betting. This is best when you want to cut your losses.

To stop players with a lot of bankroll or money from gaining an unfair advantage in poker rooms or tournaments, betting limits are set. Once a limit is set, it has to remain unaltered until all players unanimously agree to raise the stakes.

• No-Limit Betting: As the name suggests, there is no cap on the amount a player can bet in one round itself. Players can go all-in and grab the entire pot or lose all their chips in a single hand.
• Pot-Limit Betting: This is a betting limit imposed in poker, where no bet amount can go above the total amount already in the pot at the time.
• Fixed-Limit Betting: In most games that play on Fixed-Limit rules, players cannot raise or bet more than the pre-decided limit. This is usually when blinds come into play, the small and big blinds are fixed limits that have to be played for each new hand.

Poker Etiquette and Tips for Beginners

Basic poker rules for beginners are the following:

1. Understand the risks of your starting hand: Look at your hole cards, and you can judge whether your chances of making a good hand is likely based on:

• Your cards are of the same suit.
• You have two cards of the same rank.
• You have one card which is a face card, and a strong side card like 10.
• You have suited face cards of the same rank.

2. Call the bet if you want to stay in the hand without not so strong cards. In the early rounds where you are unsure of your hole cards, but still want to see the Flop or Turn cards, you can call the bet if the amount is not too high.

3. Raise only if you have a good hand. If you have good hole cards, then you can wait for the flop, so that other players put in their money and then raise the pot. This might tempt other players into calling your raise and further increasing the pot.

4. Fold if the current bet is too high: This is easy enough to understand, if the current bet is way too high and you have poor cards, then just fold to sit out of the round, and avoid losing more money.

5. Set limits on your money: Play with money that you can afford to lose when you are learning the game. During the game, if you have lost all your chips, don’t dive back in immediately with more money, chances are you will lose more trying to win back the previous amount.

FAQ

1. How to play a poker game with rules?

The basic rule of poker states that players must make their best 5 card poker hand combination using their hole cards, and 5 community cards. The hands will be ranked according to the poker hand rankings chart. During a hand of poker, players can bet based on their presumed hand values. Players can also choose to fold if they feel they don’t have a strong enough starting hand.

2. How do you play Omaha poker with rules?

In Omaha poker players are dealt four hole cards face down. As the game progresses, 5 face up cards known as community cards are placed on the table. According to Omaha rules, players have to make their best 5 card hand using two of their four hole cards, and three of the five community cards. Hands are ranked according to the Poker Hand Rankings chart.

3. How to play HORSE poker rules?

HORSE is played with five poker variants in order. Each game will last for one round or hand, before moving on to the next variant. Once the Stud Hi/Lo round is over, the rotation moves on to Hold’em. HORSE has all games played with a fixed limit, there are no pot limit or no limit games.