Poker Rules – Learn the Basic Rules of Poker

Poker is an incredibly popular card game. There are millions of poker players all around the world. Most poker players poker online on the best poker sites in the world such as pocket52. Considering the high number of poker players, these online websites keep launching new poker tournaments frequently to provide an unmatched poker-playing experience to poker fans.

If you are thinking that online poker may not get you the same thrill, then this is the time for you to download the Pocket52 poker app and experience the unparalleled experience of playing poker. With the kind of graphics, the poker app has, you will instantly feel the adrenaline rush! Most players who have been playing poker on an app, have vouched for the zealous and thrilling experience it offers!

Rules of Poker

If you are also a poker enthusiast but not very well aware of the poker rules, then here we present to you the poker rule guide to help you become a pro in the game.

Poker Know-hows

Here are the things you must know about poker.

• Deck: The game uses a standard 52-card deck. This deck does not include the joker cards.
• Several players: Poker needs at least two players and a maximum of ten players. However, the number of participants keeps changing with the game variant.
• Best and lowest card: Ace is the highest card and Deuce or 2 is the lowest card of the lot.
• The objective of the game: Poker games like the Texas Hold’em variant aim to make the best possible hands and win the pot.
• Game structure: The dealer provides two cards to all the players, and in the different rounds of betting, the dealer also deals five community cards on the table.
• Winner: The player who makes the best five cards, where two are his cards and three are the community cards, can win the pot, as per the poker hand sequence rule.
• The most popular variant of poker: Texas Hold’em is one of the most popular poker variants.

Poker Rule 1: Poker Hand order or Poker hand Ranking

Poker Hand order Poker hand Ranking or Poker card sequence is one of the first rules you need to know about. It is one of the most important poker rules. There is a sequence in the card ranking that the players need to stick to. The higher your card order is, the better the likelihood to win the game. Royal Flush is the highest poker card ranking while High card is the lowest. 

Here are the details of the Poker hand ranking in the game:

1. Royal Flush poker hand

This one is the first and the highest order of the poker hand called the Royal Flush. It contains five cards from Ace to 10. These cards must be of the same suit of spades or hearts or diamonds or clubs.

2. Straight Flush poker hand

Coming to the next best hand on the poker hand ranking list is called the straight flush. This second-highest hand on the list is a continuous poker hand sequence. It contains five cards of the same suit.

3. Four of a Kind poker hand

If you are thinking about the third-best hand, then it is called Quad or Four of a Kind. On this hand, you need to make four cards of the same rank, and the other card of a different rank. If the two players get the same hand, then four aces will be the winner over four kings. 

4. Full House poker hand

Full House is also one of the good poker hands that are positioned on the fourth number. Full House is a hand that carries the combination of three cards of the same rank and a pair that has another rank.

5. Flush poker hand

The Flush is a poker card hand where you need to make five cards belonging to the same suit. If two players make a Flush, then the High Card decides the winner.

6. Straight poker hand

When a player makes consecutive cards belonging to different suits, then it is called the straight hand. You also need to be aware that the biggest straight is called a high Straight while the lowest straight is called a five-high straight.

7. Three of a Kind poker hand

This poker card rank where you end up having three cards belonging to the same rank is three of a kind. If the tie happens, the side card determines who is the winner.

8. Two-pair poker hand

This is also a decent poker hand in which you have two cards belonging to the same rank while the other pair has two cards of the same rank. If two players end up having the same pair, then the winner is decided by the second pair.

9. One Pair poker hand

One pair is also a poker hand rank. In this, you must have two cards of the same rank and three different cards.

10. High-card poker hand

Now comes the high card. This poker hand ranking is the lowest of all. It has an ace which is the highest hand or seven which is the lowest hand.

So, you need to know that:

• One Pair will win over the High Card.
• Two Pair will win over One Pair.
• Three of a Kind will win over Two Pair.
• Straight will win over Three of a Kind
• Flush will win over Straight
• Full House will win over Flush.
• Four of a Kind will win over Full House.
• Straight Flush will win over Four of a Kind.
• Royal Flush will win over Straight Flush.

A royal flush does not get beaten. None of the poker hand sequences can defeat the Royal Flush, as it is the best hand. If you have made a hand that is positioned as the highest as per the poker hand ranking list, as compared to the other players in the game, then you can become the winner of the game. If there are two winners in the game as they have the same cards, then the pot can be divided into two. 

Poker Rule 2: Poker Actions

Here comes another important poker rule. You need to know the actions that you take in the game when your chance comes. Here is the list of the actions in the poker game:

1. Check

“Check” is an important action. In this, you tell your opponents that you are not going to bet in the game. You can check in case no bet has happened in that round.

2. Fold

The fold is also an option of action. This means that you don’t want to play your cards. You can do this if you don’t want to get good cards. 

3. Raise

This is an action that denotes you have a strong hand and therefore, you want to raise the bet in the game. To raise, you can make a bet of a good amount. So, when you have good cards in the game, then you can raise them.  

4. Call

This is another action in which you want to make the highest bet in the game like the other player.

Poker Rule 3: Poker Betting Rounds

The game of poker is played in several rounds. The rounds of betting include the following:

1. Blinds

Very popular in poker, it is one of the compulsory actions in the game. The blind is done when two players in the game make forced bets. The player who is seated clockwise to the dealer or dealer button places the first bet or small blind. The player left to the small blind player needs to put a forced bet too, called the big blind.

So, the initial part of the poker game starts with Blind. Not exactly a betting round, it is more an action that is taken by the two players in the game. This is done before the betting round starts. The blind chips or money in the pot motivate the players to win the game. Imagine the situation when there are no chips in the pot. In that case, the players will be tempted to fold and not continue the game. 

Also, you must know that the amount of blind plays a role in deciding the stakes in the game. If you do not have chips to make the blind, then you need to put everything on the table. If only two players are left in the game, then the dealer will post the big blind and one player can post the small blind. After the round is done, the betting round begins. 

2. Pre-Flop

This is technically the first round of betting in the game of poker. This round starts when all the players have got their hole cards or private cards. 

3. Flop

This is the round in which the bets start and they also get three community cards by the dealer face-up on the table. The players can see the cards.

4. Turn

In this round, the dealer shows the fourth community card and keeps it on the table for all the players. 

5. River

In this final round of betting, the last round of bets is made. The fifth or final community card is also shown. 

In all the betting rounds, the betting keeps happening till the players either match the bet, fold the card, etc. If no bets are made by the players, the players can check and the round is completed.  

6. Showdown

This is the last part of the game in which the winner of the pot is determined. If more than one player is left in the game, then the last player can put a bet or raise. Then, the display of the cards happens. In case there was no bet placed in the last round, the player sitting clockwise to the dealer button shows the cards first. 

The player with the best poker hand ranking is declared as the pot winner. There can be many players in the game too who become winners. In that case, the players can share the pot. 

Poker Rule 4: Betting Limits

One of the essential rules to know about poker games is the betting structure or betting limit in different poker games. Here are the most popular betting limits in the game. 

No Limit poker game

You would have understood what the game looks like, as the name says. The no-limit poker game means that it does not have any bets or raise the limit. You can place a bet of any amount in any of the betting rounds. You can also bet the entire chips you have in any betting round.

Pot Limit poker game

As per this pot limit structure of poker games, you can bet or raise an amount that is of the overall size of the total pot. 

Fixed Limit poker game

This is another betting structure variant in which you can place a bet or call or raise an amount agreed by the players in advance. 

Poker Rules of Different Game Variants

You can play several games on the pocket52 websites. Here we explain the rules of the most famous poker variants.

Texas Holdem Poker 

Texas Hold ’em poker is known as the most popular poker card game. It is so popular because it has simple rules and an easy method to play. Here are the rules of Texas Holdem game: 

• To play this variant of poker, you need a minimum of two members and a maximum of nine members. 
• The game uses a deck of 52 cards. 
• As per Texas Holdem poker rules, the objective of the players is to make the best combination of 5 card poker, as per the poker hand rankings. 
• In this game, the dealer gives every player two hole cards face-down. 
• In the next part of the game, the dealer provides five community cards face-up at the poker table to the players during different rounds of the gameplay. 
• The player to the left of the dealer makes the small blind and the person to the left of the small blind bet player makes the big blind bet. 
• Every player then plays the bet in the clockwise direction to the next player. 
• When you get a chance to play your turn, you can take one of the following actions, based on the action of the previous player: check, fold, raise, call, and bet.
• The player with the best hand combination wins the game. 

Also Read: 

How to play Texas Hold’em Poker

Omaha Poker

This popular variant must be tried. This is also an easy-to-play game. This is how you can play this game:

• The players in this game get four private cards instead of two like in Texas Hold’em.
• The players also get five community cards.
• You need to make the best hand using only two of the private cards and three of the five community cards. 
• Omaha poker has the same betting rounds as a flop, turn and river as other poker online games. 
• The amount of big blind is equal to the small bet amount, in the Fixed Limit version of the Omaha game. 
• The small blind amount is the half amount of the big blind. 
• In the Pre-Flop round, you can call or raise the big blind, as per your private cards. 
• Then, in the Flop round, you get three cards, which are visible to all the players in the game. 
• The game happens in a clockwise direction. 
• If there is more than one player left in the game, the last person to bet in the game shows the card. 

Also Read:

How to play Pot Limit Omaha Poker

Basic Rules of Pot Limit Omaha

7 card stud

One of the oldest and the most classic variants of poker is the 7-card stud game. The rules of the game are: 

• Like many other games, in this game also you need to make the best five-card hand to win the pot. 
• The players in this game get seven private cards each. 
• The game has five rounds of betting. 
• Before the betting rounds, the player has to contribute an amount called an ante and not be blind to the pot like in many poker games. 
• After the ante, the first round is the third street when you get three cards each, and one of the cards remains face-up. 
• The player who has the least open cards has to start the betting, called the bring-in. 
• You can call, raise, fold or check just like many other poker variants games. 
• In different rounds like fourth street, fifth street, sixth street, etc., the players get the fourth, fifth, and sixth cards. 
• The players left in the game can raise and show their cards. The player with the best five-card hand will win. 

Wrapping Up

Poker has been quite a popular game for ages, but with the advent of online poker games, the number of poker players has grown exponentially. Due to the availability of online poker games and accessibility of poker websites to people from worldwide, millions of people can play different poker variations other than the classic games of Texas Hold’em and Omaha. The best part is that these games are played online exactly in the same manner as they are played in the casino.

So, learn the above poker rules and embark on the poker-playing journey! 

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