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Overview
Poker is a game of many flavors as it has taken on a variety
forms over the years. There are many different versions of poker
rules and strategy from all around the world. Here, we will
cover one of the most basic and common forms of Poker called
"Five Card Draw," which provides an excellent
foundation to build on when learning the many varieties of
Poker.
Gaming Items
Standard 52-card deck.
Players and Personnel
Dealer - Handles all of the cards.
Between 2 and 6 players
Object
of the Game
The object of the game is to obtain a 5-card combination or
"Hand" of cards with the highest value according to
the type of Poker that you are playing. Each card is ranked in
value.
Card Ranking from high to low: Ace, King, Queen, Jack,
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace. (Aces can count as high or low)
Suits of
Cards: Hearts,
Diamonds, Clubs, Spades. All suits have equal value.
Basic
Rules of Play
Generally, most types of Poker require each player to "Ante
up" by placing a minimum amount of money/chips on the table
or in the "pot" prior to any cards being dealt. The
cards are then shuffled and each player is dealt 5 cards usually
in a clockwise direction. Players examine their cards to
decide if their current hand can beat all other player's hands.
A round of betting now occurs at which time all players can
either "Call" "Raise" or "Fold."
Below is an explanation of the three options.
-
Call:
Betting enough money or chips to match what has been bet by
other players since the last time that you bet. On the first
round of betting, the player in the first position can
"check" which means that he or she does not owe
anything to the pot because the pots value has not been
increased yet.
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Raise:
Betting enough money or chips to match what has been bet by
other players since the last time that you bet and then
increasing the value of your bet. Usually, there will be a
maximum limit that you can raise per round.
-
Fold: You
are dropping out of this hand of cards losing any money or
chips that you have contributed to the pot. Your cards are
placed face-down on the table and are never revealed to the
other players. You do not have to bet any more money.
Once every
player has either bet or folded, each player has the option to
replace or "discard" up to three cards from his or her
hand in hopes of obtaining new cards that will increase the
value of the hand. Once all players have had the chance to
receive new cards, another round of betting begins. This cycle
continues until all players either "call" or
"fold" out of a particular round of betting. (If any
of the players "raise" during the betting round, the
cycle continues.) At this time, all players must reveal their
hand of cards. The player with the highest hand value wins the
pot.
Poker (Five-card draw) Hand Values
Below is a list of Poker hands ranked from highest to lowest in
hand value.
-
Five of
a Kind: The highest hand possible and can only be
achieved when using wild cards. All cards have the same face
value.
Ex. Having 4 queens and a wild card taking on the value of a
queen.
-
Straight
Flush: Five cards of the same suit that are in ascending
order. Ex: (4,5,6,7,8) of spades. Like a regular straight,
you can have and 'ace' that counts as either a high card or
low card. Ex: (Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten) of Hearts where
the 'ace' is the high card. This is also called a Royal
Flush. A hand where the ace counts as the low card or 1
would look like (5,4,3,2,1) of hearts.
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Four of
a Kind: Four cards with the same value in a hand. Ex: 4
of Diamonds, 4 of Hearts, 4 of Spades, 4 of Clubs, 9 of
Hearts. If two players have a "four of a
kind" hand, the hand with the highest value set of
cards wins. Ex: player A has (5,5,5,5,K), player B has
(9,9,9,9,2). Player B would win. In certain versions of
poker where there are many wildcards, it is possible that
two or more players might have equal "four of a
kind." hands. In the event of a tie, the hand with the
highest value fifth card would win.
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Full
House: Three of a kind and a pair. Ex: Queen of
Spades, Queen of Hearts, Queen of Diamonds, 4,4. If two
players have a full house, the player with the higher value
first three of a kind wins. Ex: King of Spades, King of
Hearts, King of Diamonds, 4,4 beats Jack of Spades, Jack of
Hearts, Jack of Clubs, 4,4.
-
Flush: All
of the cards are of the same suit. Ex:(2,4,6,7,9) of Spades.
In the event of a tie, the person holding the highest valued
card wins. Ex: (2,3,5,7,J) of Hearts beats (3,5,6,7,9) of
Clubs because the high card out of the two hands is the
Jack. In the event that two or more players tie on the high
card, the 2nd highest card determines the winner from all
hands. Ex: (2,4,5,9,J) of Diamonds beats (4,5,7,8,J) of
Clubs. Both of the hands contain a Jack as the high card,
therefore the second highest card in each hand is used to
determine the winner. The second highest card is the 9 of
diamonds in the first hand which beats the 8 of Clubs in the
second hand.
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Straight:
Five cards of any suit in ascending order.
Ex:(3,4,5,6,7) of any suit. An 'Ace' can counts as either a
high card or low card. Ex: (Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten) of
any suit where the 'ace' is the high card. A hand where the
ace counts as the low card or 1 would look like
(5,4,3,2,1) of any suit. In the vent of a tie, the hand with
the highest straight wins. Ex: (3,4,5,6,7) of any suit beats
(2,3,4,5,6) of any suit.
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Three
of a Kind: Three cards with the same value and two that
are not a pair. Ex: 7 of Hearts, 7 of Diamonds, 7 of Spades,
2 of Clubs, 6 of Clubs. If two or more players hold the same
hand due to wild cards, the player with the highest valued
card of the remaining two cards wins. Ex: (5,5,5,2,9) beats
(5,5,5,2,4).
-
Two
Pair: Two sets of distinct pair of cards. Ex: (2,2,K,K).
The highest set of pair wins in the event of a tie. Ex:
(5,5,7,7) beats (4,4,5,5).
- Pair: One pair of
cards in the hand. Ex: (5,5,7,J)
-
High
Card: This is any hand that does not have any of the
properties of the hands listed above. In the event that no
player has at least a pair, the player with the highest card
wins.
Ready to play
Poker? Find an online casino in our
virtual web casino guide or
a poker room in our
multi-player poker room guide.
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