Poker Rules – Poker Basics for Beginners

The aim of poker is to put together the best hand possible. In the more popular variants such as Texas Hold’em and Omaha, players create the hand using a mixture of community cards which are dealt gradually (and are available to all players) and hole cards. In other variants, players can swap or discard cards before committing to their final hand.

Multiple rounds of betting are common, where players try to drive others to fold before they reveal their cards at showdown.

In effect, there are two different ways to win when following basic poker rules:

1. Put together the best hand that defeats any other players in the showdown
2. Place bets in such a way that all other players fold their hand

These methods often, but don’t always, go together, and bluffing is a key ingredient in winning a round when you have a subpar hand.

Different poker hands have different values. We’ve listed them below, starting with the best.

1. Royal Flush (A, K, Q, J, 10, suited)
2. Straight Flush (Five cards in sequence, suited) e.g. 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, all clubs
3. Four of a Kind (Four cards of the same rank) e.g. 10, 10, 10, 10, 2
4. Full House (Three of a Kind plus a Pair) e.g. 8, 8, 8, 3, 3
5. Flush (Five cards suited, not in sequence) e.g. 3, 6, 9, 10, K, all spades
6. Straight (Five cards in sequence, not suited) e.g. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, different suits
7. Three of a Kind (Three cards of the same rank) e.g. 7, 7, 7, A, K
8. Two pair (Two pairs) e.g. 2, 2, A, A, 4
9. Pair (Two cards of the same rank) e.g. 8, 8, 3, 9, Q

Note that in Razz, the lowest hand wins!

The best advice we have for beginners, beyond checking out the poker rules guides at the top of this page, is to play for free (or for very small amounts) to hone your skills before you move on to playing for more substantial sums of money.

The more you practice, the better you’ll do when you start playing against other skilled players.