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Fact Checked by Alex Turner
Back in the olden days, poker used to be played with a deck of cards and a pack of smokes at the tables in Atlantic City, Las Vegas, or in shady back rooms somewhere.
If you wanted to learn how to play poker at a high level, all you could do was play (and lose) for hours on end until it started to make sense. It was an expensive education.
Nowadays, though, online poker has made the game accessible to the masses – and learning the game is as simple as reading an article like this.
If you’re ready to channel your inner Mikki Mase and start accumulating massive stacks at any table you play on, we’ve created a simple poker guide that breaks down basic poker rules and shows you exactly how to boost your winning chances online.
Let’s get started, shall we?
As a quick refresher, let’s go over what each commonly used poker term actually means. You don’t want to get confused in the middle of a game, especially when you’re playing in cash games.
The small blind and big blind are bets placed automatically before any cards are dealt.
The big blind sets the pace for each betting round, and it’s twice the value of the small blind. In order to buy into a betting round, you have to at least match the big blind. The big blind doubles as the minimum raise allowed.
When you start playing online poker games, calling is used to say that you’re matching a bet or raise. You can only call if someone has made a bet in front of you; if no bets have been made and you don’t want to bet yourself, you’ll check instead. This forfeits your turn without sacrificing your cards.
Calling also often closes the action on a particular street, leading to the next card being dealt or hands being revealed.
If someone has bet in front of you, you can increase the size of the wager by making a raise. Raises have to be at least double the size of the initial bet (unless you don’t have enough chips, in which case you’d be all-in for what you have on the table).
Raising serves two primary purposes: it builds a bigger pot when you have a good hand, or it can force other players to fold, which is good news regardless of whether you have a solid hand or you’re bluffing.
How much you can raise is determined by the type of game you’re playing. In fixed-limit poker, the size of the bets is predetermined; for example, in a $1/2 game, the raise would be $1 on the first two streets and $2 on the final two.
In a pot limit game, you can only raise by the amount of money that’s already in the pot. Finally, in no-limit games, you can raise as much as you want, anytime you want, provided you at least double the initial bet.
You can only bet what you have on the table, though — if you’re thinking about pulling out your car keys or the deed to your house, don’t bother. Those are Hollywood fabrications.
You’ll have a chance to fold during all the betting rounds in a single game. This forfeits your cards until the next hand, but you won’t have to spend your poker chips on a hand that you don’t feel can win.
Going all-in is exactly what it sounds like – wagering all the chips you have in front of you at once.
It’s frequently used to convey the message that you have a great hand. When faced with a player who goes all-in, you’ll have to match their bet (or go all-in yourself if they have more chips) or fold.
Poker is unique in that it’s one of the only games in which you can win despite not actually having the best cards. Bluffing is basically making a bet with a trash hand in the hopes of getting your opponent to fold better cards.
Bluffing also adds a ton of intrigue to the game. Instead of just judging the value of your cards, you have to decide if you think the other player is telling the truth about the value of their cards. Fortunes have been won and lost through bluffing — as well as through folding to bluffs.
If you’re a poker beginner, don’t worry – bluffing is learned over time. It takes a great deal of skill, guts, and good timing to psyche out other players.
For brevity’s sake, we’re going to be explaining the rules of Texas Hold’em, as this is the most popular poker game that’s played online or in live poker rooms today.
Action on a poker table moves clockwise. Two players are designated the big blind and small blind, and the player to the right of the small blind is called the button. The button is the most advantageous spot on the table, as they act last on most streets.
Each player will be dealt two cards face-down. You will use these two cards plus the five community cards to try to form the best five-card hand possible. You can use one, both, or neither of your hole cards to make your hand.
Once the cards have been dealt, the player to the left of the big blind will be first to act. They can either call (matching the big blind), raise, or fold. The action then continues around the table. If no one raises, the big blind has the option to raise themselves or simply check and see a free flop.
Once the pre-flop action is complete, the dealer will issue three community cards, known as the flop.
The flop is very important, as at this point, you’ll know what roughly 70% of the cards will be. By this point, you should have a good idea if you’re going to continue in the hand or if it’s time to bail out.
Betting begins anew, except this time, the small blind (or the player closest to them that’s still in the hand if the blind has folded) will act first.
If there are still active players in the hand once the flop betting is complete, another card will be revealed (the turn), and we’ll bet some more.
The final two cards (commonly called the turn and the river) will be revealed one at a time, with a round of betting each time a new community card is shown. The action here will be identical to the flop, although usually, the stakes will be higher as the pot grows.
Once the river card is dealt, all hands will be complete, and the final betting action will take place. If there are two or more players in the hand once the betting is complete, we’ll head to the showdown, where cards are revealed and a winner is declared.
Poker etiquette dictates that the player who was pushing the action should reveal their cards first; any players who were simply calling can then show their cards if they can beat the initial bettor’s hand or they can muck their hand face-down.
This is to allow them to save face if they were calling with an especially weak hand that might open them up to ridicule.
Once the cards are revealed, the dealer will read the hands and reward the pot to the winner.
Sometimes, the final winner of a poker game isn’t so clear-cut. If two players have identical winning hands, then the pot will be split between them.
Many times, though, your kicker will come into play. For example, if you start off with an ace and a king and make a pair of aces, the king will act as your kicker. Your pair of aces would beat another player’s pair of aces if their kicker was lower than a king.
Ranked from high to low, the best cards to receive are Ace, King, Queen, and Jack. These are called face cards.
Number cards (10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2) are also ranked from high to low. You’re playing with four suits (diamonds, clubs, spades, and hearts), all of which are 100% equivalent in value.
Now, let’s go over the best poker hand rankings ordered by strength.
First up, we have the royal flush. Otherwise known as a royal straight flush, the best hand you can get in a game of Texas Hold’em is a suited A-K-Q-J-10. It beats all other possible hands.
A straight flush is the second-best hand you can get during a round of betting. If you have five numerically ordered cards of the same suit, congratulations. Still, a suited 6-7-8-9-10 beats a suited 2-3-4-5-6. Depending on the nature of your hand, the Ace can be a high or low card.
A four-of-a-kind is simply four cards of the same rank – for example, four aces or 5-5-5-5. If two or more players have four of a kind, the higher-ranking hand wins.
If they happen to have the same four of a kind (only possible when the four-of-a-king is formed with community cards), a kicker card determines the winner.
A full house is defined as three of a kind on top of a pair. For example, you could end up with K-K-K-Q-Q or Q-Q-Q-J-J. However, if two or more players have a full house, ties are broken by three of a kind first. If they have the same three of a kind, the higher-ranking pair is the winner.
A flush is a hand where all of your cards have the same suit. They don’t have to be in numerical order. For example, a 2-4-7-9-Q of spades, diamonds, hearts or clubs would be considered as a flush. If two or more players have a flush, the player with the highest card (kicker) wins.
A straight is defined as five cards in numerical order, such as 2-3-4-5-6. They don’t have to be suited. An Ace can serve as the high card (A-K-Q-J-10) or the low card (5-4-3-2-A). When multiple straights occur in a poker round, the highest straight wins.
A three-of-a-kind is a little different than a full house (you just remove the pair). If you have A-K in your hand and the flop comes A-A-10, you will have trip aces.
The highest three-of-a-kind wins the round. If two players have the same ranked three of a kind, the high card is considered.
You might have two distinct pairs of cards and an unrelated fifth card. The highest pair breaks a tie, followed by the second pair if both players have the same high pair. Finally, if two or more players have two identical pairs, the highest fifth card determines the winner.
One pair is simple – you have one pair of cards with three distinct cards. The highest kicker will break a tie if two or more players have the same pair.
If nobody has a pair or something better, the high card (A down to 2) is used to determine the winner of a game. If two players have the same high card, the second-highest card is taken into consideration.
Place Aggressive Bets: If you’re opening up with a solid hand, such as a K-K or A-A, bet aggressively. Make other players pay dearly to continue in the hand. After all, the last thing you want to do is to make it cheap for them to crack your aces.
Fold More Than You Play: As a general rule, you should aim to fold more than you play. Practicing patience is key to winning poker games in the long term.
Pay Attention At the Table: Keep your eyes peeled for other players’ betting patterns and have your wits about you at all times. You should always play online poker while sober and alert. Take frequent breaks to refresh your mentality and foster the right attitude towards winning the round.
To make a long story short, online poker requires a mixture of skill and luck.
While it’s fairly easy to get the hang of playing poker after a few rounds have passed, it’s much harder to master. Skilled players have a clear advantage, especially when it comes to making bad hands seem unbeatable in the eyes of their opponents. Bluffing is a coveted poker talent.
Texas Hold’em is a certain subtype of poker, and it’s the most popular variant played in casinos. It’s known for offering fast-paced action with the potential for huge upsets on the river.
However, you can also play variations like Omaha and Seven Card Stud. Just keep in mind that most poker variants are a bit more difficult to learn for new players.
The best hand you can get in poker is a royal flush – a suited A-K-Q-J-10 beats all other hands in a game of Texas Hold’em.
However, a royal straight flush won’t be possible in most hands. The common term for the best hand that’s possible, given the cards in play, is called the nuts.
Having the nuts in most poker games means you have an unbeatable hand; however, sometimes it’s possible to have the nuts early in the hand only to see a better possible hand come along on a later street, so always pay attention to what hands are possible.
Now that you know how to play poker online, don’t be afraid to craft your own winning strategy.
When you play Texas Hold’em, it’s a matter of trial and error before you come up with a game plan that works for you. Don’t get discouraged after your first loss, but learn from your mistakes.
And most importantly, always remember that if you can’t spot the sucker at the table, then the sucker at the table is you.
Thanks for reading, and please play poker responsibly!
DISCLAIMER: 21+ only. The information on this site is for entertainment purposes only. Online gambling comes with many risks. Players are advised to gamble responsibly and only use funds they can afford to lose. Remember, gambling is only intended for entertainment purposes and is not a solution to any financial difficulties.
If you suspect you’re becoming addicted to gambling, seek help immediately by contacting the National Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700.
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