Rules of Poker and Ranking Hands Explained

Although the roots of poker go back to the 17th century, after some changes and improvements made in the 1830s, poker found its modern face. With the introduction of the drawing rules to improve hands and the advent of Stud Poker, this card game was very popular even during the Civil War. From private houses to large online poker rooms, poker has come a long way to becoming accessible to anyone who wants to fight for a major pot. The online format has contributed not only to the popularization of poker, but also to the simplification of the learning process – you can choose a casino, poker room or mobile app and start playing with free chips without financial risks.

To learn the rules of poker is the first thing you should do before you start playing. Despite the wide variety of poker combinations, you will spend only a few minutes of your time to remember the main hands. Although there is an element of luck in poker, your success depends largely on your skill level. Therefore, you should practice before playing for real money. However, let’s start with the poker rules first.

Basic Poker Rules to Understand the Game

Since Texas Hold’em is the most popular type of online poker in the world, we will review the rules of poker based on this game. The main goal is to comprise the best poker hand. So, let’s make the most extensive look at what is happening at the table:

1. One player acts as a dealer – this is called a button. As for the Live Dealer versions of the game, the role of the dealer is clearly defined. The two players to the left of the dealer are the small and big blinds. If there is no ante, these two players are the only participants who put their money in the pot before the start of the betting round.
2. Players are dealt two “hole” cards – face down ones. Then, the first betting round begins. Choosing between fold, call or bet, each player acts starting from the one to the left of the big blind. All actions occur clockwise, with each player can raise if the previous player has chosen bet option.
3. “The Flop” is a game action when three community cards are flipped face up on the table. Now, the second betting round begins – all actions continue to go clockwise with a choice between fold, call, bet or raise in accordance with the rules of poker (Texas Hold’em online poker).
4. “The Turn” is a game action when the fourth card are flipped face up on the table. This is followed by the third betting round and the next game action (“The River”) when the fifth community card is flipped face up. The next betting round is final.
5. In accordance with basic poker rules, a “showdown” occurs if two or more players remain at the table at the end of the final betting round.

At the showdown, the players who are still in the game must show their hands – and the player who collected the highest 5-card hand is the winner.

It is interesting to know that a poker set according to the rules of poker is a situation when the player hole card matches the card on the board. This is a rare situation in poker – you’ll be flop a set once per ten hands.

Top Best Poker Hands Ranking

Despite the fact that poker is played in various forms and variations, knowing the value of hands, you can play Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Stud and other versions – check the value of the cards below.

• Five of a Kind is the highest combination in games where at least one card works like wild (f. e., four 10s and wild).
• Straight Flush – 5 cards of the same suit in a sequence, for example A, K, Q, J, and 10.
• Four of a Kind in accordance with the rules of poker is a combination of four cards of the same face value + one any card.
• Full House – 3 cards of the same value + 2 ones of any other value, for example, three Kings and two sixes.
• Flush – 5 cards of the same suit – but these cards do not constitute a sequence.

There are also many other poker hands – we considered only the highest combinations. You can find tables of poker hand ranking on the Internet.