Poker is a game for all. There are no complicated rules, no slow games, and no ambiguity about your performance. It seems like the game creators just wanted the thrill of a dramatic showdown, in which the winner takes all. Poker can be learned and mastered by anyone. It has no pre-requisites of skills or abilities. It’s also a game that tests your understanding of the human psyche and is enjoyable to learn. It’s no wonder that Poker has attained a global fan base and resonates with rookies better than most other games.

There are several variations of the game that differs in a few details. But most variants have features in common. It’s like a Wild West cowboy movie that ends in a lightning-fast showdown. Poker is a winner-takes-all game. The thrilling climax leaves the players wanting more action. Continue reading this poker guide to learn more about this fascinating game.

Premise

Before we discuss how to play poker, let’s understand a few facts that form the premise of everything we do in the game. This poker guide will start with a card hierarchy that decides the winner. We presume a basic understanding of the cards and the four suits in a pack of cards.

1. Cards within a suite are ranked individually in descending order as below:

A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2

1. Sets of cards taken together are ranked in descending order as below:
2. Royal Flush (Set of A, K, Q, J, 10 of any one suite)
3. Straight Flush (Set of consecutive ranking cards of anyone suite)
4. Four of a kind (Set of 4 cards of same rank belonging to each of the four suites)
5. Full House (Set of cards of different ranks belonging to each of the four suites)
6. Flush (Set of non-consecutively ranked cards belonging to the same suite)
7. Straight (Set of consecutively ranked cards belonging to different suites)
8. Three of a kind (Set of 3 cards of same rank belonging to three different suites)
9. Two Pair (Set of two pairs of cards of the same rank but different suites)
10. One Pair (Set of a pair of cards of the same rank but different suites)
11. High Card (Highest ranking single card in a set)
12. A tie between two sets of the same rank is broken based on the card ranks. For instance, a straight flush going from 8 – Q is more valuable than a straight flush going from 2-6.

Rules of the game

Now that we have covered the premise, we can dive right into the rules of the game. Let’s discover how to play poker in baby steps.

1. Ideally, there are anywhere between five to eight players in a game. But there could be more.
2. Each player attempts to build any one of the 10 ranking sets with their cards.
3. The game begins with cards being dealt with by all players. Casinos have dealers who are adept at shuffling the decks well for a game. In a game amongst friends, people take turns to deal the cards themselves.
4. In the most popular form of Poker – Texas Hold’em, two cards are dealt with each player as hole cards initially.
5. The dealer places two cards from the deck in the center as a community card. 
6. Once the hole cards are dealt, and two community cards are revealed, each player can decide their preliminary strategy based on their hand – whether to fold, call, or raise.
7. Each player gets turns at the turn of each community card from the third to the fifth where they have to call, raise, check or fold. The play usually proceeds in a clockwise manner around the table.
8. The revealing of the third community card after a round is called the Flop. The players can exchange any cards from their hand with the community cards to draw a better hand at their turn.
9. The revelation of the fourth community card is called the Turn. By this stage, your fortunes in the game get sealed. 
10. The revelation of the fifth card is called the River. This marks the end of the current hand with a showdown of players who haven’t folded.
11. With every call or raise, the pot of money grows at the center of the table. The winner takes the entire pot after the showdown.
12. Any player can request a fresh deck of cards at any point in the game.

Understanding the game language

Several terms used by professional poker players might be confusing to rookie players. Let’s look at a few of them:

Hand: A hand denotes the set of cards with a player.

Check: A check is a move that passes the turn to the next player when the player is undecided on a call or a fold.

Call: A call implies matching the highest bet made so far at the table and adding it to the pot.

Raise: A raise happens when a player adds more than the highest bet until then to the pot.

Fold: A fold is quitting the hand and any attempt at the pot. Any amount the player puts into the pot before folding is lost.

Nail down the lingo as you learn how to play poker since you will be using it heavily in the gameplay.

Conclusion

As we can see, poker is a simple game with few rules designed to deliver thrill and excitement. It combines the uncertainties of a probabilistic card draw with the psychological game mindset that hooks players distinctly. Learning how to play poker is simple. Like any other game, you improve with each game and hone your skills. So set up your online account and start playing today.