Poker Basic
Like most games, the aim of poker is to win. Whether you're playing for fun or for money, poker will test your skills and strategic abilities. There are many varieties of poker games but they all follow the same basic format:
- Players contribute toward a central 'pot' that contains play chips or chips representing actual money
- Players are dealt cards (a 'hand'), some or all of which are concealed
- Wagers are made on the strength of the cards in rounds of betting
- After the betting rounds are over, the player with the strongest hand - or the last player left standing after the others have folded - wins!
No matter which type of poker you want to play, it's crucial that you understand the deck and that you know the rank of hands.
The Deck of Card
Source: Party Poker
A deck consists of 52 cards. These cards are divided into four suits, each of which contains 13 ranks.
The Four Suits
The suits are all of equal value. That is to say, no suit is higher than any other suit.
The Thirteen Ranks
In poker, the ace is the highest card and the 2 (deuce) is the lowest. However, the ace can be used as a low card to form the straight 5432A.
Hand Ranking
Source: PartyPoker
The rank of hands remains the same no matter which type of poker game you play.
In a nutshell, a poker hand consists of five cards. Poker hands fall into one of several categories, such as flush, straight, or two pair. The player with the highest ranking hand is the winner.
A royal flush is an ace high straight flush.
A straight flush is a five-card straight, all in the same suit.
Quads, or four of a kind, are four cards of equal rank
A full house, contains a set (three) of cards of one rank and a pair of another rank
A flush is any five cards, all of the same suit
Five cards of sequential rank. Every possible straight will contain either a 5 or a 10.
Three cards of the same rank
A two pair is two cards of one rank and another two cards of another rank
One pair is two cards of the same rank
The hand with the highest card(s) wins
In the event of a tie with either four of a kind, three of a kind, two pair, or one pair, the highest unpaired side card or 'kicker' in a player's hand wins the pot.
For example: Player A: Kc, Kh, 6s, 6h, Qh
Player B: Ks, Kh, 6s, 6h, 9d
Player A wins the hand with Q kicker.
Some games are called Hi/Lo Games (Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo and Omaha Hi/Lo) because to win the pot, not only do you need to consider the rank of hands explained above (Hi) but also the lowest hand (Lo). The pot is then split between two winning hands: the high one and the low one.
We've covered the high hands above. A low hand is a hand that contains five different cards inferior or equal to 8. Ex: A- 2- 4- 7- 8
PartyPoker.com offers two games where the pot is split between the best high hand and the best low hand - Omaha Hi/Lo and 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo. Hi/Lo games are played with an 'eight qualifier' for the low hand, where a player must have five unpaired cards lower than eight in order to win the low part of the pot.
Straights and flushes do not count toward a low hand, and aces are treated as the lowest card. Hands with five cards of equal rank share the low pot equally, regardless of suit.
In Hi/Lo games, as played on PartyPoker.com, the best possible low hand is a 5-high straight, called a wheel or a bicycle. Should two or more players have wheels/bicycles, the low portion of the pot is split. All wheels/bicycles are equal regardless of suit.
If nobody gets five different cards inferior or equal to eight, then there is no low hand and only the highest hand is taken into consideration to elect the winner. There will only be one winner and the pot won't be split.
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