How to Play Poker

Poker is a family of card games played for a pot: the chips wagered by all players during a hand. The pot is won by the player with the best hand at showdown, or by the last player remaining after all others have folded.

Poker is played with a standard 52-card deck without jokers. Cards rank from ace (high) down to 2. Suits have no rank.

Unlike most card games, the cards alone do not decide the winner. Because a player can win by betting when no one else will call, a weaker hand can win a pot. This is bluffing, and it is entirely within the rules.

Play proceeds clockwise. In a cardroom, a house dealer deals every hand and a disc called the dealer button marks which player is treated as the dealer for the purposes of betting order.

Players bet with chips rather than cash. In a cash game, chips represent real money. In a tournament, they are tournament chips with no cash value.

Each hand begins with forced bets so that there is something to win. Most games use blinds, posted by the two players to the left of the button. Stud games use antes, paid by every player, and a bring-in. See betting structures for the details.

A player may bet only the chips in front of them when the hand begins. This is the principle of table stakes. A player who runs out of chips during a hand is all in and can win only the part of the pot they contributed to.

A hand in a higher category always beats a hand in a lower one. Within a category, the higher cards win. Identical hands split the pot.

Some games award the pot, or half of it, to the lowest hand instead. These are covered on the Razz, Deuce-to-Seven and Omaha Hi-Lo pages.

Check: decline to bet, keeping the right to act later in the round. Only allowed when no one has bet on the current round.

Bet: put chips into the pot when no one else has bet on the current round.

Call: put in enough chips to match the current bet.

Raise: match the current bet and increase it. Other players must then call the new amount, raise again or fold.

Fold: give up the hand, forfeiting any chips already put in the pot.

A betting round ends when every player still in the hand has put in the same amount, or all but one have folded. Players shall act in turn; acting out of turn is a breach of the rules and of poker etiquette.

State your action clearly. A verbal declaration made in turn is binding, and pushing chips forward in several separate motions (a string bet) is not allowed.

Community card games. Players combine private hole cards with shared cards dealt face up in the centre. Examples: Texas Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, Short Deck and Pineapple.

Stud games. Each player receives their own cards, some face down and some face up, with a betting round after each street. There are no community cards. Examples: Seven Card Stud, Stud Hi-Lo, Razz and Five Card Stud.

Draw games. Each player receives a complete private hand and may discard and replace cards in one or more draws. Examples: Five Card Draw, 2-7 Triple Draw and Badugi.

Some games fit none of these families, such as Chinese Poker, and some formats rotate between several games, known as mixed games.

In a cash game, chips have a direct money value. Players may join or leave at any time and may buy more chips between hands, up to the table maximum. The blinds stay the same.

In a tournament, every player pays the same entry fee and receives the same number of chips. Blinds rise at set intervals, players are eliminated when they lose all their chips, and prizes are paid according to finishing position.

Tournaments follow additional procedures for seating, breaking tables, the bubble and penalties. See tournament rules.

Texas Hold'em is the recommended first game. It is the most widely offered in cardrooms and online, it has only two private cards per player, and its rules apply almost unchanged to many other games.

After Hold'em, Omaha is the natural next step. Players who want a game without community cards should try Seven Card Stud, and those who want the simplest home game should try Five Card Draw.

Learn the hand rankings before playing for money. The single most common beginner's error is misreading which hand wins; the second is forgetting that the dealer reads the hands, not the player.