Poker Rules

Whether you’re going to play poker online or at home, for fun or for money, you’ll need to know some basic poker rules. Poker is a game of skill and strategy, and therefore, it’s a good idea to have a reasonable understanding of the game. There are many varieties of poker games, however they all follow the same basic rules:

  • Players donate some chips into a central ‘pot’.
  • Players are dealt cards known as a ‘hand’, some or all of which are dealt face down.
  • Bets are made on the strength of the player’s cards, there may be several rounds of betting.
  • At the end of the betting rounds, the player with the strongest hand, or the last player left in the game after all other players fold wins!

Which ever type of poker you what to play it is important that you understand the deck and that you know the poker hand rankings.


The Deck

A deck of playing cards has 52 cards. The cards are divided into 4 suits, each suit having 13 ranks.

The deck also contains two jokers which in some poker games can be used as ‘wild cards’.



The Suits

The four suits in the deck of cards are Spades, Hearts, Clubs and Diamonds. This is where the differences end as they are all of equal value.

The ace of Spades in a poker card deck
Spades
The ace of Hearts in a poker card deck
Hearts
The ace of Clubs in a poker card deck
Clubs
The ace of Diamonds in a poker card deck
Diamonds

The Ranks

There are thirteen ranks in each suit, with the Ace the highest card and the 2 (Deuce) the lowest card. However, the Ace can be used as a low card to form the low straight 5432A.

The ace of Diamonds in a poker card rank
Ace
The king of Diamonds in a poker card rank
King
The queen of Diamonds in a poker card rank
Queen
The jack of Diamonds in a poker card rank
Jack
The ten of Diamonds in a poker card rank
Ten
The nine of Diamonds in a poker card rank
Nine
The eight of Diamonds in a poker card rank
Eight
The seven of Diamonds in a poker card rank
Seven
The six of Diamonds in a poker card rank
Six
The five of Diamonds in a poker card rank
Five
The four of Diamonds in a poker card rank
Four
The three of Diamonds in a poker card rank
Three
The two of Diamonds in a poker card rank
Two
Bottom of poker card