| The rules of
Poker |
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Draw Poker is the basic form
of Poker and the place to start when introducing
new players to the game. It's fairly uncommon
these days in the casinos, but it is the form from
which all other Poker games are derived.
The essence of Draw Poker is that the player
builds a hand from 5 cards. After the initial
round of betting the player may discard some or
all of their cards and receive replacements. The
players cards should never be revealed until the
final Showdown, and are only then if absolutely
necessary (more on that later). During the game,
all cards are dealt and discarded face down.
There are two main things to learn when it comes
to Draw Poker. The first is Poker's 5-card hands
and their ranking. The second is the course of
play including when and how to bet.
Poker Hands
A poker hand is made from the best arrangement of
five cards and are ranked as follows, highest
first:
A five of a kind
Oonly possible when using wild cards, is the
highest possible hand. If more than one hand has
five of a kind, the higher cards wins, five Aces
will beat five kings, which beats five queens, and
continues on by the ranking of the cards.
A straight flush
Is the best natural hand. A straight flush is a
straight (5 cards in order, such as 7-8-9-10-J)
that are all of the same suit. As in a regular
straight, you can have an ace either high
(A-K-Q-J-T) or low (A-2-3-4-5). You can not use
the Ace in a wraparound and example would be
K-A-2-3-4, which is not a straight. An Ace high
straight-flush is called a Royal Flush and is the
highest natural hand.
Four cards of the same rank
Like four Aces or Four Kings. If there are two or
more hands that qualify, the hand with the
higher-rank four of a kind wins. Very rarely, I
mean really rarely, if you are playing a game with
alot of wild cards, you may have two four of a
kinds with the same rank. In this case you use the
High Card rule (number 10 on this list).
A full house
Is a three of a kind and a pair, such as
K-K-K-2-2. When there are two full houses the tie
is broken by the three of a kind. An example would
be J-J-J-5-5 would beat 9-9-9-A-A. If for some
reason the three of a kind cannot determine the
victor then you go to the pair to decide (this
would only happen in a game with wild cards). An
example of this would be K-K-K-A-A would beat
K-K-K-J-J.
A flush
Is a hand where all of the cards are the same
suit, such as A-J-9-7-5, all of Diamonds. When
flushes ties, follow the rules for High Card.
Five cards in rank order but not of the same suit
(it can be any combination of the four suits). An
example of a straight is 2-3-4-5-6. The Ace can
either be high or low card, either A-2-3-4-5 or
10-J-Q-K-A. Wraparounds are not allowed (an
example being K-A-2-3-4). When two straights tie,
the highest straight wins, K-Q-J-10-9 would beat
5-4-3-2-A. If two straights have the same value,
AKQJT vs AKQJT, the pot is split.
Three cards of any rank with the remaining cards
not being a pair (that would be a full house if it
were). Once again the highest ranking three of a
kind would win. K-K-K-2-4 would beat Q-Q-Q-2-3. If
both are the same rank (only in a wild card game),
then the High Card rule come into effect with the
remaining two.
Two distinct pairs of card and a 5th card. The
highest ranking pair wins ties. If both hands have
the same high pair, the second pair wins. If both
hands have the same pairs, the high card wins.
One pair with three distinct cards. Highest
ranking pair wins. High card breaks ties.
When a hand has none of the above qualications of
any of the ones listed above, nobody hads even a
pair or better, then it comes down to who is
holding the highest ranking card. If there is a
tie for the high card then the next high card
determines the pot, if that card is a tie than it
continues down till the third, fourth, and fifth
card. The High card is also used to break ties
when the high hands both have the same type of
hand (pair, flush, straight, etc).
There are no wild cards in Draw Poker. All suits
are ranked equally.
The Course of Play
A round of Poker begins with determining the
Dealer. The Deal usually rotates around the table
from the right: if you've just dealt then the
person on your left deals next. The Ante Once
assigned, the Dealer receives the deck and
shuffles. Each player pays the "ante"
which is a small, flat fee you pay to purchase the
right to play that round. If you don't ante it
means you are "sitting out". These
monies and all others in the game go into the
center of the table in a pile called "the
pot". Once the antes are in, the Dealer deals
one card at a time, face down, to each player
around the table, beginning on the Dealer's left.
Then the second card is dealt to each player, and
so on until each player has 5 cards, all face
down.
Pass, Bet or Fold
Players pick up their cards and assess their hand.
The player to the Dealer's left opens the betting
round by either placing a Bet, indicating a Pass
by placing no bet, or Folding by discarding their
hand. Call and Raise The next player to the left
now has the opportunity to Bet. Or they can Fold.
If the previous players Passed then they can Pass
too or place a Bet of their own. If other players
have Bet and they wish to stay in the round they
must Call by matching any outstanding bets. They
can then Raise by placing a bet of their own.
The betting then moves to the next player on the
left, then the next, and so on back to and
including the Dealer. Once the Dealer has placed
their bet, the other players must Call any
outstanding bets or Fold. Generally speaking, no
Raises are permitted once the betting has passed
around to the Dealer.
Discarding
Players may now Discard any or all of their cards
based on their hopes of building a better hand.
Cards are discarded face down and collected by the
Dealer.
Replacements
The Dealer now deals each player, starting on the
left, their replacement cards, face down. As
before the Player on the Dealer's left begins the
betting and the betting proceeds around the table.
Again, the Dealer gets the final Raise. Then
everyone else must Call or Fold. Finally, the
remaining players are ready for the Showdown. If
at any time there is only one player left in the
game they take the pot. This player is encouraged
to keep their cards hidden and muck them to the
Dealer.
Showdown
After the final betting round, and all the
necessary Calls, the players still in the game
have reached the Showdown. The player's hands are
revealed. The best hand wins and the winner takes
the pot.
If there are tied winning hands then the rank of
the individual cards determines the winner. For
instance Full House of Aces over Jacks beats a
Full House of Kings over Jacks. If it's still a
tie and there are no kickers (spare cards not used
to build the final hand) then the pot is split. If
the rank of the individual cards doesn't determine
the winner, then the kicker(s) of higher rank
determines the winner. If it's still a tie, the
pot is split.
If there are no "name" hands (all
players have No Pair), then the highest ranking
single card is declared the winning hand. If it
comes to a dead tie (no clear winner, all cards
same rank) then the pot is split. Suit is never
used to determine a winner in Poker.
Conclusion
While hands and betting are the basic rules, there
is much, much more to being a successful Poker
player. Poker is not about having the highest
ranking hand, it's about winning the biggest pots.
How you do that, short of cheating, is your
business and that is what makes Poker the beloved
game that it is.
Do you want to read more about Keno:
• Introduction
• Rules
• Strategy
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