How to Play Poker

Poker is a card game that involves betting among players and where the twin elements of luck and skill come into play. Over time, the application of skill can virtually eliminate the variance of chance.

Cards are dealt from a standard 52-card pack (though some variant games use multiple packs or add jokers). There is one round of betting before all cards are revealed and the player with the best 5-card hand wins the pot. If no player has a winning hand, the pot is shared among all players.

The first step is to place an initial contribution, called the ante, into the pot. Each player then decides whether to call, raise or fold their hand. Say “I open” if you want to raise the betting, and then take turns clockwise in raising the bet by at least the agreed minimum amount. Say “I check” if you aren’t raising the bet, or if no one else has opened and you wish to stay in the betting.

After the flop, the cards are revealed and each player has to make a five-card poker hand from their two personal cards and the community cards. A high poker hand is a pair of matching cards, three of a kind or a straight. Four of a kind is four matching cards of the same rank, and flushes are 5 consecutive cards in the same suit (J-8-5-3-2, for example). Ties break as per High Card rules.