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Poker Basics
Most variants of poker satisfy the
following definition, but in a home game of course you are free to modify
the rules as you see fit.
Poker is a card game in which players bet into a communal pot during the
course of a hand, and in which the player holding the best hand at the end
of the betting wins the pot. During a given betting round, each remaining
player in turn may take one of four actions:
Check; a bet of zero
that does not forfeit interest in the pot
Bet or raise; a
nonzero bet greater than preceding bets that all
successive players must match
or exceed or else forfeit all
interest in the pot
Call; a nonzero bet
equal to a preceding bet that maintains a player's interest in the pot
Fold; a surrender of
interest in the pot in response
to
another player's bet, accompanied by the loss of
one's
cards and previous bets
Betting usually proceeds in a circle until each
player has either called all bets or folded. Different poker games have
various numbers of betting rounds interspersed with the receipt or
replacement of cards.
Poker is usually played with a
standard 4-suit 52-card deck, but a joker or other wild cards may be
added. The ace normally plays high, but can sometimes play low, as
explained below. At the showdown, those players still remaining compare
their hands according to the following rankings:
1. Straight flush, five cards of the
same suit in sequence, such as 76543 of hearts. Ranked by the top card, so
that AKQJT is the best straight flush, also called a royal flush. The ace
can play low to make 5432A, the lowest straight flush.
2. Four of a kind, four cards of the same rank
accompanied by a "kicker", like 44442. Ranked by the quads, so
that 44442 beats 3333K.
3. Full house, three cards of one rank
accompanied by two of another, such as 777JJ. Ranked by the trips, so that
44422 beats 333AA.
4. Flush, five cards of the same suit, such as
AJ942 of hearts. Ranked by the top card, and then by the next card, so
that AJ942 beats AJ876. Suits are not used to break ties.
5. Straight, five cards in sequence, such as
76543. The ace plays either high or low, making AKQJT and 5432A.
"Around the corner" straights like 32AKQ are usually not
allowed.
6. Three of a kind, three cards of the same rank
and two kickers of different ranks, such as KKK84. Ranked by the trips, so
that KKK84 beats QQQAK, but QQQAK beats QQQA7.
7. Two pair, two cards of one rank, two cards of
another rank and a kicker of a third rank, such as KK449. Ranked by the
top pair, then the bottom pair and finally the kicker, so that KK449 beats
any of QQJJA, KK22Q, and KK445.
8. One pair, two cards of one rank accompanied by
three kickers of different ranks, such as AAK53. Ranked by the pair,
followed by each kicker in turn, so that AAK53 beats AAK52.
9. High card, any hand that does not qualify as
one of the better hands above, such as KJ542 of mixed suits. Ranked by the
top card, then the second card and so on, as for flushes. Suits are not
used to break ties.
Suits are not used to break ties, nor are cards
beyond the fifth; only the best five cards in each hand are used in the
comparison. In the case of a tie, the pot is split equally among the
winning hands.
Several variations are possible when playing for
low. Some games permit the ace to play low and ignore straights and
flushes, making 5432A the best possible low, even if it makes a straight
flush. Other games just reverse the order used for high hands, making
75432 of mixed suits the best possible low. Still others count straights
and flushes against you but let the ace play low, making 6432A best. Note
that in most games in which the ace plays low, a pair of aces is lower
than a pair of deuces, just as an ace is lower than a deuce.
When a joker is in play, it usually can only be
used as an ace or to complete a straight or flush. It cannot be used as a
true wild card, for example, as a queen to make QQ43X play as three
queens. When playing for low, the joker becomes the lowest rank not
already held, so 864AX is played as 8642A, with the joker used as a deuce.
Although true wild cards are rarely seen in a
casino, they are a popular way to add excitement to a home game. Wild
cards introduce an additional hand, five of a kind, which normally ranks
above a straight flush. They can also cause confusion when two players
hold the same hand composed of different wild card combinations. The
standard rules of poker do not distinguish between such hands, but some
players prefer to rank hands using fewer wild cards above less
"natural" versions of the same hand.
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