Let's Play Poker

Learning to play poker can take a lot of time playing to perfect their game and to fully understand the rules. Any good poker player will tell you this. People aren't just born great poker players. This article is for anyone wanting to learn how to play poker. This article will teach you the basic principle of the poker game. With just a few easy tips you will be a novice poker player in no time at all.

The first thing that you should know when learning to play poker is the basic rules of the game. Without understanding this, playing poker may become very aggravating. Here are some basic rules you should follow.

1. Ante- Each player at the table must ante before they are dealt any cards. The amount of the ante can vary from a penny to thousands of dollars. You ante so that there will be something in the pot. This guarantees that some one will win something.

2. After everyone has put their ante into the pot. Your cards are dealt face down by the dealer. The deal starts with the first person on the dealers left and continues clockwise one card at a time until each player has five cards have been dealt. If the dealer is playing, then he deals himself last. Once all cards have been dealt, the deck is placed in the middle of the table face down and the game begins.

3. The cards that have been dealt to you are now called your hand. Once you take the cards in your hand and look at them. The first person dealt is the one that places the first bet. There are several ways in the wide world of poker to find who starts the betting, but it when players are new to the game it always best to let the first person dealt to place the first bet.

4. During the first round of betting players have several options. If a bet has not been made two options you have are:

Open- when you open, this simply means that if no one has placed a bet when your turn comes around then you can be the first one to place a bet.

Check- When it comes to your turn, if no betting has been done then you have the option to check. When you check it means that you don't want to open the betting but you don't want to quit either.

Now if it comes to your turn and bets have been placed, there are three options to choose from for you next move. They are:

See- This simply states that if there is a bet on the table when your turn comes around, you bet an equal amount.

Raise- In order for you to raise a bet, you first have to see the previous bet. When you raise this is pretty self explanatory. It simply means that after you see the previous bet, you can then raise the bet even higher.

Fold- If someone has opened before your turn, if you don't think your hand is a winning hand, and then you can fold. Folding is the legal porker term for giving up. When you fold you place your hand face down on the table.

5. After all players have made their decisions and placed their bets the game continues. Players are allowed to discard unwanted cards and receive an equal amount of new cards from the deck. No one is allowed to see what another player discarded or drew. The new cards are dealt face down.

6. After all players have their new cards in their hand, betting starts over again. You have the same options to choose from as you did in the last round of betting.

7. Once every one has placed their bets every one shows their hands to the other players at the table. The player with the highest ranking poker hand wins the pot.

Now that we have an understanding on the rules, let's try understanding the cards.

Poker is played with a standard deck of cards. A standard deck consists of 52 cards. The cards are separated into four suits: CLUBS, DIAMONDS, HEARTS, and SPADES. Each suit has thirteen cards numbered from 2 to the ace. 2 being the lowest ranking card and the ace being the highest ranking card. The way the cards are numbered are 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,J,K,Q,A. All suits are considered to have equal value so as to no suit is more powerful than the other.

If you want to win then you need to have the highest ranking hand. A poker hand consists of five cards. Here is a list of the different types of poker hands ranked highest to lowest:

Royal Flush- 10, J, Q, K, A all of the same suit.

Straight Flush- Five cards in sequence of the same suit.2, 3,4,5,6 of hearts is one example.

Four of a Kind- For cards of same number value from each of the four suits. An example would be 8 of clubs, 8 of hearts, 8 of spades, and 8 of diamonds.

Full House- A full house actually combines two different poker hands into one. Three cards of equal face value and a pair of equal face value.

Flush- Five cards of same suit, not in sequence.

Straight- five cards in sequence, but not same suit.

Three of a Kind- three cards of equal face value.

Two Pair- Two cards of equal face value, then another set of cards of equal face value.

One Pair- Two cards of equal face value.

High Card- The highest card in your hand if there is no hand to be made.

Okay, now we know the cards and their values. What next? Have you been around the poker table and listen to what the other players are saying? How do you understand what is being said? Here is a list of common poker lingo that you can study for your next poker night.

Bluff- When you bluff, you are essentially lying about what you have in your hand. This is a basic strategy of poker that is not suited for everyone. The purpose of the bluff is to convince the other players that your cards are better than they really are and scare them out of that particular hand letting you win the pot.

Aggressive play- One who bets extremely high in the early stages of the hand is an aggressive player, making others feel uncomfortable about their hands.

Conservative play- If you like to play it safe and bet the minimums and are not scared to fold if it looks unfavorable, then you are a conservative player.

Action- Action is a term used when there isn't enough money being risked at the poker table.

Tell- If there is a habit that you do when ever you have a good hand or a bad hand then this is called a tell. It lets other players know what kind of hand you have if they have been watching you. Tells can be very harmful to your pocket book, so be sure to practice your poker face and never let any one know what you tell is.

Alright, well we learned the basic rules, we learned card values and poker hands, and we learned some poker lingo. Now let's just look at some things to remember.

1. Bet smart- Being a smart better can bring you better luck with the way your money turns. At the end of the night you can still come out on top if you place your bids with careful timing.

2. If the going gets tough, the tough fold. If you are not quite sure how the outcome of the poker hand will turn out or you think your chances of getting better cards are slim, then don't be afraid to fold. It is smarter to get out early than to stay in and try to no avail. You just lose money.

3. Poker face- Remember that keeping a good poker face is the most important part of playing poker. Never let anyone see your poker tells. Almost all poker players watch the other players at their table to study them and to try and learn their tells. If someone figures out your tells then they will know what kind of hand you have by the way you place your bets.

4. Alcohol- When playing poker alcohol can hurt your poker game. If you have too much to drink you might bet sporadically and cost you much more than you want to lose.

5. Maintain control- Keep a cool head about you. Stay cool, calm and collected. Don't lose your head when it comes to bidding and don't blow your stack when you lose.

Now we know how to play basic poker. This article holds valuable information for the beginner poker player. I hope that you have benefited from this. Good luck and have fun.