How to play poker: learning the poker rules

3. Knowing the poker hands

Depending on the type of game, players need to form the best combination of 5 cards (hands) based on the 2 cards they receive from the dealer the "hole cards" (2 private cards dealt to each player) and the 5 "community cards" (5 cards placed in the centre of the table available to all players).

There are 10 poker hands that every player should know when learning how to play poker. Before even launching yourself into a game, you should know which combinations are the most valuable.

4. Cards distribution and blinds

The action of all poker variants moves in a clockwise direction around the table.

The two players to the left of the dealer start a new game by each paying a forced bet:

• Small blind: This is paid by the player to the dealer's immediate left.

• Big blind: This is paid by the player to the small blind's immediate left. The price of the big blind is twice the size of the small blind.

The dealer deals one card to each player starting with the small blind. The dealer then deals a second card to all the players, again, starting with the small blind. Players keep their own cards, known as hole cards, face down so their opponents cannot see them. 

It is time to start the betting rounds once every player has two hole cards in front of them.

5. Betting rounds during a game

In the most popular poker variants, a game consists of 4 rounds of bets:

A. Pre-flop

Preflop is the first betting round. The action starts with the player to the immediate left of the big blind.

They have three possible choices to make:

• Fold: Folding is when you do not want to invest any more money in the hand, usually because you have poor hole cards. Folding sees you give your cards back to the dealer, and the action moves to the player to your left.

• Call: During the preflop betting round, calling is matching the current largest bet at the table.

• Raise: Raising is when you decide to increase the previous bet's size. You can even bet all of your chips, which is known as going all-in.

If you raise, the remaining players may call your raise (match its size), fold and give up their hand, or make a raise of their own.

B. The flop

The dealer deals the first three community cards onto the table once the preflop betting round concludes. This is called the flop and is a crucial stage of a poker hand because everyone can now make a five-card poker hand.

Betting follows a similar pattern to preflop, except players can now "check" if they do not want to bet and nobody else has bet before them. Once everyone has acted and there are at least two players remaining in the hand, the dealer deals the next community card.

C. The turn

Once all players have laid down their bets another community card is dealt and shown to the table. Another round of betting takes place before moving onto the final round.  

D. The river

There are now five community cards in view, plus your own hole cards for a total of seven cards. You must now make the best five-card poker hand. A final round of betting takes place, resulting in one of two things happening.

E. The showdown

If at least two players remain in the hand after betting is completed, the hand goes to a showdown. Here, the player with the best five-card poker hand wins the pot. If everyone but one players folds, the player who did not fold wins the pot without the need for a showdown.

Getting a grip on the main poker rules is not too complex. But to take your game to the next level, it is important to keep growing your poker knowledge, practice but also learn from your previous games and sharpen your poker strategy.