Poker School

Cards

Hand Ranking

ROYAL FLUSH

STRAIGHT FLUSH

FOUR OF A KIND

FULL HOUSE

FLUSH

STRAIGHT

THREE OF A KIND

TWO PAIRS

ONE PAIR

Basic Rules

Poker is the name given to a variety of card games in which players’ hands are ranked by the cards available to them, whether held individually or shared by multiple players. Different poker games vary in the number of cards dealt, the hand rankings used, the number of hidden and shared cards available, the number of rounds of betting offered and the betting procedures followed. Typically, the winner of each hand of poker is the player that holds the best ranking hand when all cards are shown – this is known as “showdown” – or the player that makes the last uncalled bet, thus winning without needing to reach showdown.

Texas Hold 'em is probably the best known and most popular form of poker today.

As in most forms of poker, Texas Hold’em uses a standard 52-card deck that is shuffled before every hand.

Each player starts with two hole cards. There are three rounds of community cards. These are dealt face up, for every player to use, with betting after each round.

The best 5-card hand using any combination of the five community cards and two hole cards wins.

Each new hand begins with a small blind, a big blind, and a round of betting. The betting rules vary depending upon whether the game is Limit, Pot Limit or No Limit.

The Lingo

All-In: To place all of the chips you have on the table into the pot.

Back Door: A draw that requires two cards to complete a straight, flush, or full house. For example, to complete a flush the correct suit must hit on the turn and the river.

Bad Beat: Losing a hand in which you were a decisive favorite to win before the river card.

Bankroll: The amount of money you have available with which to play poker over a particular period of time.

Best of It: To be a favorite to win.

Bet: To place money into the pot.

Blind: Forced bet that must be made before the cards are dealt.

Bluff: To bet with an inferior hand in the hope that your opponents will fold.

Board: Community cards.

Bottom Pair: Having a pair containing the lowest card on the board.

Button: A token that represents the dealer position (the last to act in most games after the first round).

Call: To place an amount of money equal to a previous opponent's bet.

Check: To decline to bet or to pass when it is your turn to act.

Check-Raise: To check and then raise if an opponent bets.

Community Cards: Cards placed in the middle of the table and shared by all players.

Drawing Dead: Drawing to a hand that, even if it hits, will lose to a hand that is already better.

Expected Value (EV): The average amount you will win when betting in the same situation numerous times.

Favorite: To have the best chance to win.

Flop: The first three community cards in Texas Hold'em and Omaha.

Gutshot: A straight draw that requires a card in the middle to hit to complete the straight. It is also called a "belly buster" and an "inside straight draw."

Hand: The cards in a player's hand or one game of poker in which a pot is won. When you hear or read this term, understand it in its context so you won't be confused.

Heads-Up: Playing against a single opponent.

Hole Cards: The first cards dealt to you that your opponents cannot see.

Implied Odds: Bets that you can reasonably expect to collect in addition to the bets already in the pot if you hit your hand.

Kicker: A card used to break ties. In Hold'em, if you have A-5 with an ace on the board, your 5 is your kicker. If an opponent also has an ace and their kicker is higher, you lose.

Limit: The set amount or amounts that may be bet, often expressed as 5/10 ($5 bets on the first two rounds and $10 bets thereafter).

Limp-In: To enter a hand with a call before the flop.

Loose: To play more hands than should be played.

Middle Pair: To have a pair containing the second highest card on the board.

Muck: To discard a hand.

Outs: Cards that can come that will improve your hand.

Overcard: A card that is higher than other cards, usually in reference to community cards that are higher than your hole cards.

Pair: Two cards that are the same rank (such as two kings).

Position: Your place in the order of betting action. If you act first, you are in first position.

Pot: All money that has been bet in a hand.

Pot Odds: The mathematical computation of the odds of your hand improving, the amount of money in the pot, and the size of the bet you must call.

Quads: Four of a kind (such as four aces).

Raise: To place a higher bet than an opponent has already placed.

Rake: The amount a card room takes from each pot, usually a percentage that has a set upper limit.

Reraise: To raise after an opponent has raised.

Seat Charge: The amount of money some card rooms charge per hour to play in addition to, or in place of, a rake.

Semibluff: To bet with a hand that may not be the best but has a good chance to improve to the best hand.

Set: Three of a kind (such as three jacks).

Short Stacked: To have the smallest stack of chips at the table.

Side Pot: An additional pot created when one player is all in and two or more other players are still betting.

Steal: To force an opponent to fold when you don't have the best hand.

Suited: Cards of the same suit (such as 4 and 7).

Tell: An action that a player makes that gives away the strength of their hand.

Tight: To play fewer hands than normal.

Tilt: When a player is emotionally upset and starts making poor decisions.

Trips: Three of a kind (such as three queens).

Under the Gun: The first person who must act on the first round of betting.

Wired Pair: When your hole cards contain a pair.

Betting

No-Limit Texas Hold'em

People are drawn to No-Limit because of its unique mix of skill, chance and action, and because you can bet all of your chips at any point during the hand.

In Texas Hold'em, players are always faced with the ability to choose one of three options:

Check (or call).
Bet (or raise).
Fold. (In a scenario where you can check, folding makes no sense, but it's still an option.)

To call is simply to match the previous bet made (a check is the same thing, only when no bet has been made: in other words, a check is a call for free).
To fold is to throw away your hand and wait until the next deal to play again. Folding is always free.
If there has been no bet made yet, you have the option to bet. Once a bet is made, players to follow now have the option to raise the bet.
In No-Limit a minimum bet is equal to the size of the big blind, while a maximum bet is the total amount of all of your chips. (Only chips that were included in your stack before the cards were dealt for that hand count, meaning you can't add (or remove) chips during a hand.)
Once a bet has been made, the minimum you can raise is the size of the last bet. So if your opponent bets $5, the minimum raise you can make is $5 (for a total bet of $10). Again, the maximum raise is the total of whatever you have in front of you.
How big a No-Limit Hold'em cash game is played is determined by its blind size. A $1/$2 game will have $1/$2 blinds, and the buy-in will vary from poker room to poker room.
Generally the minimum buy-in will be 20 big blinds (so $40 in our example), and the maximum will be 100 big blinds ($200), though there are some casinos that spread games with no maximum buy-in.