In poker each player gets a number of cards where after it is time to convince the other players that you have or will have the best combination of cards. The convincing is made by putting your money where your mouth is.
Not Just A Game, Nor One Game
Poker isn’t just a game. Perhaps you have encountered poker players that are so passionate about poker that it becomes unfair labeling it as “just a game”. Anyway poker is distinguished from many other games for reasons implied in the first paragraph. The aim of the game is not solely getting the best hand. If that would be the case then poker would be a game of chance. As it is now skill will win you money.
Neither is poker one game. Rather, poker is a group of related games with a number of elements in common such as hand rankings, betting, bluffing and a few other things too. Poker has been described as a game of money played with cards. Although this saying might be a bit bold, it does capture the fact that: poker is wagering, with the cards constituting the odds.
The Most Distinguishing Characteristic of Poker
Poker is different than all other casino games because you are playing against the other players, not the house. The casino does not make their money based on what you lose. Instead the casino/poker room takes a fee for supplying you with the game. All other casino games have rules that ensure the casino a mathematical advantage over the player. In poker, all is fair and square. You are competing against the other players and you are all governed by the same basic conditions.
Poker in the Bigger Picture
Playing against other people requires knowledge about people. With this latest addition it has been, so far, suggested that poker is a game of people as well as a game of odds, courage, and deceitfulness. This means that a diversity of people with many different personalities can enjoy and be successful at poker.
Poker is many things. This article conveys the contour of poker but still it only touches the surface. Best wishes exploring further, poker has many levels and it is rewarding finding out more about them.
Poker Card Rankings
Knowing the winning poker hands is the crucial difference between a win and a loss. Texas hold’em poker hand rankings are not only important for playing winning poker, but for any level you will need to learn this first and it will also be the last thing that you will learn. But the only thing that you need to know throughout your poker playing career is that the player with the highest hand wins.
The cards are ranked from 2 to A. and the sub ranking goes like hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades. Poker suits have no value. They are just used for determining the flush. This constitutes the Texas hold’empoker hand rankings.
If you end up with poker hands which are from the same poker card rankings category, then there are sub rules which will decide the game. In such cases, the category with the higher ranked combination will be better than the one which is lower.
These are the rules of Texas hold’em poker. If the two hands also have the same ranked categories, then the tie breaker comes into play. It’s also called the kicker card or the fifth card. And then if the poker hands are all belonging to one and the same category, then the pot will be split.
So if you do not get a royal flush, you need not despair. Your opponents are also facing the very same odds that you are. A straight flush is also a pretty strong hand. In fact it is the second strongest one. It constitutes a series of numbers with the same suit. This happens once in every 70000 attempts. Not bad compared to getting a royal flush.
Then there is four of a kind. Here you will have four cards of the same rank. The fifth card that you have is the kicker.
Full house is the next one. It has three cards of the same rank and a pair.
Then you have the flush. This is not like the straight flush. Here you will have 5 cards of the same suit, but they need not be consecutive. This is a pretty common set. Any poker game would usually have a set like this every time.
The straight hand is where you have five consecutive cards which are not of the same suit.
Three of a kind is when you have three cards which are of the same rank. The other two cards are the kickers.
Two cards of a rank and two other cards of the same rank along with a fifth which is a kicker are called two pairs. If you know so much, it should suffice for a beginner. You will have to first start out by trying to get at least the lower ones and then you can target the big poker hand nicknames.
