How do you play poker

The easiest option is to head over to one of the many real-money online poker clients and try your luck there. All poker software providers offer play money versions for you to test your abilities. We have tested and reviewed all poker sites on the market and those are the best ones we can recommend in Once the first betting round in complete the dealer deals three cards face-up on the board.

These are community cards that anyone can use. This is called the flop. Once again everyone still in the hand gets a chance to bet and consequently raise or fold. Once that betting round is complete he dealer puts a fourth card on the table that anyone can use. This is called the turn.

The dealer puts a fifth card on the board that anyone can use. This is called the river. If more than one player is still left in the hand after the final betting hand the cards are exposed and the player with the highest ranked hand wins the pot. But they're not as complicated as you might think.

The small blind and big blind are both relatively small bets that the two players on the direct left of the dealer are forced to put in the pot before every hand starts. You can think of them as an ante if that makes it easier for you. Otherwise players could fold every hand with no consequences, which would be a problem.

There are a lot of other strategies you can work on before getting into bluffing. We'll walk you through some of them below. All that said, if you really want to start dipping your feet into the art of bluffing then we suggest the semi-bluff. A cash game is a poker game that has a minimum and maximum buy-in for the table and set blinds that never change. All players must play with only the money in front of them at the table but they can get up and leave at anytime.

If a player loses all his money he or she can go get more and retake a seat at the table. A poker tournament, on the other hand, has a set buy-in amount and all of the money players pay to play is collected into a prize pool minus a small percentage fee for the organizers.

Multiple players are used to accommodate all the players and everyone begins with the same starting stack of chips. The blinds start small but then increase in increments over time. That forces players to make moves or they'll run out of chips. As players lose all their chips the tables are combined until just one table remains.

The player at that table who collects all the chips from other players is the winner of the tournament. You generally want to be playing good hands when you are just starting out. But what are good hands? Also: Try to avoid calling a lot. How come? You can win a pot without showing your cards by betting. Furthermore experienced poker players will take beginner poker players for a ride.

Poker has a way of making even the most experienced players look absolutely silly. The best Poker hand then takes the pot. If a player makes a bet or a raise that no other player calls, they win the pot without showing their hand.

Thus, in Poker, there is a bluffing element, and the best combination of cards does not always win the pot! Bluffing is one of the key reasons why Poker is so popular.

If a player wishes to remain in the game without betting, they "check. If another player has bet, they cannot check but must at least call the bet or drop. A player who checks may raise a bet that has been raised by another player.

This is called "sandbagging," which is allowed, unless it has been decided beforehand that this practice is forbidden. If all players check during a round of play, the betting interval is over, and all the players still in the pot remain in the game. In each betting round, one player is designated as the first bettor, according to the rules of the game.

The turn to bet always moves to the left, from player to player, and no one may check, bet, or even drop, except when it is their turn.

The ranking of Poker hands is based on mathematics. The less likely a player is to get a certain hand, the higher it ranks and the more likely it is to win the pot. For example, a player should not expect to be dealt a straight flush more than once in 65, hands, but they can expect to be dealt two pair about once in every 21 hands. Unless a player is planning to bluff, they should not make a bet without holding a hand that they think may be the best. No Poker player can bet intelligently unless they know what constitutes a good hand, a fair hand, and a bad hand.

A table of the various Poker hands and the number of combinations of each in a pack of cards is provided. By unanimous or majority agreement, the players may establish a special fund called a "kitty. The kitty belongs to all the players equally, and it is used to pay for new decks of cards or for food and drinks.

Any chips left in the kitty when the game ends are divided equally among the players who are still in the game. Unlike the rule in some other games, such as Pinochle, when a player leaves a Poker game before it ends, they are not entitled to take their share of chips that comprised part of the kitty. Poker is almost always played with poker chips. For a game with seven or more players, there should be a supply of at least chips.

Usually, the white chip or the lightest-colored chip is the unit, or lowest-valued chip, worth whatever the minimum ante or bet is; a red chip or some other colored chip is worth five whites, and a blue chip or some other dark-colored chip is worth 10 or 20 or 25 whites or two, four or five reds. At the start of the game, each player "buys in" by purchasing a certain number of chips.

All of the players usually buy in for the same amount. One player should be designated as the banker, who keeps the stock of chips and records how many have been issued to each player or how much cash the player has paid for their chips. Players should make no private transactions or exchanges among themselves; a player with surplus chips may return them to the banker and receive credit or cash for them, while a player who wants more chips should obtain them only from the banker.

There are different ways of fixing a betting limit. Some limit is necessary; otherwise a player with a lot more money would have, or would be perceived to have, an unfair advantage. Once fixed, the limit should be unalterable throughout the game unless the players unanimously agree to change the stakes.

Some popular limit systems follow:. No one may bet or raise by more than a stipulated number of chips, for example, two, or five, or Usually this limit varies with the stage of the game: In Draw Poker, if the limit is five before the draw, it might be ten after the draw. In Stud Poker, if the limit is five in the first four betting intervals, it is 10 in the final betting interval and often ten whenever a player has a pair or better showing.

Any bet or raise is limited to the number of chips in the pot at that time. This means that a player who raises may count as part of the pot the number of chips required for the player to call.

If there are six chips in the pot, and a bet of four is made, the total is 10 chips; it requires four chips for the next player to call, making 14; and the player may then raise by 14 chips. But even when the pot limit is played, there should be some maximum limit, such as 50 chips. The limit for each player is the number of chips the player has in front of them.

If the player has only 10 chips, they may bet no more than 10 and he may call any other player's bet to that extent. In table stakes, no player may withdraw chips from the table, or return chips to the banker, until they leave the game.

A player may add to their stack, but only between the deal just completed and the beginning of the next deal. In a fixed-limit game, it is often agreed that following any very good hand - a full house or better, for example - there will be one deal by each player of Jackpots, in which everyone antes double, and the betting limit is doubled for these deals as well. A maximum limit is put on the number of chips any player may lose. Each takes out one stack at the start; if they lose that stack, the banker issues the player another, without charging for it, and in many cases, the player can get still a third stack free before dropping out of the game.

Some limit should be placed on the number of free stacks so that a player will have the incentive to play carefully. Don't start to play poker for real money right away. Try out the games for free first. That's the only way to discover if you have really learned how to play poker. Don't miss the updated list of the best free poker sites in ! There are countless options to give the game a test run, but the best way is to try out the real deal.

Sign up for a poker account with one of the big online poker rooms and give the freerolls a try. And if you want to try out cash games instead of tournaments, all major poker sites online have so-called play money tables.

That way you can practice the game, learn the rules, and figure out how the software works, readying yourself for the big stage. Register a free gaming account and test your poker knowledge in the next freeroll! Join the PokerNews Community. User Account Sign in. Selected Region Global. Other Sites PokerNews Apps. The dealer will always pass out the cards in a clockwise direction, starting on the left. Bet, call, or raise after each round is dealt if you want to.

Every time the dealer puts out new cards, you'll make a bet, with the first bet being made solely based on the two cards the players have in their hands. Betting happens in a circle — when it's your turn to bet, you have a few options.

At this point you can: [3] X Research source Place an initial bet if no one else has yet. Say "check" to avoid betting. Say "call" to match the bet someone else has made. Say "raise" to add more money to the betting pool.

If you "raise," the other players will go around in a circle and choose to either "call" your new bet or fold.

Say "fold" if someone else has bet and you don't want to match their bet. If you fold, turn your cards into the dealer face-down to avoid giving the other players any advantages! After the first round of betting, the dealer will "burn" the top card on the deck. Then, they'll put 3 cards face-up on the table, which is called the "flop. Compare these cards and the cards in your hand, then place a bet, call a bet, or fold.

You will have 7 cards total to use to create your best hand of 5: your two personal cards in your hands, and the five community cards on the table. While your luck can turn later on in a game, take some time to analyze the table after the "flop" — are you well-positioned to end the game with a good hand?

This is usually done during or just after the betting round. The dealer will "burn" the top card, then they'll place 1 card face up next to the flop. Check all of the cards on the table and the cards in your hand to see if you want to bet, call, or raise. As you look at the cards, think about the possible hands other players might have. For instance, if all 4 cards on the table are spades, then any player who has a spade in their hand will have a flush, which means they have 5 cards from the same house.

Similarly, if the cards on the table are 5,6,7, and 8, then anyone with a 4 or 9 will have a straight. Examine the "river" card and decide on the hand you'll play. Then, bet, call, or fold. Then, everyone looks at the turned over hands to see who has the highest value hand to win the entire pot. You can create any 5-card combination using these 7 cards. Part 2. Guesstimate the risks on your starting hand. Check for a pair, 2 consecutive numbers, cards that are from the same house, or face cards, which may be good cards.

You should almost always raise when your hand is a pair, face cards, or aces. An ace and a king or an ace and a queen are strong hands as well. If you have these hands, bet before the flop to raise the value of the pot. Sometimes, with good bluffing skills and some luck, a bad hand can win the whole game.

Start the bidding with the player to the left of the big blind or dealer. On the first round, bidding starts to the left of the big blind. In later rounds, the bidding starts to the left of the dealer. From there, the bidding goes clockwise. When you call, match the bet of the person before you by adding your chips or money to the pot. Your turn is now over. If the flop comes and you have a strong hand, bet at it. This will force weaker hands out and raise the value of your pot.

Raise the bet if you have a good hand. When the bet comes to you, tell the other players you want to raise. Then, say how much you are betting and place your money or chips into the pot. This ends your turn. Fold if the current bet is too high or you have a bad hand.

This means quitting the round of poker. That may give certain players an upper hand. The key to being successful at poker is knowing when to fold your hand and accept a smaller loss or when to hold onto it and risk a larger loss for a chance to win the pot. Decide if you want to draw any cards if the game allows it. Look at your cards and decide if you want to play this hand. Then, draw replacement cards from the draw pile at the center of the table. When you are learning, you should never gamble more than you would consider acceptable to lose.

The general rule of thumb is you should be able to easily afford to lose bets at the highest limit. Track your wins and losses if you start getting more serious about poker. This will help you figure out whether you are winning or losing in the long run. Remember that you must keep records and pay taxes on your gambling income to avoid legal trouble.

Learn to read basic tells. Playing your opponents is arguably even more important than playing your cards in poker. Watch for betting patterns such as betting early, very often probably with weak hands , or late in a hand as intimidation. A hand over the mouth is usually to conceal a smile, while shaking hands usually reveal nerves. If a player glances at his or her chips when the flop comes, they probably have a strong hand.

If a mediocre player tries to impress you by staring you down, they are likely bluffing. Identify conservative players from aggressive players.

This will help you determine players' betting patterns and read them more easily.