Skip to main content

How to Play Poker for Beginners

The basic rules of how to play poker are simple. Poker is a game of skill and requires you to have a well-thought-out strategy. As one of the popular table card games across the globe, you can look forward to playing different titles.

These include Pai Gow Poker, Seven Card Stud, Texas Holdem, and more. We’ll go through the online poker rules and hands to help you make bets. Soon you’ll play like a pro and win real money.

Best Poker Casino Sites

#1

NZ$1600 Bonus

98% Payout

Rating: 4.9/5

98% Payout

NZ$1600 Bonus 98% Payout - Rating: 4.9/5
#2

NZ$2400 Bonus

99% Payout

Rating: 4.8/5

98% Payout

NZ$2400 Bonus 99% Payout - Rating: 4.8/5
#3

NZ$2000 Bonus

97% Payout

Rating: 5/5

97% Payout

NZ$2000 Bonus 97% Payout - Rating: 5/5
#4

NZ$3000 Bonus

98% Payout

Rating: 4.9/5

98% Payout

NZ$3000 Bonus 98% Payout - Rating: 4.9/5
#5

NZ$1600 Bonus

97% Payout

Rating: 5/5

97% Payout

NZ$1600 Bonus 97% Payout - Rating: 5/5

Learn How to Play Poker Online

An advantage of poker is that you get to know how to play poker at home. This means you’ll read about the casino card game and play poker online using your portable device or pc.

  • Select a Poker Game– familiarize yourself with the types of poker. Playing Texas Hold’em as the most popular variant is not the only way to go but rather go with the one you understand. Thereafter, you can learn other variants and play free poker or real money.
  • Make a Bet – you will have to place a bet after selecting your favourite casino game. You will be required to either make a normal and side bet depending on the variant.
  • Be Ready to Receive Cards– out of the standard 52-card deck the dealer will deal you cards. The cards are ranked from high to low; K, Q, J, 10-8, Ace. All suits are ranked equally while the Ace can be used as a high or low card.
  • Play Your Card Poker Hand – you will be dealt with five cards. You can then decide to call, match or fold which depends on the bets that have been placed.
  • It’s the Showdown! – the final round of poker is known as the showdown. Here, all hands are shown with the highest one winning the game.

Basic Poker Terms

when playing poker online you’ll need to know the language used. Luckily, our team of experts compiled poker terminology they thought would be valuable to understand the game.

  • Ante– a bet which players contribute to the seed pot. Games such as hold’em refer to these as “blinds”.
  • Bet– when you place a wager.
  • Call/match/raise– to match a bet or raise.
  • Come Hand – a drawing hand.
  • Check– choosing not to bet until the next round.
  • Equity– the rightful share of a poker pot.
  • Flop– first three cards dealt card face up after a player’s hand.
  • Fold – leaving the game.
  • Hit– a card that helps your poker hand.
  • River– the fifth or last card to be dealt.

Poker Hand Ranking

Below are how the different poker hands are ranked from highest to lowest:

  1. Straight– five cards of any suit in the same order.
  2. One Pair– a hand with two numerical matching cards.
  3. Two Pairs– a hand with two different pairs.
  4. Three-of-a-Kind– any three cards matching numerically.
  5. Royal Flush– J, K, Q, Ten, and Ace all of the same suit.
  6. Straight Flush– five cards of the same suit in a sequence.
  7. Four-of-a-Kind– any four cards matching numerically.
  8. Full House– a pair and three-of-a-kind in the same hand
  9. Flush– similar to the straight flush but the cards are in any order.
  10. High Card– highest ranking card in your hand with number 2 being the lowest and Ace the highest.

How to Play Poker Like A Pro

Some may say that Lady Luck will choose who wins the game. However,  say you can try to win poker using strategies that work. In the game of poker, you need to know what the poker hands mean.

It’s also important to know how other poker players move around the table. You can raise regularly in the game of poker and bluff so that other players reveal their hand.