Find Poker - Everything poker without the extensive searching
| Home |
| Poker Interest: |
| Poker News |
| World Series of Poker '07 |
| Poker Games |
| Free Poker |
| History of the Game: |
| History of Poker |
| History of Royal Hold'Em |
| How to Play: |
| How to Play Poker |
| Poker Hands Explained |
| Seven Card Stud |
| Video Poker |
Poker Hands Explained
Poker has become one of the most popular games in the world. Texas Hold ‘Em in particular is popular in casinos all over the world and is played online by millions of players.
There are many ways to explain poker hands. First, we will look at the hand rankings. These are standard for all forms of poker.
 |
The best hand possible is a royal flush. This is five consecutive cards of the same suit, 10 through ace. For instance, 10s, Js, Qs, Ks, As. This is also considered a straight flush, which is the top ranked had. You can have a straight flush that is not a royal flush – example 2s-3s-4s-5s-6s.
Four of a kind is the second best hand, that is all four of the cards in a deck (example: Js, Jc, Jd, Jh).
This is followed by a full house, which is three of one cards and two of an another (example: Js, Jd, Jh, 2h, 2s).
Next is a flush, which is five cards of the same suit, non-consecutive.
After a flush comes a straight – five consecutive cards of different suits.
After that is three of a kind, followed by two pair, followed by a high card.
These are the final hands.
Texas Hold ‘Em is the most popular game in the world. These final hands differ from starting hands, which are also very important.
In Texas Hold ‘Em, players who stick to the best starting hands generally play well. The top rated starting hand is a pair of aces, or AA. It is followed by KK.
There is a pretty significant drop-off in success rates after these two hands, but QQ, JJ, AK suited and 10-10 are next on the list, followed by AK offsuit, AQ suited, KQ suited, AQ offsuit.
These top 10 hands are the best ones to play in most situations. Keep in mind they are starting hands, and that there are still five cards to come. But if you play top 10 starting hands aggressively, you will be more effective as a player.
There are other forms of poker with different starting hand requirements. Omaha, for instance, deals four cards to the player.
But Hold ‘Em is the game played by most players, and the way the game is structured favors players who play better hands. A player is dealt two cards face down, and combines them with five community cards on the board.to form the best five card hand.
But there are rounds of betting that can limit how many cards a player will actually see.
Here’s how it works: two cards are dealt face down, and there is a round of betting. After the betting, three community cards are dealt face up, then there is another round of betting.
This is where it gets tricky, because you have to have a good enough hand to stay in. For instance, if you have two spades in your hand and two on the board, there is a flush draw. What do you do? Stay in? Fold?
It all depends on the board, how much is bet, and how much more you have to commit.
After the flop, which is the initial three community cards and the round of betting that follows, another card is dealt. This is called the turn. Another round of betting follows and the same choices exist.
This is followed by the final card – the river – and one more round of betting. At that point you will have a complete hand to choose from.
This is how poker hands work, especially in Hold ‘em. Once you have this basic understanding, you are ready to play.
| Copyright ©2008 :: www.find-poker.net :: Poker Resources | ||