Poker is a straightforward, fun, and easy-to-learn game. It will bring you countless hours of fun and many challenges for your mind. This guide explains the basic rules and gameplay so you can start playing today.

It is important to point out that poker comes in many different variations, but most types of poker share similar basic rules. The most popular version is called Texas Hold’em; we bet you’ve heard of it.

Most poker games use the same ranking system for hands, so knowing which hand is better when you show your cards is essential. Different betting structures, like no-limit, pot-limit, and fixed-limit, can be used in various card games.

Let’s ger started?

Hand Rankings

In most poker games, your goal is to make the best five-card poker hand using standard hand rankings.

These hand rankings apply to most types of poker, except for a few games that use different low-ranking hands. The best hand is a royal flush, the next best is a straight flush, and so on, down to the lowest-ranking hand, which is just a high card.

The poker hand rankings cheat sheet we offer serves as an excellent tool to assist you in memorizing the various poker hand rankings. This resource will prove valuable to you, whether you’re engaged in online poker or participating in traditional, in-person poker games.

Blinds and Antes

In numerous poker variations, the small blind and big blind act as forced bets that play a central role. The blinds system is crucial in the world’s top two poker games, Texas Hold’em and Omaha. It’s vital to understand the mechanics of these obligatory bets.

In games with blinds, every hand starts by placing the big blind one spot to the immediate left of the small blind. Players in these positions have to contribute set betting amounts before each hand. The small blind is positioned directly left of the dealer button at all times.

In most poker games, the minimum bet equals the big blind amount. For example, in a cash game listed as $1/$2, the small blind is $1, and the big blind is $2. So, in this case, the minimum bet in any round is $2.

Antes are required bets that can be placed by all players at the table or specifically by the big blind player in certain formats.

As an illustration, consider a cash game with stakes of $2/$5 and a $1 ante. In this scenario, every player at the table must contribute $1 to the pot before each hand. This extra amount, along with the blinds, results in larger starting pots than games without an ante.

Betting Options

During a poker hand you have 5 options, familiarize yourself with these options:

• Check: Stay in the hand without betting (as long as nobody else bets).
• Bet: The first player to put money in the pot starts off the betting. Other players must then decide whether to call, fold or raise.
• Fold: Discard your cards, relinquishing the opportunity to remain in the hand and compete for the pot.
• Call: Match the full amount that has been bet by another player in order to stay in the hand.
• Raise: Increase the current bet’s value. Other players will have to decide among folding, calling, or further raising your bet.

Betting Structures

Almost all poker games are played at three different betting structures (or limits), they dictate how bets are made and the game is played. These structures can be classified into these three main categories: Fixed Limit (Limit), Pot Limit, and No Limit.

• No Limit: In No Limit poker games, as the name suggests, players don’t have a maximum limit on their bets. However, there’s a caveat – your betting is limited by the chips you have on the table. For instance, in a cash game, you can’t simply add more funds from your wallet to boost your bet beyond what’s on the table. This principle is known as “table stakes”.
• Fixed Limit: Fixed Limit is usually reffered to as “Limit” and in contrast to No Limit poker games, Limit games set restrictions on how much you can bet. The defining feature is that players can only bet a specific amount at a time, depending on the phase of the hand.
• Pot Limit: While No Limit games offer unrestricted betting and Fixed Limit tables adhere to rigid bet sizes, Pot Limit poker strikes a balance between the two. In Pot Limit games, your bet size is limited to the current size of the pot.

>> See our complete guide to betting structures by clicking here.

How to play Texas Hold’em

Since Texas Hold’em is currently the most widespread poker game, we’ll guide you through its basic and fundamental rules. This will provide a practical illustration of the concepts we discussed earlier.

In Texas Hold’em, every player receives two hole cards, and five community cards are placed face-up on the table. The goal in Texas Hold’em is to create the strongest five-card poker hand by combining your hole cards with the community cards.

1. The small blind is placed, followed by the big blind.
   
2. The dealer deals each player two cards, one at a time to each player, starting with the player in the small blind.
   
3. The first round of betting begins. The first player to bet is the player to the left of the big blind.
   
4. The dealer deals three community cards face up. This is known as the flop.
   
5. The second round of betting takes place. The betting starts with the first player to the left of the dealer who is still in the hand.
   
6. The dealer deals the fourth community card, also known as the turn.
   
7. The third round of betting takes place.
   
8. Dealer deals the fifth and last community card, also known as the river.
   
9. The final round of betting ensues.
   
10. If two or more players still haven’t folded, all remaining players show their cards.
    
11. This part of the hand is called the showdown, and the best hand wins at this according to poker hand rankings.

Of course, this is a very simplified explanation. You can see the detailed explanation of how to play Texas Hold’em in our poker variants guide. In it you also have access to the rules of several other poker modalities.