Poker is a game that the entire world is familiar with. Yes, everyone might not know the rules, but still, it is a game no one can say they have never heard of. A game often shown in movies and soap operas, it is known for its excitement and for the fun it brings to the table.
Poker is played often at parties, trips, sleepovers with friends, and on just about any occasion. The game is full of skill, suspense, and focus. It is not only a way to strengthen your social bonds it is also a way to enhance your logical thinking skills.
Many enthusiasts play it for fun, even without knowing all the rules and there are many ace players who play matches and tournaments. Doesn’t matter which category you fall into, playing poker is always fun.
Whether you are looking to improve your poker skills or learn the game from scratch, this blog is going to help you in understanding the game better. Here is what you need to know in order to play a good game of poker!
Poker has a total of 5 stages:
- Mandatory Betting – The Blinds
- Pre-Flop
- Flop
- Turn
- River
These stages are played ideally among 5 players. This basic game of poker is called the Texas Hold’em. Texas Hold’em can also be called the original poker which now has many variations.
So what happens in a typical game of Texas Hold’em poker?
Before the Pre-Flop round, two players have to bet mandatorily. This starts by the player sitting to the left of the dealer. This player bets $1 and the player sitting to his left then bets $2. The former bet is called the Small Blind and the latter, the Big Blind.
This round is important and mandatory to be played before the actual game starts.
After this, the dealer distributes two cards face down to each player in a clockwise direction. These cards are also called the Hole Cards. These cards are only to be seen by the individual player in secret. No other player has to know what cards are these except for the player himself.
It is based on these two cards that the player will be making his hand.
What is a Hand?
A hand is a set of 5 cards that the player forms during the game of poker. This hand has a total of 10 variations. These variations are based on the numerical value and the suits of the cards.
The 10 variations of the poker hand are as follows:
- Royal Flush
- Straight Flush
- Four of a Kind
- Full House
- Flush
- Straight
- Three-of-a-Kind
- Two Pair
- One Pair
- High Card
These variations are listed in order of their ranking from the strongest to the weakest (1-10). That means, if you have formed the Royal Flush, you are the strongest player, and so on.
Pre-Flop Round
Once the two face-down cards are distributed, the player sitting to the left of the player who made the big blind has to make a decision to bet based on the quality of his hole cards. This player cannot check because the big blind is considered as the first bet. Thus, the player sitting left to the one who made the big blind has to either fold, raise, or call.
What is Fold, Raise, Call, and Check in Poker?
A fold is when a player decides to refuse to match the bet put forward by the other player. This means that the player ends his participation in the hand.
Raise is when a player raises the amount of the bet previously put forward by the previous player. The player has to raise according to their original wager.
Call is when a player chooses to continue playing and not fold. This is the mechanism by which the player calls a bet, the amount that other players have wagered in bets or raises.
Check is when the player does not want to bet or raise but just passes the action to the next player while keeping the card.
Flop Round
In this round, the dealer removes one card from the game and deals three community cards face up.
Players who are still involved in the game can now decide upon creating their hand based on the quality of their hole cards, the three community cards, and the two more cards to come.
Post Flop
After the flop round, the player who sits left to the dealer bets first in this round as well as all subsequent rounds. Now, all players have the right to call, raise, check, and fold.
Turn
The dealer now removes another card (burns a card) from the game and adds a fourth community card in the middle of the table. The players again decide upon their hands based on the quality of their two-hole cards and the four community cards.
Post Turn (Fourth Street)
Once the fourth card is revealed, the betting continues as usual. Each player gets to fold, check, call, or raise.
River
The fifth community card is revealed.
Fifth Street (Post River)
This is the fourth and final round of betting. This round continues till all players have folded, put in all their chips, or called.
Showdown
The Showdown can come at any moment of the game when only two players are remaining. When, after the fourth round of betting, more than two players are still left, a showdown is a must.
In this final round, each player has to form a hand using the two-hole cards and the five community cards in different combinations. The players can use all of their hole cards and three community cards, one of their hole cards and four community cards, and or all of the community cards and no hole cards.
This is all for this blog! These are the basic rules and structure of poker. Any person who has never ever played a game of poker can try and understand what it is all about. Even though it takes less time to learn, it takes years to master the game of poker!
