How to play poker

Join us at Admiral Casino for a handy how to guide on poker! We will run through the rules and Hands to help give you a better understanding of how to play the game.

Intoduction to poker

The rules of poker are simple and the way the hands are ranked is very straightforward. In total, there are 10 different kinds of hands you can have. These hands are ranked from top to bottom from the Royal Flush to the single high card.

In Texas Hold’em poker, the most popular form of poker, it does not matter where the cards are coming from. You can make a hand from the two cards in your hand with three cards on the table, one card in your hand with four on the table or with all five cards that are on the table. Do note that if you have a hand with all five cards on the table, your opponent will have at least that hand as well and possibly better.

The Hands:

• The Royal Flush is the best possible combination in Poker. You have to be incredibly lucky to get this hand as it occurs rarely. There are players who have played for years and never had a royal flush. A royal flush means you will have the A, K, Q, J and 10 all from the same suit. With this hand you are guaranteed to win, unless the royal flush will be on the board, then it will always be a split pot.

• Straight flush, the second strongest hand in poker. To get a straight flush you need five cards in a row all from the same suit. If the board for example shows the 5, 6, 7 and 9 of diamonds and you have the 8 of diamonds you will still have a guaranteed win as the others cannot have that 8 of diamonds. If the board shows 5, 6, 7, 8 of diamonds and you have the 4 of diamonds you will have to be a bit more careful as the 9 of diamonds would beat you. The higher the straight flush is, the better.

• Four of a kind, another hand with which it is very hard to lose! When you have four cards of the same value, for example four Queens, you have a four of a kind. If there on a rare occasion are four queens on the board, the highest card for both you and your opponents will complete the hand, having an Ace in this case will give you the win or at least a split pot.

• Full House, this is a combination of two weaker hands we will get to in a bit, the three of a kind and a pair. An example of a Full house is 10, 10, 10, 8, 8. If you and your opponent both have a full house the three of a kind is the most important who has the highest here will win the hand, if this is equal the pair will decide, if it is still equal? You guessed it, a split pot.

• Flush, five cards of the same suit. If you have two hearts in your hand and there are three (or more) more on the board you have a flush. Another strong hand with which you will often win. Always be careful what the board looks like though. If you for example have an Ace and Jack of hearts in your hand and the board is K(h), Q(h), 7(h), Q(d), K(d), you do have the flush but if a different player has either a king or a queen he will beat you with a full house. With the flush it is again about the highest cards, your A, J of hearts will for example beat a 5, 4 of hearts in the previous example.

• Straight, having a series of five cards that follow each other will give you a straight. For example, 7, 8, 9, 10, J. You can use the Ace as either the highest card or lowest card in the game for a straight. So, you can make a straight from ace to five or from ten to ace.

• Three of a kind. Three times the same card without anything extra gives you a three of a kind. If the board is A, A, J, 7, 4 and you have an Ace and a king you have a three of a kind. Another example is when you have two Aces in your hand and there is another ace on the board, you will have a three of kind, however poker players often call this a set.

• Two Pair, it is in the name, you have two pairs. If you have A, K and the board is A, 7, 5, 5, 2 you have two pairs Aces and fives. The king will complete your hand, this card is called your kicker.

• Pair, even easier, you have just a pair. If you play 4-5 and the board is A, Q, 10, 9, 5 you have a pair of fives, you will get beaten by a higher pair of course, this is not a hand you want to play for a lot of money.

• High card, with the cards on the board and your cards in your hand you have made absolutely nothing. If you have a king and a queen in your hand and the board is 10, 8, 7, 3, 2 you have a high card K. You will beat for example someone who has K, J as your second card beats the other players second card. Again don’t put in too much money with this hand.

How to play Hold’em Poker against the dealer:

Games such as Grand Hold ‘em and Casino Hold ’em Poker let you play against the house with a fixed paytable. Here is how a basic Hold ‘Em poker game works when you go “Heads up” against the dealer: First you must place what is called an Ante bet. There will usually be an area on the table labelled ‘Ante’ where you can place your chips. Once this is done, the dealer can start dealing the cards.

You and the dealer will first be dealt two cards each, then the dealer will place three cards face-up on the table. These three cards are community cards that anyone can use. This stage where there are three cards on the table is called the flop.

You can now choose to Call or Fold. If you don’t think you have a good chance of making a winning hand, you can choose to Fold and the betting will end. This will cause you to forfeit all the bets that have been placed for that round.

If you want to continue, you can Call and this will cause the round to continue. When you Call, you place a further stake of double the Ante bet. So for example, if your Ante was £1, then it will cost £2 (£1 x2) to Call, meaning your total stake for that round is £3.

Once the stake for the Call has been taken, the dealer will deal two more community cards, called the turn (4th card) and the river (5th card). It’s then time to showdown and see who has the best hand.

What’s the payout for a winning hand?

When your combined 5 card hand is better than the dealer’s 5 card hand, there will be a winning paytable for the Ante bet:

• Straight or less - 1:1

• Flush - 2:1

• Full House - 3:1

• 4 of a kind - 10:1

• Straight Flush - 20:1

• Royal Flush - 100:1

So if you win with a Full House, your £1 Ante bet will return £4 (£3 gain).

As for the Call bet payout, it matters if the dealer qualified or not. A dealer usually qualifies if they have a pair of 4’s or better.

If the dealer qualifies with a pair of 4’s or higher and you still have a stronger hand, the Call bet will pay 1:1. So a £2 Call bet will return £4 (£2 gain).

If the dealer does not qualify when you win, the Call bet will be returned to you. So if the dealer only has a high card, a £2 Call bet will return £2.

Are there versions which play differently?

Of course! There are different versions of Poker than will allow you to raise your stake after the flop is drawn.

Games such as Texas Hold ‘em PLUS allows you to place additional bets before the Turn and the River cards are shown. The additional bets have to be the same size as the Ante bet and the dealer will always Call (so no trying to bluff!). You can always Check if you don’t want to raise your bet. When you Check, the dealer will not raise against you.

Three Card and Four Card Poker

There are also Three Card and Four Card Poker variants which play a bit differently.

Three Card Poker deals you and the dealer 3 cards each with no community cards. You showdown your cards against the dealers cards hopefully making the better three-card combination. In this version, the Call bet is only 1x the Ante bet (not 2x) and you only need 3 cards for a flush/straight!   

Four Card Poker starts you off with 5 cards while the dealer gets 6 cards, 5 face-down, 1 face-up. You then figure out your best 4-card combination and assess whether you think it is good enough to beat the dealer. You can choose to place an additional x1 Ante bet or if you like your chances, a x3 Ante bet (or fold, if you don’t like your chances). The dealer will then make the best 4-card combination out of their 6 cards and a winner will be determined.