4 Responses

1. haxemon

   January 10th, 2010 at 2:29 am

   1

   The easiest poker game to learn (as far as the rules go) is probably texas holdem. If you flip through the sports channels during a weekday you’ll likely stumble across it and they almost always take some time near the start of the show to review the rules. Watching it for a bit will give you the idea and you can make some notes on how the dealing goes and how the betting goes etc. Or you can grab a “for dummies” book and that should cover everything too.
   If you’re too lazy for all that here’s the basics:
   You’ll want at least 4 players to make it interesting.
   Choose a dealer and hand out some chips – anything will do as long as each player has at least 50 or so to start – rolls of pennies are good for beginners.
   Deal each player 2 cards face down. The person to the dealer’s left must bet one chip no matter what, and the next person must bet two (these are called the small and big “blinds”). Then each player must match the current bet (two chips) or fold. You can allow raises or start really basic and make it “in or out”. The player who put up the small blind must either add a second chip or fold.
   Once it’s been decided who’s in, one card is dealt face down into the discard pile (i.e. “burned”) and then three cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table. These are “the flop” and are common to everyone. You have another round of betting as before starting with the player on the dealer’s left (but no forced bets this time).
   After that round, another card is “burned” and then “the turn” is placed face up next to “the flop”. Another round of betting starts to the dealer’s left as before (no forced bets this round either).
   After this round of betting, a final card is “burned” and “the river” is placed next to “the turn”. A final round of betting takes place here.
   Once the last round of betting is done, the person who has been called (i.e. the last person to put in a bet or raise) must show their hand first. Then it goes around to the left and anyone who has a better hand has to show it to claim the pot. The player’s hand is the best 5-card combination of the two they hold face down and the 5 on the table. i.e. if they have an ace face down and there’s one on the table, they have two aces.
   Then the dealer passes the deck to the left and it starts again – often a “button” is used to show who the dealer is each hand. In fact that person doesn’t need to physically deal, it’s more to identify who has the forced bets and who acts first on each round of betting.
   Just about every deck of cards has an insert that shows the ranking of hands in poker, as will millions of websites. But again, if you’re feeling lazy ….
   The best possible hand (without any wild cards) is a straight flush. That would mean cards in order of the same suit. So Ace, two, three, four and five of hearts for example. Ace can be high or low (but not both at once) and you compare straights by the highest card. So A,2,3,4,5 is the lowest possible straight (or straight flush) and 10,J,Q,K,A is the highest.
   The next best hand is four-of-a-kind. Again, four aces beats four kings, which beats four queens etc. If two players each have four of the same card (i.e. the table has three kings and each player has a king) then the tie is broken by whatever card completes each hand (i.e. their fifth card). If the highest remaining card is the same (i.e. shared on the table) then the pot is split between both players evenly.
   Next is a full house – three of one card and two of another. If two players have a full house, who’s ever “three” is higher wins. So KKK22 beats QQQJJ. If both players have the same “three” then the pair breaks the tie. So AAA99 beats AAA88.
   Next is a flush. Any 5 cards of the same suit. The highest card is the tie breaker. So K,5,4,3,2 of clubs beats Q,J,10,9,7 of clubs since the King is the highest. If players are sharing high flush cards then the second highest breaks the tie (or third highest etc).
   Next is a straight. So like the straight flush but of different suits. Again, ace is either high or low (not both at once – Q,K,A,2,3 is no good) and the highest card in the striaght wins.
   Next is three of a kind. Three 10s beats three 9s etc and if two players have the same set (i.e there are two queens on the board and each player has a queen) then the highest remaining card breaks the tie.
   Next is two pair. i.e. A,A,10,10,2. The higher pair is what wins. So A,A,3,3,9 beats K,K,Q,Q,2 because the aces are highest.
   Next is one pair. This is pretty simple – the highest pair wins. If players have the same pair, then the highest remaining card wins.
   Last is “high card”. If nobody has a pair or better, then the player with the highest card wins the pot.
   Have fun!

2. pms2go

   January 10th, 2010 at 8:00 am

   2

   the best advice i can give you is to sit down at a table and watch and learn. you first must learn the cards. then you learn to play the PLAYERs. you will not master it in one night. get some friends to practice with. less than 4 at a table is not good. then learn your chips and bets. enjoy !!

3. Angel_Ba

   January 10th, 2010 at 1:23 pm

   3

   You can learn by reading books and learn to play poker on http://www.spadeclub.com. It is sponsored by cardplayer magazine and if you use the code ACESFULL you can get a two week free trial. It pays real cash prizes when you win. They base it on sweepstakes laws. Or you can use their totally free option and play in their daily tournaments to to win cash. You just won’t be able to play in their exclusive tournaments which require you to be a paid member.

4. Hurts so good

   January 10th, 2010 at 7:42 pm

   4

   http://www.pokerstars.com/
   It’s free to download and to play. Be a good place to start