POKER:
It is a game, - a sport and a pastime. The regular or normal poker is the 5-card draw. This game is really
simple and requires no special perspicacity or studious decision making. There are hundreds of variations to this game, some of which are highly complex. For a novice, the basic, 5-card draw is the easiest to start with.
Poker originally started as a card game to be played between friends in homes during holidays. It developed into a betting game and started flourishing in Casinos and special Clubs. Let us now see how the game is played.
All about cards:
A card has 2 sides, face and back. A card pack consists of 52 individual cards. There are 4 distinct suits – 2 in Black and 2 in Red, each having 13 cards i.e., 13*4=52 cards. In other words each individual card will have 4 numbers i.e., one spade, one clubs, one diamond and one in hearts. The distinct suits are:
Hearts ♥
Diamonds ♦
Spades ♠
Clubs ♣
Value wise all the suits are equal. The card hierarchy from the top in terms of its worth is like this: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2. The highest is Ace and the lowest is 2.
How to play?
After shuffling the pack, each participant is issued with 5 cards. The overall goal of the game is to finish up with the highest valued hand. From highest to lowest, hands are ranked in the following order:
Royal Flush:
This is by far the best hand in Poker. Royal Flush example:
♦
10 ♦J
♦Q
♦
K ♦A
or,
♠10
♠J
♠Q
♠K
♠A
or,
♥
10 ♥J
♥Q
♥
K ♥A
or,
♣10
♣J
♣Q
♣K
♣A
The point is that 10, J, Q, K and A should be in the same suit. It is a most difficult hand to obtain.
Straight Flush:
In this all the 5 cards should be in ascending numerical order and that too in the same suit.
Player
1: ♠2
♠3
♠4
♠5
♠6
Player
2: ♥8
♥
9 ♥10
♥J
♥
Q
Assuming that both Player 1 and Player 2 have the above straight flush then Player 2 with the highest card value wins over Player 1.
Four of a Kind:
In this, out of 5 cards, 4 are in the same number and the other a random card.
Player
1: ♠5
♠5
♠5
♠5
♠Q
Player
2: ♥J
♥
J ♥J
♥J
♥
4
Player 2 wins as he has the highest ranking four of a kind viz., J that is rank wise higher than 5.
Full House:
In this, out of 5 cards if you have 3 cards in the same number rank and the remaining 2 cards also in the same number rank, it is called full house.
A card configurations such as
♠K, ♥K, ♣K, ♠5, ♥5
wins over
♠Q, ♥Q, ♣Q, ♠J, ♥J
because the first 3 cards K, K, K is higher than the second 3 cards Q, Q, Q.
Flush:
In this, you have all the 5 cards in the same suit irrespective of their numerical strength. If you have the higher ranking card with you compared to others you win. Example:
Player
1: ♠3
♠7
♠9
♠10
♠K
Player
2: ♥5
♥
6 ♥7
♥8
♥
Q
Player 1 has ♠K and therefore wins.
Straight:
In this you have cards of numerical sequence irrespective of their suits. The one whose straight has the higher-ranking card wins. Example:
♥2 ♠3 ♠4 ♣5 ♦6
Three of a kind:
In this you have 3 cards of the same number on any suit and 2 random cards, not in pairs.
Player
1: ♦9
♣9
♠9
♦6
♠K
Player
2: ♥3
♦
3 ♣3
♥7
♥8
Two Pair:
In this you have two sets of pairs and another random card.
Player
1: ♦8
♥8
♠J
♥J
♣6
Player
2: ♣J
♦J
♣Q
♦Q
♠K
One Pair:
In this you have 1 pair and 3 random cards. The person with the highest-ranking pair is deemed to have won.
Player
1: ♣6
♦6
♠5
♦
K ♣3
Player
2: ♣2
♥2
♦
5 ♠6
♦
High Card:
In this, if you have a situation where none of the players are holding cards of any real value, then the player having the highest valued card is declared winner.
In the example Player 1 wins.
Player
1: ♠3
♦
4 ♥6
♣10
♦K
Player
2: ♦2
♦7
♠8
♣9
♥
Q
With this you have learnt how to play Poker. Poker is all about betting. We will discuss the rules regarding betting in a separate article.
