How to Play Poker

How the Game Works

The most basic version of poker is called "Five-Card Draw." Each player puts an "ante" (a token bet) into the middle of the table before the cards are dealt. The dealer then deals out five cards to each person and puts the rest of the stack in the middle of the table. (The dealer always deals himself last.)

    Now here comes the best part: betting. Everyone looks at his or her cards and the person to the left of the dealer places a bet. So let's say the bet was $5.00, you can "call" the bet, meaning add $5.00 to the pile so you can stay in the game. Or, if you have a good hand you can "call" the bet and "raise" it by putting in more money (let's say $2.00). Now everyone at the table has to throw in $7.00 to stay in the game. If your hand is really lousy and you think its best to get out, you "fold".

    Your aim is to get the hand with the highest value. Depending on how good a hand you're dealt, you may want to get rid of up to three cards you don't want and take up to three new ones from the deck. After every player gets a chance to get new cards, the betting starts again. Here is the breakdown of winning hands, from lowest to highest value:

• High card: If none of the players has a good hand, the player holding the highest-value card wins (aces always the highest)
• One pair: Two cards of the same numerical value
• Two pair: Two sets of pairs, plus a random card
• Three of a kind: Three cards of the same numerical value
• Straight:  Five cards in a row not of the same suit
• Flush: Five cards of the same suit
• Full house: Three of one kind of numbers, plus a pair
• Four of a kind: Four cards of the same numerical rank, plus a random card
• Straight flush: Five cards in a row of the same suit
• Royal flush: Ace, king, queen, jack, and ten, all of the same suit

Bluffing

Bluffing is a tricky but highly successful strategy in poker. Basically, you're giving the impression that you have a better hand than you do. The point is to freak everyone out into thinking that their hand is worse than yours, causing them to "fold".

"Tell" Signs

"Tell" signs are those facial indicators that hint to everyone what your hand really is- your aim is not to let any "tell" signs slip out. Keep your face as neutral as possible. Sort of like how you would act if you bumped into your ex and wanted to seem indifferent to the fact that they've moved on.

Terms that Make you Seem Like a Pro

• Bet means to begin the betting process.
• Call means to match your opponent's bet.
• Checks are poker chips
• Fold means putting your cards face down on the table because you have a bad hand or the betting pool is getting to high and you want out of the game
• The muck is the discard pile in the middle of the table, where everyone throws their cast-offs. When you fold your hand, you can say you muck your cards.
• The nuts is the highest possible hand; as in, "Nobody can beat me, I've got the nuts."
• Raise means to add more money to the pot.