Poker 101

The history of Poker goes back over than thousand years. The game of poker evolved from various games, all involving the basic principles of ranked cards and the use of a bluff to deceive other players.

Poker is one of the hottest games of all times in real casinos and online casinos as well. The basic rules of all the poker games are pretty much the same, with personal changes for each specific game. Poker is considered as one of the games with a bigger chance to win and earn money. All you need to know in order to be a profitable poker player is right here for you, just keep reading.

Texas Holdem poker- The favorite Poker game:

Texas Holdem is the game of choice for a long time now, so if you are interested in a very fun and profitable game, you should read our Texas holdem poker page.

Two more favorable poker games, which are being played by millions of players, are: 7 card stud and 5 Card Draw Please read about them in their 7 card stud and 5 card draw pages.

Poker basic rules

There is no one single version of the poker game, instead there are many variations. All of the poker variations are played with a standard deck of 52 cards. A standard deck consists of thirteen ranks of cards.

The cards ranks are: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. each card comes in four different suits: Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts and Spades.

Poker games involve rounds of betting into a common fund, also called pot, and rounds of replacing or receiving cards. The number of betting rounds and card draws in a single poker game depends on the game you are playing. Poker is usually played in a clockwise direction.

Playing poker you bet each round by putting money into the game pot. Then the cards are dealt, and a round of betting occurs. At the end of the betting round, every poker player has to have an equal sum of money in the game pot.

When it is your turn to act, you may choose from the following poker actions:

1. Check - if there is no bet already on the table, you may choose to bet 0, and pass the action on to the next poker player.
2. Call - if there is a bet on the table, you may choose to even the bet.
3. Bet - if there were no bets on the table, you place the first one by betting.
4. Raise - If there was a bet, you may raise the bet by raising.
5. Fold – you may choose not to match the bet on the table, and forfeit the round.

The betting round ends when all players have contributed to the pot equally or forfeited the round.

The next card action depends on the type of poker you are playing. In Stud games, an additional card is dealt to each player. In Draw games, you are given a chance to discard from your hand, and get a replacement card from the dealer. In Holdem poker, the dealer will turn over the next card(s) to be displayed.

Once the betting rounds and card dealing rounds are completed, the action starts. In most poker games, the highest hand wins.

To learn more about how to earn money playing poker, read our poker strategy and poker glossary pages.