How To Play Poker Online For Real Money?

Poker, America’s favorite card game has been raising in popularity over the past decades. Today, if someone says I am a poker player, they generally mean Texas Hold’em or Seven-card stud player, other poker variants, like Omaha, Razz, and Five-card draw are relatively popular, too. Poker is fun and addictive regardless of its variation, because it has elements of surprise, strategy, thinking, emotions, and unpredictability all at once.

I assume you are here because either you are a beginner poker player or you have some experience playing on your kitchen table and want to learn how to get the best hand and win big. Even if you have more experience, this article can still help you to take your game to the next level.

So, with no further ado, let us get into the mystery of the oval tables!

🔎In this article:

• What is poker?
• Types of poker
• Poker hands, rules, and gameplay
• How to play poker online for beginners and win money

Reign Of Poker

Although the profusion of western movies and gunfighter narratives convinced the world that the game of poker is a native American game, in reality, the game’s roots go back to hundred years. Believe it or not, centuries ago, Persians used to play a poker-like game. In the sixteenth century, a bluffing game called Pochen was the Germans’ favorite game, which later gave birth to the French version of the game called Poque. This is the version known to be the father of modern Poker. The French brought Poque to New Orleans, and then paddle wheelers traveling the Mississippi helped the game boom in popularity. Today, poker and its hundred variations are being played by people all around the world. People play the most popular poker variation, Texas Hold’em, and other variants for a few pennies to millions of dollars prizes.

Before Putting On Your Poker Face Learn The ABCs Of The Game

You should not join an oval table of poker before learning its basics and understanding its Nuts. Nuts is a poker term referring to the best possible hand. In other words, you must learn and know poker ranking hands to determine your chances of winning(more on that later).

📖Let us begin with some terminology:

As I have said, it is crucial to learn the basics before joining a poker table. Although there are several poker variations with slightly different rules, the basics are universal to all poker games. Below are some basics you should remember:

🚩 The goal of all poker games is the same. You should have the highest ranking hand or persuade other players that you have the best hand and make them fold. In some poker variations, you have to get the lowest ranking hand to win. Remember, in poker games, you play against other players rather than the house. So, your hand will be compared with the other players’ hands.

🤞 A poker without a bet is like…, just kidding, I have no idea! Betting is the critical and most important part of any poker game.

💰 In casinos, players don’t play with cash. Instead, they bet and play using poker chips. Each chip has a different color to make it easier for players to remember and distinguish them.

💪 A poker table cannot function without a professional dealer unless you play on your kitchen table! A professional dealer is always present at oval tables.

🃏 The game uses a 52-card deck. A professional dealer passes the cards clockwise to the left around the table.

🎰 In casinos, oval tables are poker tables where seven to ten players can seat, depending on the poker version. If you want to join a table in a land-based casino, you should go to the floor supervisor or poker room host who is also known as a brush. The guy will find an available table for you to join or writes your name on a waiting list to let you join later.

Uncovering Poker Hands Ranking

As I have said, hand rankings determine your chances of winning. So, you should learn about poker hands and card values. This is significant to know if you have a losing hand, and you better fold.

Typically, poker games are played using a standard 52-card deck that consists of the following four suits:

♠ Spades

♣ Clubs

♥ Hearts

♦ Diamonds

Every suit consists of 13 cards, including A,K,J,Q,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, and 10. All suits in a 52-card deck have the same value. It is interesting to mention that a standard 52-card deck has 2 million possible five-card combinations. The odds of you holding a specific combination determines the value of a poker hand.

The key card and the most valuable one is an Ace. This card is the highest in value, although you may use it as the lowest card in wheel straight or the five high straight hand(five to ace: 5,4,3,2, ace).

Let us review the poker hand rankings in detail. These hand rankings are almost consistent in all poker variations. As you can see the hands are ranked in descending value where Royal Flush is the best possible poker hand.

Royal Flush: this is the best possible poker hand you can get. When you have a top five cards i.e. an ace(A), king(K), queen(Q), jack(J), and 10(T) of the same suit, you have a royal flush. This hand is the most strong poker hand and beats all the other hands. But what if two players hold a royal flush? In this case, there is a tie and no one wins the hand. Another point to remember is that no suit(spades, clubs, diamonds, and hearts) has a higher rank than the other.

Straight Flush: when you hold five cards in numeric order of the same suit, you have a straight flush. For example, you can have a straight flush of 7♥,6♥,5♥,4♥, and 3♥ or any other series of ordered cards up to K♥, Q♥, J♥, 10♥, and 9♥. If you get a straight flush that goes all the way to ace high, then it will be a royal flush.

Four-of-a-kind or quads: this is when you have four cards of the same rank. For example, K♣, K♦, K♠, K♥, and 2♣. The higher the ranked cards, the better your hand. In other words, four Kings beat four Queens, and so on.

Full House: this is when you have three cards of the same rank combined with a pair of cards of another rank. For instance, a hand of 3♣, 3♣, 3♣, K♥, K♥ is a full house. Now, what happens if two players have two hands of the full house but with different card ranks? Well, the set of three ranked cards determines the hand value. For instance, a full house of 7♥,7♣,7♦,5♥,5♥, beats a full house of 6♠, 6♦, 6♣, A ♦, A♦. Although the second full house hand has a pair of aces that are the highest ranked cards, three sevens in the first hand are higher in rank than 6s.

Flush: if you get five cards of the same suit-not consecutive or in numeric order-, you have a flush. But who wins if two or more players have flushes? Well, in this case, the player holding the single highest card or the best high card wins. For example, A♠,5♠,3♠, K♠,8♠ beats K♦, 6♦, 2♦, J♦, 9♦. Now, you may be wondering what happens if two players have the same high cards? In this case, the next high card will determine the winning hand. For example, A ♥, K ♥, 5♥, J♥, 2♥ beats A♣, J♣, 8♣,5♣,2♣ because K is the second highest card and breaks the tie.

Straight: In poker, any hand that contains five cards in consecutive rank is called a straight-regardless of their suit. For instance, 76543 is a seven-high straight hand. Aces can be counted as both high and low to create a straight, but an ace must appear either at the beginning or at the end of the cards’ structure. If two players have straights, the player with the strongest high card wins the hand. For instance, 7♥,6♠,5♦,4♣,3♦ beats 6♣, 5♥, 4♣, 3♦, 2♠.

If two players have the same ranking straights, the pot will be split between them.

Three-of-a-kind: this hand is when you get three cards of the same rank combined with two other cards-not the same rank or suit. For example, Q♠, Q♥, Q♣, 4♥, and 2♦ is a three-of-a-kind hand. This hand is similar to the full house except that in the full house two cards are pair-have same rank and suit.

What happens if two players have three-of-a-kind? In this case, the player with the highest ranked three cards is the winner regardless of the rank and suit of the other two cards. For example, J♥, J♣, J ♦, 2♠, 3♣ beats 8♥,8♦,8♠, 5♣,3♣.

Two Pair: this means having a pair of same ranked cards plus another pair of same ranked cards and a single unmatched card. For example, Q♣, Q♦, 3♥, 3♠, 5♦. There are three different scenarios for this hand:

One Pair: this is when you have a pair of same ranked cards plus three cards of other ranks. For example, A♥, A♠, 4♥, 3♣, 9♠. If two players have one pair, the highest ranked pair wins. For instance, A♥, A♠, 4♥, 3♣, 9♠ beats 10♥, 10♣, 9♠, 3♣, 6♥. Now, what happens if two players have the same pairs? In this case, the next highest card determines the winner. For example, A♥, A♠, 7♥, 5♣, 2♠ beats A♥, A♠, 5♦, 3♣, 2♠.

High Card: this is the least valued poker hand where there are no pairs of cards. This hand contains five unmatched cards of different ranks and suits. If players go head to head with only high cards, the player with the highest ranked card will win. For example, A♥, 10♦, J♣, 9♠, 3♣ beats K♦, 5♣, 7♥, 2♠, 9♦.