Poker Strategy Articles
This page is dedicated to poker strategy. Here you can find articles about how to play poker successfully. For professionals and beginners, as well. Coming soon: detailed strategies for every game: Texas Hold'em, Omaha and all others.
Poker Rules
What is poker?
Poker is played in cardrooms (many of which are in casinos) all over the world. For decades, poker has also been played in "home games" hosted by people in their homes, though in some locations, this is illegal. Most recently, poker has been played on the internet - giving people complete freedom to play the games they want, for however long they decide - always with plenty of opponents ready to play against them.
Top online poker rooms like Party Poker , Poker Stars , and Everest Poker have literally thousands of players playing games every day. Every game imaginable, including the very popular Texas Hold 'em are played for stakes from .01 to thousands of dollars per hand - every day. Since poker has become a global game, there are tens of thousands of players on these websites around the clock, playing against opponents who might be 5,000 miles away.
The environment
Online Poker
With no embarrassment for bad calls, no smokey atmosphere and the comfort of your own home, online poker has become the place to find poker action 24 hours a day. You can join in real money cash games with stakes as little as 4 cents or play for free whilst you learn your chosen game.
B&M Poker
Cardrooms are becoming more and more novice friendly, most offering at least one beginners night per week. The play here is slower then the internet as a real person has to shuffle and deal the cards. Many cardrooms have different rules and you should always check what is expected of you before you take your seat, for example, in low stake tournaments or beginners nights, you may be asked to deal for the table and yourself (self deal).
The players
The number of players can range from two (known as heads-up) up to ten for single table tournaments and cash games. Multi-table tournament numbers are not limited unless specified by the tournament organiser and can often have fields of over 1000 players. Typically for a ten player tournament the first three players share the prize money, usually 50% for 1st, 30% for 2nd and 20% for 3rd.
Poker Hands
Almost every game is played with one deck of 52 playing cards. For the more popular game of Texas Hold 'Em, here are the hand rankings from best to worst.
Royal Flush |
Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten - of the same suit -
     |
Straight Flush |
Nine, Ten, Jack, Queen, King -      - (best straight flush) though to Ace, Two, Three, Four, Five -
     - (worst straight flush) - of the same suit. |
4 of a kind |
Any four matching cards. For example four sevens -
    |
Full House |
Has two of a kind and three of a kind in the same hand, for example - Queen, Queen, Ace, Ace, Ace -   |
Flush |
Any five cards of the same suit. For example five diamonds, five spades, five clubs or five hearts -    |
Straight |
Any five connecting cards, for example - Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight -    |
3 of a kind |
Any three matching cards. For example three Queens -
 |
Two pairs |
for example - Ace, Ace, King, King -  |
A pair |
Any two matching cards. For Example Jack Jack -  . |
High card |
The highest card in your hand. |
The first game, step by step
Assuming you are playing a ten player tournament (know as Sit N Go) on the internet:
Once the ten places are taken, the game will begin and you will be given a seat.
The play begins after the dealer button (marked 'D') with two players making blind bets, the small blind and the big blind.
Two cards are dealt to each player. The player immediately after the big blind is first to act.
When it is your turn you have the choice to call, raise or fold. If you are the small blind you have already placed half of the amount needed in your blind bet to see any more cards, if you are the big blind you have already placed the amount needed to see the flop unless a player raises before it is your turn. If there is a raise you have the choice to re-raise, call or fold.
The Flop: Three community cards are dealt face up. Every player at the table who didn't fold before the flop can now use these cards to help their hand, there is another round of betting at this stage. If nobody bets you can simply check and see the next card without placing any more money into the pot. A bet must be called or raised if you wish to see the next card, otherwise you must fold.
The Turn: A fourth community card is dealt face up. Again, every player still in the hand can check, bet, call, raise or fold depending on the actions of others.
The River: A fifth and final community card is dealt face up. Here we see the last betting action. If a bet is made by one player and called by another, both players must turn over their cards and the winner is decided.
If at any stage a bet is made but not called, the person betting takes the whole pot, this person has the choice to show his cards or simply pass them back to the dealer (known as mucking)
Once the winner is decided, a new hand starts, the dealer button is moved one place clockwise. The blinds will increase usually after a set period of time.
After the final person is eliminated, the prize money is shared out and the game is complete.
This page describes the ranking of poker hands. This applies to the game of poker of course, but is also used in other card games such as Chinese Poker , Chicago , Poker Menteur and Pai Gow Poker .
There are 52 cards in the pack, and the ranking of the individual cards, from high to low, is ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 . There is no ranking between the suits - so for example the king of hearts and the king of spades are equal .
A poker hand consists of five cards. The categories of hand, from highest to lowest, are listed below. Any hand in a higher category beats any hand in a lower category (so for example any three of a kind beats any two pairs). Between hands in the same category the rank of the individual cards decides which is better, as described in more detail below.
In games where a player has more than five cards and selects five to form a poker hand, the remaining cards do not play any part in the ranking. Poker ranks are always based on five cards only.
Some readers may wonder why I deal with how to compare (say) two threes of a kind of equal rank. This obviously cannot arise in basic draw poker, but such comparisons are needed in poker games using shared (community) cards, such as Texas Hold'em, in poker games with wild cards, and in other card games using poker combinations, such as poker menteur .
1. Royal Flush
This is the highest poker hand. It consists of ace, king, queen, jack, ten, all in the same suit. As all suits are equal, all royal flushes are equal.
2. Straight Flush
Five cards of the same suit in sequence - such as 
J- 10- 9- 8- 7 . Between two straight flushes, the one containing the higher top card is higher. An ace can be counted as low, so 
5- 4- 3- 2- A is a straight flush, but its top card is the five, not the ace, so it is the lowest type of straight flush. The cards cannot "turn the corner": 
4- 3- 2- A- K is not valid.
3. Four of a kind
Four cards of the same rank - such as four queens. The fifth card can be anything. This combination is sometimes known as "quads", and in some parts of Europe it is called a "poker", though this term for it is unknown in English. Between two fours of a kind, the one with the higher set of four cards is higher - so 3-3-3-3-A is beaten by 4-4-4-4-2 . It can't happen in standard poker, but if in some other game you need to compare two fours of a kind where the sets of four cards are of the same rank, then the one with the higher fifth card is better.
4. Full House
This consists of three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank - for example three sevens and two tens (colloquially known as "sevens full" or more specifically "sevens on tens"). When comparing full houses, the rank of the three cards determines which is higher. For example 9-9-9-4-4 beats 8-8-8-A-A . If the threes of a kind were equal, the rank of the pairs would decide.
5. Flush
Five cards of the same suit. When comparing two flushes, the highest card determines which is higher. If the highest cards are equal then the second highest card is compared; if those are equal too, then the third highest card, and so on. For example 
K- J- 9- 3- 2 beats K- J- 7- 6- 5 because the nine beats the seven.
6. Straight
Five cards of mixed suits in sequence - for example Q- J- 10- 9- 8 . When comparing two sequences, the one with the higher ranking top card is better. Ace can count high or low in a straight, but not both at once, so A-K-Q-J-10 and 5-4-3-2-A are valid straights, but 2-A-K-Q-J is not. 5-4-3-2-A is the lowest kind of straight, the top card being the five.
7. Three of a Kind
Three cards of the same rank plus two other cards. This combination is also known as Triplets or Trips. When comparing two threes of a kind the hand in which the three equal cards are of higher rank is better. So for example 5-5-5-3-2 beats 4-4-4-K-Q . If you have to compare two threes of a kind where the sets of three are of equal rank, then the higher of the two remaining cards in each hand are compared, and if those are equal, the lower odd card is compared.
8. Two Pairs
A pair is two cards of equal rank. In a hand with two pairs, the two pairs are of different ranks (otherwise you would have four of a kind), and there is an odd card to make the hand up to five cards. When comparing hands with two pairs, the hand with the highest pair wins, irrespective of the rank of the other cards - so J-J-2-2-4 beats 10-10-9-9-8 because the jacks beat the tens. If the higher pairs are equal, the lower pairs are compared, so that for example 8-8-6-6-3 beats 8-8-5-5-K . Finally, if both pairs are the same, the odd cards are compared, so Q-Q-5-5-8 beats Q-Q-5-5-4 .
9. Pair
A hand with two cards of equal rank and three other cards which do not match these or each other. When comparing two such hands, the hand with the higher pair is better - so for example 6-6-4-3-2 beats 5-5-A-K-Q . If the pairs are equal, compare the highest ranking odd cards from each hand; if these are equal compare the second highest odd card, and if these are equal too compare the lowest odd cards. So J-J-A-9-3 beats J-J-A-8-7 because the 9 beats the 8.
10. High Card
Five cards which do not form any of the combinations listed above. When comparing two such hands, the one with the better highest card wins. If the highest cards are equal the second cards are compared; if they are equal too the third cards are compared, and so on. So A-J-9-5-3 beats A-10-9-6-4 because the jack beats the ten.
When playing games in which the lowest hand wins, there are some modifications to the ranking. These may not be universal, so should be discussed in advance when starting a game with new players. As far as I can tell, the most usual rules are:
- straights and flushes do not count as combinations
- aces count as low, below the twos
- a hand is always considered to belong to the highest category into which it fits - for example 7-7-7-5-5 counts as a full house - not (for example) as a pair with three odd cards that happen to be equal.
With these rules the best low hand is 5-4-3-2-A , which does not count as a straight in this case.
Notice that because aces are low, a pair of aces is the lowest , and in this context therefore the best pair, beating a pair of deuces.
Variations that I know of include:
- recognising straights and flushes: in this version the best hand is 6-4-3-2-A of mixed suits;
- playing with aces always high: in this version (with straights and flushes also counting) the best low hand is 7-5-4-3-2 of mixed suits.
In standard poker there is no ranking of suits. If two hands are identical apart from the suits of the cards then they count as equal. In standard poker, if there are two highest equal hands in a showdown, the pot is split between them.
However, Franco Pratesi has informed me that in Italy there is a generally accepted ranking of suits in poker. The ranking is: hearts (high), diamonds, clubs, spades (low) . These ranks are used to break ties between otherwise equal hands. Other players in different places use other suit rankings - for example Ken Pikus (kpikus@chemonics.com) and John (jqv77@hotmail.com) report that their circles play with the ranking spades (high), hearts, clubs, diamonds (low) ; Rudolf Lercher (WLNLER@rlb-noe.raiffeisen.at) and his friends play with the ranking hearts (high), diamonds, spades, clubs (low) .
Note that if you do play with a suit ranking, it is not at all obvious how it should apply when comparing hands with mixed suits, and careful discussion in advance is needed to avoid unpleasant arguments later. For example, using the Italian ranking, which of the following would you expect to be higher:
Hand A: 8- 8- J- 9- 3 or Hand B: 8- 8- J- 9- 3 ?
Apparently in Italy the majority view would be that hand B is higher because the J beats the J - when two hands are equal in rank, the comparison is between the highest card which is not part of the combination. A surprising consequence of this rule is that K- Q- 7- 6- 2 beats K- Q- 7- 6- 2 . The combination is "high card", so the kings are ignored. You compare the highest card that is not in the combination, and the higher queen wins!
A wild card is a particular card, often a joker, which can be used to substitute for any card the holder wishes, even a duplicate of a card the holder already has. Several cards may be designated as wild - for example all the twos. This must be agreed in advance.
The hand ranking is the same as described above, except that it is now possible to have five of a kind - five cards of the same rank - in which of course at least one will be represented by a wild card. Five of a kind is the highest combination, beating a Royal Flush.
The ranking order of poker hands corresponds to their probability of occurring in straight poker, where five cards are dealt from a 52-card deck, with no wild cards and no opportunity to use extra cards to improve a hand. The rarer a hand the higher it ranks.
Mark Brader has provided probability tables showing the frequency of each poker hand type when five cards are dealt from a 52-card deck, and also showing how these probabilities would change if multiple decks were used.
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