Basic Poker Rules
Poker uses a standard pack of playing cards, 52 cards (there are some poker games that uses more or less depending on the variations such as adding wild cards like jokers). The card ranking is as follows Ace (the highest), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 (the lowest), Ace (this may also be the lowest card depending on the variations you are using, but it is usually the highest).
There are four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs). No suit is higher than another. All poker hands contain five cards, the highest hand wins.
Betting Procedures - In most poker games you start the betting with an ante just to get the cards dealt. The money is put in the center of the table and is called the "pot".
When the betting gets to you (betting is handled in a clockwise order), you have three choices:
- Call - betting enough to match what has been bet since the lasttime you bet in that particular betting round. An example would be if you bet 50 cents and somebody then bid $1.00, you you would owe another 50 cents . If you decide to Call then you would put the amount that you owed into the pot and you would stay in the hand.
- Raise - when you raise you first put enough in the pot to match what has already been bet and then you raise the pot by putting an additional amount in (the limit on how much you can raise depends on the game). So lets say the initial bet was 25 cents, you could say you're raising by 25 cents and you would then have to put a total of 50 cents in. Now the other players will either Call, Raise, or fold.
- Fold - dropping out of the current hand and losing the possibility of winning the pot. You don't have to put money in and you would only lose the ante, if it's on the first turn, or whatever you put in the pot later. Sometimes it's better to get out than to waste money on bad cards.
Each poker game has a predetermined number of betting rounds. The highest hand at the end of all betting rounds wins the pot. Following is a chart on how to rank poker hands:
| Royal Flush |
 A K Q J 10 |
Ace, King, Queen, Jack and 10 all of the same suit. |
| Straight Flush |
 K Q J 10 9 |
Five cards in numerical sequence and of the same suit (e.g. 9,10,J,Q,K all Diamonds) |
| Four of a Kind |
J  J J  J 6 |
Four cards of the same rank regardless of suit (e.g. four Jacks) |
| Full House |
Q Q Q A A |
Three of a kind and a pair (e.g. three Queens and two Aces) |
| Flush |
8 5 9 6 10 |
Five cards of the same suit (e.g. 5 Hearts) |
| Straight |
10 9 8 7 6 |
Five cards in sequence. Ace considered to be high or low (e.g. 6,7,8,9,10) |
| Three of a Kind |
7 7 7 8 6 |
Three cards of the same rank (e.g. three 7's) |
| Two Pair |
10 10 8 8 5 |
Two pairs (e.g. two 10's and two 8's) |
| Pair |
J J 9 10 5 |
Two cards of the same rank (e.g. two Jacks) |
| High Card |
K 4 J 3 9 |
Highest single card (e.g. King) |
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