Typically, the winner of each hand of poker is the player that holds the highest ranked hand when all cards are shown at the end of the hand –known as the ‘showdown’ – or the player that makes the last uncalled bet, thus winning without needing to reach a showdown.
Not sure whether a flush beats a straight? Can’t remember how to make a full house? You can find all the information you need to know about hand rankings in the table below . The strongest hands are in the top row, running from left to right, with the weakest possible hand being simply a high card.
Getting Started
Poker games typically feature a forced bet, such as the Big Blind and Small Blind in Hold’em and Omaha or the Antes and Bring-In in Stud. These forced bets comprise the starting pot in any given hand of poker, which is the first incentive players have to win the hand. Action arising from the subsequent rounds of betting further increases the size of the pot.
Dealing Cards and Betting Rounds
After any initial cards are dealt, players are usually called upon to act in turn, moving clockwise around the table.
Each player can usually take one of the following actions when it is their turn to act:
- Check – To check is to decline the opportunity to open the betting. Players can only check when there is no bet during the current round, and the act of checking passes the action clockwise to the next person in the hand. If all active players check, those players remain in the hand and the round is considered complete.
- Bet – Players may bet if no other players have bet during the current round. Once a bet has been made, other players must ‘call’ by matching the amount bet, in order to remain in the hand.
- Fold – Players who fold forfeit their cards and cannot win or act again during the current hand.
- Call – Players can call if other players have bet during the current round; this requires the calling player to match the highest bet made.
- Raise – Players may raise if other players have bet during the current round; this requires the raising player to match the highest bet made, and then make a greater one. All subsequent players are required to call the raise or raise again (‘re-raise’) to stay in the hand.
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