Looking for a quick rundown on everything you need to know to get started playing poker?
The poker rules below are applicable to both ring games and tournaments, as well as to the games of Texas Hold'em, Omaha and Royal Poker. Whichever games you find the most fun, you'll find a good grounding right here.
And once you're ready to try it out for yourself, with absolutely no risk and no money required, sign up and join a thriving poker community – you just need an email address, nothing more!
Each player gets two hole cards. The small blind and big blind are posted by the two players left of the dealer button.
Starting left of the big blind, players must call, raise, or fold. Blinds count as bets.
Three community cards are dealt face up. All players may use them to form their best hand.
Starts left of the button. With no forced bet, players may check until someone bets.
A fourth community card is dealt face up.
Another round of betting occurs, as before.
The fifth and final community card is dealt. Players now have 7 total cards to make their best 5-card hand.
The final betting round occurs. All remaining players know their best possible hand.
Any remaining players reveal their hands. The strongest wins the pot (or it's split if hands are equal). The dealer button then moves one seat left, and the next hand begins.
Individual poker game rules may vary, but all poker games are broken down into hands – a round of gameplay that starts with the deal, and ends when either all cards are revealed and the pot is awarded to the strongest poker hand, or when only one player remains after all others fold.
There are two main ways to play poker: ring games and tournaments.
A ring game is ongoing with no set end point. Players may leave whenever they wish, and may join whenever a seat is open. There's no way to 'win' a ring game – each player decides when to stop.
In a poker tournament, all players pay the same entry and start with the same chip stack. Play continues until only one player remains. Blinds rise at set intervals, forcing action. Prizes are shared among the top finishers, with the biggest share going to the winner.
Most poker hands begin with two players posting blinds – mandatory bets to create a pot. The dealer position is marked by a button that moves one seat left each hand. The small blind sits immediately left of the button, and the big blind is left of the small blind.
Each player must call, raise, or fold against the big blind. If all fold, the big blind wins uncontested. If players call, the big blind may check or raise.
Limit: Bets use fixed small/big units.
No-Limit: Any amount up to the player's whole stack.
Pot-Limit: The max raise equals the pot size at the time.