Who Wins At Poker? Poker Basics

Learning the finer points of poker can only be done by playing the game. The rules of the many variations of poker differ, but one thing that always stays the same is what makes a winning hand.

Poker is considered to be America's most popular card game of chance. People not only play it at a casino but they also play at home and online. Poker first appeared in America in New Orleans in the early 1800's. The game spread quickly from Mississippi to the rest of the country by way of the railroads. Some of the more popular variations of poker are 5 Card Draw, Texas Hold 'Em, Omaha hi lo and Seven Card Stud.

Other casino games pit the player against the house. This is not true of poker where the players are trying to beat each other by having the best hand. If you play poker in a casino you will usually see limits that are posted to set minimum and maximum bets.

The majority of poker games are played with a deck of 52 cards. The value of the cards begins with the Ace as highest and twos as the lowest. An ace can also be used with a value of 1 in a low straight. In some games a card is designated as a wild card and can have any value that the player assigns to it. Winning poker hands are based on the ranking of the five cards that a player holds in their hand. Below are the rankings beginning with the highest down to the lowest.

A Royal Flush has an Ace, King, Queen, Jack and ten all of the same suit. A straight flush has five cards in sequence of the same suit such as 5, 6,7,8,9. Suits are clubs, hearts, spades and diamonds. Four of a kind is four cards of the same value. Next comes the full house which is three of a kind along with a pair. A Flush is five cards no matter their value that are all the same suit. A straight is five cards in sequence no matter what their suits. Three of a kind is three cards of the same value; two pair is two cards of the same value and another two cards of the same value. A pair is just two cards of the same value.

Sometimes 2 players will be tied so the rules applied are:

If both players have straights, flushes or straight flushes then the highest card of each hand will determine the hand that wins.

If two players have a full house the player with the highest value of the three of a kind is determined as the winner.

If two players have 3 of a kind or 2 pairs then the player holding the highest valued cards is the winner.

Poker is a game of strategy and chance and the rules are not difficult to learn. By playing and observing the game one can become quite adept at poker in no time at all. Choose one variation at first and learn the game well before going on to play other variations of poker.