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Brief introduction to poker
Royal Flush of Spades
The word "poker" is a general name given to multiple card games where players wager on the strength of the cards that they hold. The players' wagers are contributed to a communal pot that is won by the player with the highest hand or to the player that wagers and goes uncalled by his opponents.
At Poker For Free we will mainly focus on the most popular games of poker, each one described in dept following the buttons in the sub menu on the left.
Are you interested how poker evolved through out the years? Read our history of poker article.
Variations of the game of poker
Draw poker
Players receive five or more cards each (as in 5-Card Draw), all of which are hidden to the others. On occasion, one or more of these cards can then be replaced by the player in turn.
Stud poker
Players receive cards one at a time, some being displayed to other players at the table. 7-Card Stud is the most well-known.
Community card poker
Players combine cards dealt individually with a number of community cards. All players share these community cards, which are dealt face up. Depending which variant of the game, two or four individual cards may be dealt. The most popular variations of community card poker are Texas Hold'em and Omaha.
The deck
The deck consists of 52 cards. These cards are divided into 4 different suits, with each suit having 13 ranks.
Suits
Clubs (black)
Diamonds (red)
Hearts (red)
Spades (black)
Poker hand rankings
Royal Straight Flush (an Ace high Straight Flush)
Straight Flush (five consecutive* cards of the same suit)
Four of a Kind
Full House (three of a kind and one pair)
Flush (five cards of the same suit)
Straight (five consecutive* cards)
Three of a kind
Two Pairs
One Pair
High Card
Basic betting options
All poker games use the same basic betting options:
- Check To abstain from betting, but continue to stay in contention for the pot because no other player has yet to bet on that round.
- Bet To make a wager by putting chips into the pot.
- Call To post an amount equal to the bet of another player (to match the bet).
Raise To make a bet increasing the size of a previous bet on that betting round (to increase the bet). - Fold To turn in the cards to the dealer to terminate your play of that hand.
Poker definitions
All poker games use structured betting. The player has no options with regard to the minimum size of the bet. If the game is a limit game, the max bet allowed is structured. If the game is No-Limit, the player may bet from the minimum up to the amount of chips he has at the table. If the game is Pot-Limit, the player may bet from the minimum up to the size of the pot, provided he has enough chips to do so.
A few poker definitions. More can be found here: Poker terminology.
- Blind bet A forced bet that must be posted before the player receives any cards (big blinds and small blinds).
- Qualifier A requirement that a hand must meet in order to be eligible for part of the pot.
- Dealer button A marker moved clockwise around a poker table to denote an imaginary dealer.
