Beginner's Guide To Playing Poker For All Fun Casino Guests

Poker is a fantastic game to play with friends and makes a great game to include in a fun casino hire night. The concept is easy to teach, simple to understand and fantastic fun for players of all abilities. The most common format of Poker to use in a Poker evening would be Texas Holdem, a game that has taken the world by storm over the past few years. Texas Holdem centres around four betting rounds, during which you will learn more information about the strength of your hand and its ability to win the pot. The aim of the game is to make the best hand you can using a combination of the two cards dealt to you and the five community cards dealt during the four betting rounds. The winner of the hand is simply the player with the highest ranked hand.

There are a number of different hand rankings as follows from lowest to highest: A Pair – as simple as it sounds, a pair of equal value regardless of suit Two Pair – two pairs of equal value cards Three of a Kind – Three cards of the same value Straight – Five cards in sequence, regardless of suit. The lowest straight is Ace through to 5 with the highest being Ten through to Ace Flush – Five cards of the same suit in any order Full House – Three cards of equal value and a pair Four of a Kind – Four cards of equal value Straight Flush – Five cards in sequence and of the same suit Royal Flush – The hardest hand to get. As with the straight flush above, five cards of the same suit from Ten through to Ace The position of the dealer is important in Poker as it dictates which players act first in each hand. The dealer is usually selected by a high card deal and is marked by a coloured disk known as 'the button'.

The game starts with the two players to the left of the dealer placing forced bets known as 'blinds'. This ensures that there are some chips in the pot for each hand. Two cards are dealt to every player face down starting with the player to the immediate left of the dealer. The completion of the deal signals the start of the first betting round. At your turn you may call the bet (match the amount of the player to your right), raise the bet (usually unlimited) or fold (discard your hand.) In later rounds you may have the option to 'check' which is passing the bet to the next person and only occurs when you have the same bet as the person on your right. Each player, starting with the first player to the left of the 'blinds' (3rd position), must place their bet if they wish to continue in the hand. This will be dependant on the cards they have been dealt and how they stack up to the hand ranking table above. This continues around the table until all players have the same amount in front of them. A player can usually raise as much as they like as long as they have the chips. Once all players who wish to play the hand have matched chip levels the first 3 community cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table.

These cards can be used by all players in their hands but remain in the middle of the table. A further round of betting in the same format takes place starting with the player to the left of the dealer. Once all remaining players have reached the same bet level a fourth community card is dealt face up next to the first three. More betting takes place. A fifth community card is then dealt followed by a final betting round. The winner of the hand is the player with the best five card hand from the remaining players. The winning player wins the pot.