by: Lou Krieger ©

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So you want to learn how to play poker? Why not? These days everyone is learning how. To play poker, you’ll need a 52-card deck comprised of four suits: spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs. An Ace ranks the highest in a suit, followed by the King, Queen, Jack, and ten through two (or deuce), in descending order. An Ace is also the lowest ranking card in a five-high straight (5-4-3-2-A), called a wheel or bicycle. Betting
As you’re learning how to play poker, you’ll realize that the skill to minimize losses with a poor hand while maximizing wins with good hands, is what poker is all about. How much can you bet?
In a fixed-limit game, players may bet or raise only a predetermined number of chips. In no-limit, a player may bet or raise any amount of chips he has in front of him at any time. If you’re learning how to play poker by televised Texas hold’em tournaments, that’s the kind of poker you see. Hand Rankings
When you’re first learning how to play poker, you might need some help with hand rankings. The value of a hand is based on its rarity. The rarer it is, the more valuable the hand.

• Straight flush – Five cards of the same suit in sequence, such as 9h,8h,7h,6h,5h. A royal flush is simply an Ace-high straight flush, and is the best possible hand in poker.
• Four-of-a-kind, or quads – Four cards of one rank, plus one unrelated card.
• Full house – Three cards of one rank and a pair of another.
• Flush – Five cards of the same suit.
• Straight – Five sequenced cards.
• Three-of-a-kind – Three cards of the same rank, along with two unrelated cards.
• Two pair – Two cards of one rank along with two cards of another rank and one unrelated card.
• One pair – Two cards of one rank and three unrelated cards.
• High card – The winning hand is determined by the rank order of the five unrelated cards.

Learning how to play poker is a lot more involved than these few words, but this should get you started. Good luck.