PokerWorks

Poker Rules

Although poker is a game of people played with cards, normally involving money, it is also a game that has rules. Each game has its own set of rules and a format that has to be followed in order to make the game work and keep it honest and fair for everyone. Below you will find basic and advanced poker rules for most of the poker variations: Texas Holdem, Omaha, Seven Card Stud as well as not so common Deuce to 7, Razz, Badugi and other poker variations.

Poker Hand Ratings

Poker hand combinations are listed here by strength. Each poker hand has a picture as an example and a short description next to it. The hand order is ranked from the highest to the lowest.

Royal Flush
Royal Flush - Straight Flush from 10 to the ace.
Example: T♣, J♣, Q♣, K♣, A♣
Straight Flush
Straight Flush - Straight with all five cards of the same suit.
Example: 5♦, 6♦, 7♦, 8♦, 9♦
Four of a Kind
Four of a Kind - Four cards of the same rank. Suit is irrelevant.
Example: Q♥, Q♣, Q♦, Q♠
Full House
Full House - Three cards of one rank together with two cards of another rank. According to the international poker rules, when more than one full house is competing, the one with the highest ranking group of three wins.
Example: T♠, T♣, T♥, J♣, J♥
Flush
Flush - Five cards of the same suit. When more than one flush is competing, the one with the highest card wins.
Example: 4♦, 6♦, 9♦, K♦, A♦
Straight
Straight - Five cards in sequence. In poker rules, when more than one straight is competing, the one with the highest card wins. An ace can be taken as either high or low (but not both high and low in the same hand).
Example: 7♥, 8♦, 9♥, T♣, J♠; suit is irrelevant.
Three of a Kind
Three of a Kind - Three cards of the same rank.
Example: J♥, J♣, J♦
Two Pair
Two Pair - Any two cards of one rank together with two cards of another rank. When more than one hand has two pairs of the same rank, the hand with the highest card outside the paired cards wins.
Example: 2♠, 2♣, 6♥, 6♠
One Pair
One Pair - Two cards of the same rank. In case two hands have pairs, the highest pair wins. When more than one hand has a pair of the same rank, the hand with the highest card outside the pair wins.
Example: T♥, T♦
Highest Card
Highest Card - When players have none of the above, the hand with the highest card wins.
Example: K♥

Poker Rules

  • Texas Holdem
    The Most Popular Poker game in the world Texas Hold'em explained in the simple, down to earth language for the beginners of poker.
    Read more
  • Omaha
    Learn to play once the most popular poker variation Omaha Poker. Easy to read and understand Omaha poker rules in a illustrated way.
    Read more
  • Seven card stud
    Illustrated seven card stud rules for beginners. Learn the basic seven card stud poker rules and start playing online. Easy to follow instructions.
    Read more

Beginner’s Poker Guide

Poker Basics

Find everything you want to know about poker and how to play the game.

Beginner’s strategy

An easily understandable, step by step guide on how to play tournaments and live action.

About Poker

Poker is played all over the world. It was created in the USA but split over the world in a few decades and is not played in North and South America in Asia, Australia, Europe and even in Africa. Different poker events roll over the globe every year: WSOP, WSOPE, Aussie Millions, Asian Open and etc. Anyway, poker is still most popular in the place it was started, the USA. Different poker variations have different poker rules, but there are some rules that are the same for all the poker games. These are fundamental poker rules and should be known by every poker player. It's a must to know thing. Obviously, there are official and unofficial poker game rules. Let's say tournaments organizers usually base on international poker rules, while home poker game lovers can think of any sort of crazy rules. Casino and poker rooms do have different poker policies, but they anyway rely on the basic poker traditions. Check our poker rules to get the basic knowledge and it will help you to become a winning poker player.

Congratulations! You have just learned the most important poker rules part - the poker hand rankings and you are now ready to take your first step in playing poker against real opponents. We suggest you check beginner poker strategy section and start playing poker with low stakes. If you are ready for your real money adventure; or improve your skills playing at play money tables until you feel comfortable enough to play for real money. Download Titan Poker's free software , install it and start playing. As soon as you are ready to play at real money tables, enter our special bonus code POKERWORKS and receive a huge 100% up to $500 bonus. Good luck!

Online poker guide

PokerWorks finds the latest poker news, presents updated, online poker room reviews, searches out the greatest poker bonuses and biggest possible free poker tournaments, and works closely with every poker room listed on our site to provide you with the best poker bonuses on the biggest Internet poker rooms such as Party Poker, PokerStars, William Hill Poker, Titan Poker, and many others. Check out our poker bonus page for the best of today's offers.

PokerWorks.com frequently checks and updates every room review listed on our site. We keep these reviews as informative and updated as possible. If you think we are missing any information or feel our review is misleading somehow, please e-mail us your concerns and help us improve.

Over the last few years PokerWorks became a multilingual poker site and is now available in nine languages. And even more languages are coming soon. Our editors, from all over the world, keep our pages updated with the latest poker news, live reports, and announcements. Besides our extensive, well written poker articles, we also have a great, informative Poker Strategy section. Our Poker Rules section was added recently for our visitors that are new poker players.