POKER HANDS

Like in all other games, online poker too, there are couple of rules that as a player you need to know before you get down to play the real thing. You would normally play the game with a pack of 52 cards or if it is a variant, multiple packs, too. All the cards are normally ranked from high to low Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1, Ace. Ace could be high or low, how ever it is normally high. Here is a ranking of Hands in Poker:

1) Royal Flush - A, K, Q, J, 10 of same suit make up this hand. It is regarded as the highest Poker hand.

2) Straight Flush - Five cards of same suit in sequence are called straight flush. An example is 54321 of diamonds.

3) Four of a kind - These are four cards of the same rank - 1-1-1-1 of diamonds, spades, hearts, clubs.

4) Full House - This poker hand has three of a kind and a pair, such as K-K-K-5-5. Ties are busted first by the three of a kind, then the pair. So K-K-K-2-2 beats Q-Q-Q-A-A, which beats Q-Q-Q-J-J.

5) Flush - In this poker hand all of the cards are the same suit, such as J-8-5-3-2, all of spades. When flushes tie, follow the rules for high card.

6) Straight - 5 cards in order, such as 4-5-6-7-8 make this hand An ace may also be high (A-K-Q-J-T) or low (5-4-3-2-1). But, a straight may not 'wraparound" (such as Q-K-A-2-3, which is not a straight). When straights happen to tie, the highest straight wins (e.g., A-K-Q-J-T beats K-Q-J-T-9 down to 5-4-3-2-A). If two straights have the same value (A-K-Q-J-T vs. A-K-Q-J-T) in that case two hands split the pot.

7) Three of a Kind - This Three cards of the same rank, matched with two cards that are not a pair (otherwise it would be a full house) - such as K-K-K-5-3 from this hand Y et again, the highest three of a kind hand wins. If both three of a kind hands are the same rank, then high cards are compared.

8) Two Pair - This poker hand has two distinct pairs of cards and a 5th card - such as K-K-5-5-3. The highest pair wins the tie. In case both hands have the same high pair, the second pair that is higher, wins. If both hands have the same pairs, the balance high card decides the winner.

9) One Pair - This hand consisting of one pair with three distinct cards - such as K-K-10-5-3-. The left over high card breaks ties.

10) High Card - In case no player has a poker hand that qualifies as one of the above hands (e.g., K-J-10-5-3) the hand with the highest card wins. Hence, if no player has a pair or better, then the winning poker hand is simply the one with the highest single card.