If you are a complete poker virgin (we will take your word for it) here are some basics to get you started at the tables.

Hand rankings: Which hand beats which?

In order from the lowest hand to the highest possible hand:

High card: A hand without even a pair, straight, or flush has only the value of is highest card. Ex: 2,3,6,8,T is a “Ten-high”, and beaten by anyone with a card higher than 10 or any pair or more.

One Pair – Two cards of the same rank. Ex: 3,7,8,8, T, J.

Two Pair – Two cards of one rank and another two cards of another rank. Ex: 2,2,8, Q, Q.

Three of a Kind – Three cards of the same rank. Ex: 4, 5, 9, 9, 9. Three of a Kind beats two pair because it is less likely to happen.

Straight – Five cards in a sequence, but not in a single suit. Ex: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

Flush – All five cards are in the same suit, but not in a sequence. Ex: 2, 3, J, Q, A, all of Hearts.

Full House – Three cards of the same rank and two cards of another rank. Ex: 5, 5, A, A, A, which would be called “Aces full of Fives.”

Four of a Kind – Four cards of the same rank. Ex: 2, 2, 2, 2, K. This is also called “Quads.”

Straight Flush – All five cards are of the same suit and in sequence. Ex: 7, 8, 9, T, J all in Spades. This hand is almost unbeatable.

Royal Flush – The James Bond hand, this hand wins over any other and appears around once every million hands. It’s A, K, Q, J, and T, all of the same suit

Blinds and Antes: How does the pot get started?

Blinds and antes are “forced bets”, meant to get the betting started. Without blinds and antes poker would be a pretty boring game, since nobody would bet any chips unless they had a good hand to begin with.

Antes are a small amount contributed by every player. Antes are used in several variations of poker and at the late stages of tournaments. Two things you should remember about antes: every player pays the same amount, and they do not count as a bet.

Blinds are the foundation for Hold’em and many other popular games. They are only put forth by the 2 players to the left of the dealer button, and the button moves after every hand to ensure fairness. Blinds get their name because they count as bets, but they are made before the players have even seen their cards, so they are “blind bets.” Usually the Big Blind is the smallest betting amount allowed, and the Small Blind is half of it.

Check, call and raise: How do you bet in Poker?

There are only five actions in poker, and within those actions lie hours and years of challenging entertainment for you. Let’s tackle them in order:

If you are first in a round of betting and you do not want to bet, you can just CHECK. That’s it. No action.

If you are first in a round of betting and you like your cards, you can BET by choosing a number of chips and adding them to the pot in the center of the table.

If someone has bet before you and you want to bet the same amount, you CALL, meaning you put forth the same number of chips as the player before you.

If you want to bet more than the person before you, you RAISE to a higher amount, the size of which will depend on the kind of Limit of the game you are playing.

Finally, if you don’t like your cards and you don’t want to play this particular hand, you may FOLD, which means you don’t put any chips forward and you withdraw from the rest of the hand.

The sky is the limit: What are the types of Limits in Poker?

There are three basic types of limits in the game of poker, and they literally limit how much you can bet at one time.

Fixed Limit is great for beginners and players who are more conservative, as the betting is limited to a specific amount and nobody can bet more than that. Nice and simple!

For those who want to play with more chips while still retaining some control, there is Pot Limit, in which you can bet as much as there is in the pot. There is a bit of extra math going into it, but that is the gist of it.

Finally, if you want to play like they do on TV and go “all in” (meaning you bet your entire chip stack,) then No Limit games are for you. But be careful – you could lose it all!