General Poker Rules and Rules for Texas Holdem, Omaha and Seven-card Stud. All poker hands ranked and detailed. Poker strategy tips, poker odds, poker terms used in rules and popular lierature links.

Poker Rules

The information sources provided here offer detailed information for all varaiations of poker (with a slight bias towards Texas Holdem).

Improve your game by knowing the poker rules precisely, best hands, strategies, odds, terms and latest literature.

General Poker Rules

These are rules that can be assumed go with any variation of poker.

These are brief rules, visit poker variations for detailed rules for each poker variation.

The Pack The standard 52-card pack is used. It contains four suits, each identified by its symbol, or "pip": spades (), hearts (), diamonds (), and clubs (). There are thirteen cards of each suit: ace (A), king (K), queen (Q), jack (J), 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. Wherever a game is said to require 52 cards, reference is to this standard pack. A majority of card games use the standard pack, including some of the most popular games in the world, namely, Bridge, Gin Rummy, Hearts, Cribbage, Faro, Cassino, Fan Tan, and most versions of Poker.

The Joker A fifty-third card?the joker?and a fifty-fourth card, which may be used as an extra joker, are usually furnished with the standard 52-card pack and may become part of the pack if the rules of the game require it. For example, a number of versions of Poker, including Pai-Gow, utilize the joker, and Canasta requires four jokers.

Holdem Poker Rules

In holdem, players receive two downcards as their personal hand, after which there is a round of betting. Three boardcards are turned simultaneously (called the "flop") and another round of betting occurs. The next two boardcards are turned one at a time, with a round of betting after each card. The boardcards are community cards, and a player may use any five-card combination from among the board and personal cards. A player may even use all of the boardcards and no personal cards to form a hand (play the board). A dealer button is used. The usual structure is to use two blinds, but it is possible to play the game with one blind, multiple blinds, an ante, or combination of blinds plus an ante.

Omaha Poker Rules

Omaha is similar to holdem in using a three-card flop on the board, a fourth boardcard, and then a fifth boardcard. Each player is dealt four holecards (instead of two) at the start. In order to make a hand, a player must use precisely two holecards with three boardcards. The betting is the same as in holdem. At the showdown, the entire four-card hand should be shown to receive the pot.

Seven-card Stud Poker Rules

Seven-card Stud poker is played with two downcards and one upcard dealt before the first betting round, followed by three more upcards (with a betting round after each card). After the last downcard is dealt, there is a final round of betting. The best five-card poker hand wins the pot. In all fixed-limit games, the smaller bet is wagered on the first two betting rounds, and the larger bet is wagered after the betting rounds on the fifth, sixth, and seventh cards. If there is an open pair on the fourth card, any player has the option of making the smaller or larger bet. Deliberately changing the order of your upcards in a stud game is improper because it unfairly misleads the other players.

Poker Rules Information