Poker is a game of incomplete information: you see some of the cards, work out what your opponents might hold and bet on the strength of your hand against real people rather than the house. Getting the rules right from the start is the quickest way to stop making expensive mistakes, whether you join a home game, a live dealer table or an online poker room.
Below we walk through how hands are ranked, how a typical hand of Texas Hold’em unfolds from the blinds to the showdown, which betting actions you can take and how the main poker variants differ. We also explain how casino poker played against the dealer differs from poker played against other players, and finish with practical tips so you know how to play poker with confidence before any real money reaches the table.
What are the basic poker rules?
Poker rules award the pot to the player holding the best five-card hand at showdown, or to the last player left after everyone else folds. Everything else in the game decides how much money goes into that pot and who is still competing for it when the cards are finally revealed.
A handful of principles apply to almost every form of the game:
- You play against other players. In standard poker the casino or card room is not your opponent. It hosts the game and usually takes a small commission, known as the rake, from each pot or tournament entry.
- Only five cards count. Even in games where you see seven or more cards, your final hand is always the best combination of five.
- Action moves clockwise. Players act one at a time, starting to the left of the dealer button. Acting out of turn breaks the rules, and online software simply prevents it.
- Only the chips in front of you are in play. You cannot add money in the middle of a hand to cover a bet. If you run short, you go all-in for whatever you have left.
- Suits are equal. Hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades have no ranking, so two identical hands in different suits share the pot.
Poker hand rankings from highest to lowest
Poker hand rankings run from the royal flush at the top down to a single high card. Every variant that rewards the best hand uses this order. Learn it before anything else, because every betting decision depends on knowing where your hand stands.
| Rank | Hand | What it contains | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal flush | Ace, king, queen, jack and ten of one suit | A♥ K♥ Q♥ J♥ 10♥ |
| 2 | Straight flush | Five cards in sequence, all of one suit | 9♣ 8♣ 7♣ 6♣ 5♣ |
| 3 | Four of a kind | Four cards of the same rank | Q♠ Q♥ Q♦ Q♣ 4♥ |
| 4 | Full house | Three of a kind plus a pair | 8♦ 8♠ 8♥ K♣ K♦ |
| 5 | Flush | Five cards of one suit, not in sequence | A♦ J♦ 9♦ 6♦ 3♦ |
| 6 | Straight | Five cards in sequence, mixed suits | 10♠ 9♥ 8♦ 7♣ 6♠ |
| 7 | Three of a kind | Three cards of the same rank | 7♣ 7♦ 7♠ K♥ 2♣ |
| 8 | Two pair | Two different pairs | J♥ J♣ 5♠ 5♦ A♣ |
| 9 | One pair | Two cards of the same rank | 10♦ 10♣ K♠ 8♥ 3♦ |
| 10 | High card | No combination, so the highest card plays | A♠ Q♦ 9♣ 6♥ 2♠ |
When two players hold the same type of hand, the higher cards win: a pair of kings beats a pair of nines, and a flush led by an ace beats one led by a queen. If the main combination is identical, the remaining cards, called kickers, decide the winner one by one from the highest down. Only when all five cards match in rank is the pot split.
The ace is the most flexible card in the deck. It normally plays as the highest card, but it can also sit at the bottom of a straight as a one, giving the lowest possible straight of ace, two, three, four and five, often called the wheel. An ace cannot sit in the middle of a sequence, so queen, king, ace, two, three is not a straight.
How to play poker: one hand of Texas Hold’em step by step
Texas Hold’em is the easiest way to learn how to play poker, because every hand follows the same fixed sequence. Blinds come first, then four betting rounds and a showdown. Once this flow feels natural, most other variants will look familiar. The steps below assume a no-limit cash game, the format you are most likely to find in an online poker lobby.
Step 1: Fund your balance and take a seat
Before any cards are dealt you need chips. Online, that means depositing with a payment method your casino supports and choosing a table whose stakes suit your budget. Our guide to deposits and withdrawals explains the usual options. Every table displays its blinds along with the minimum and maximum buy-in, and you should only sit down with money you are comfortable losing.
Step 2: Post the blinds
Two forced bets start the action. The player directly to the left of the dealer button posts the small blind, and the next player posts the big blind, usually twice the size of the small blind. Blinds make sure every pot is worth fighting for, and the button moves one seat clockwise after each hand so everyone pays them in turn.
Step 3: Hole cards and the pre-flop round
Each player receives two cards face down, known as hole cards, that nobody else can see. The first betting round, called pre-flop, begins with the player to the left of the big blind, who can fold, call the big blind or raise. Action continues clockwise until every remaining player has put the same amount into the pot or folded.
Step 4: The flop
The dealer discards, or burns, the top card and places three community cards face up in the middle of the table. These cards are shared by everyone still in the hand. A second betting round follows, this time starting with the first active player to the left of the button, and players may now check if nobody has bet yet.
Step 5: The turn
A fourth community card, the turn, is dealt face up and followed by the third betting round. Bets often grow on the turn because players have more information and fewer unseen cards remain.
Step 6: The river
The fifth and final community card, the river, completes the board. The last of the poker betting rounds follows, and it is frequently the biggest, since every player now knows exactly which hand they hold.
Step 7: The showdown and payout
If two or more players remain after the river betting, the hand goes to a showdown. Players reveal their hole cards, and each makes the best five-card hand from any combination of their two hole cards and the five community cards; you may even use all five board cards and none of your own. The best hand takes the pot, identical hands split it, and in an online game the chips move to the winner’s stack automatically.
Betting actions: check, bet, call, raise and fold
Poker betting actions come down to five choices, and which you can use depends on whether anyone has bet this round. Knowing them matters because a misplaced action, such as calling when you meant to raise, usually cannot be taken back.
- Check: pass the action without betting. You can only check when nobody has bet in the current round.
- Bet: put chips into the pot when nobody has bet yet, forcing the others to match it or fold.
- Call: match the current highest bet to stay in the hand.
- Raise: increase the current bet, so the other players must call the higher amount, re-raise or fold.
- Fold: give up your cards along with any chips you have already put into the pot.
When a player cannot cover a bet in full, they can go all-in with the rest of their stack. They can then only win the part of the pot they contributed to, matched by each opponent. Any further betting between the other players goes into a separate side pot, which the all-in player cannot win even if they show the best hand at showdown.
Betting structures: no-limit, pot-limit and fixed-limit
Betting structures set how much you may bet or raise, and the same variant can play very differently under each one. Always check the table name or lobby description before you sit down.
No-limit lets you bet any amount up to everything in front of you at any moment, which is why a single hand can cost a whole stack. It is the standard format for Texas Hold’em.
Pot-limit caps any bet or raise at the current size of the pot, including the amount you would need to call first. Pots still grow quickly, but no player can move all-in from nowhere. It is the most common structure for Omaha.
Fixed-limit, often just called limit, sets bet and raise sizes in advance, with a smaller amount in the early rounds and a larger one later, and usually caps the number of raises per round. It rewards patient, careful play and suits newcomers who want to keep their losses predictable.
Popular poker variants and how their rules differ
Poker variants share the same hand rankings but change how many cards you receive and how you build your final hand. Some deal shared community cards, while others deal none. The table compares the four you are most likely to meet.
| Variant | Cards dealt to each player | Community cards | Betting rounds | Usual betting structure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Hold’em | 2 | 5 | 4 | No-limit |
| Omaha | 4 | 5 | 4 | Pot-limit |
| Seven Card Stud | 7 | 0 | 5 | Fixed-limit |
| Five Card Draw | 5 | 0 | 2 | Fixed-limit or no-limit |
Texas Hold’em
Texas Hold’em uses two private cards and five shared ones, and you can combine them in any way to make your best hand. Its simple structure is why it dominates online lobbies, live card rooms and televised tournaments alike.
Omaha
Omaha deals four hole cards instead of two, but you must use exactly two of them together with exactly three community cards. That rule catches out many Hold’em players: holding four hearts with only one heart on the board does not give you a flush. A popular split version, Omaha Hi-Lo, divides the pot between the best high hand and the best qualifying low hand.
Seven Card Stud
Seven Card Stud has no community cards at all. Each player receives two cards face down and one face up, then three more face up and a final card face down, with a betting round after each stage. Instead of blinds, the player showing the lowest face-up card usually pays a forced bring-in bet, and small antes from every player are common.
Five Card Draw
Five Card Draw is the classic home-game format. Each player receives five private cards and bets, then may discard some of them, within the limits of the house rules, and draw replacements before a final betting round. Video poker machines are built on this same draw principle.
If you want to see where these games are offered, our poker hub brings together our coverage of the game, and operator reviews such as our PokerStars review explain what an individual poker room includes.
Casino poker vs poker against other players
Casino poker pits you against the dealer under a fixed paytable, while traditional poker pits you against other players for a shared pot. Both use the same hand rankings, but the way you win money is completely different.
In player-versus-player poker, from cash games to tournaments, your result depends on the decisions you make compared with your opponents, and the operator earns its income from the rake rather than from your losses. In casino poker you play against the house, so every game carries a built-in house edge, just like roulette or blackjack. Popular examples include:
- Casino Hold’em: you and the dealer each receive two cards, the flop is dealt, and you decide whether to continue with a call bet or fold before the turn and river arrive.
- Three Card Poker: you and the dealer receive three cards each, and the rankings change slightly because a straight is harder to make than a flush with only three cards.
- Caribbean Stud Poker: a five-card game against the dealer, who must hold a qualifying hand before your raise is paid at the rate shown on the paytable.
- Video poker: a single-player machine game based on Five Card Draw, where you hold or discard cards and are paid according to your final hand. Our video poker page covers the main versions.
Many casino poker tables also offer optional side bets that pay out on your own cards, or on your cards combined with the dealer’s. Like the side bets found at blackjack tables, they rely purely on chance rather than skill, follow their own paytable and are best treated as entertainment rather than strategy. You can play these games with a real dealer streamed in real time through our live poker section, or explore the wider range of table games and other casino games.
How poker differs from blackjack
Poker and blackjack both use a standard deck, but blackjack is a duel with the dealer while poker is mostly a contest between players. In blackjack you try to reach a total of 21, or get as close as you can without going over, and finish ahead of the dealer; picture cards count as ten and an ace as one or eleven. In poker nobody adds up points at all, because the ranking of five-card combinations decides the winner.
The money side differs too. Blackjack is known for one of the lowest house edges in the casino, typically around 0.5% to 1% at well-run sites, and a blackjack dealt with your first two cards pays one and a half times your stake. Poker against other players has no house edge working against you; instead the operator collects a rake, and whether you win over time depends on how well you play compared with the rest of the table. If you enjoy both games, our blackjack section covers the other side of the card table.
Poker etiquette and table rules
Poker etiquette keeps the game fair and moving, and breaking it can cost you a pot even when you hold the best hand. Most of these rules come from live card rooms, but online and live dealer games have their own equivalents.
- Act in turn. Wait until the action reaches you, because acting early gives information away and may commit you to an action.
- Declare raises clearly. At a live table, say “raise” before moving chips, or put the full amount out in one motion, to avoid a string bet.
- Protect your cards. Keep a chip or your hand on your hole cards, since a hand that gets mixed into the discards, or mucked, is dead.
- Show to win. You must reveal your cards at showdown to claim the pot.
- Watch the clock online. A timer runs on every decision, and if it expires your hand is checked or folded automatically.
- Never discuss a live hand. Commenting on a hand that is still being played, even after you have folded, is not allowed.
Tips for learning how to play poker
The fastest way to learn how to play poker is to master one variant and practise at free or low stakes. Reviewing your decisions after each session also pays off, and these habits help newcomers avoid the most expensive early mistakes.
- Start with Texas Hold’em. It has the simplest structure and the most tables, so you get plenty of practice.
- Memorise the poker hand rankings. Keep the table above open until you never need to check it.
- Play free or micro-stakes games first. Play-money tables teach you the flow of a hand without risk, although opponents behave differently when nothing is at stake.
- Think about position. Acting last in a betting round lets you see what everyone else does before you decide, which is why the dealer button is the strongest seat.
- Play fewer, stronger starting hands. Beginners lose most by calling too often with weak cards in the hope of a lucky flop.
- Set a budget and stick to it. Decide in advance how much you can afford to lose, use the deposit limits in your account and take a break after a losing run. Our responsible gambling guide explains the tools available.
- Check bonus terms before claiming. Poker play does not always count towards wagering requirements, so read the conditions of any offer on our bonuses page carefully.
The rules of poker fit on a single page, but reading opponents and managing risk take far longer to learn. Once the hand rankings and betting rounds feel familiar, our beginner’s guide, casino glossary and wider collection of casino guides will help you take the next step with online poker and the rest of the casino.
Frequently asked questions
What are the basic poker rules?
Poker rules give the pot to the best five-card hand at showdown, or to the last player left after everyone else folds. Players act clockwise from the dealer button, choosing to check, bet, call, raise or fold in each betting round. Hands follow a fixed ranking from royal flush down to high card, and suits never break a tie, so identical hands split the pot.
How do you play poker?
You play poker one hand at a time: post the blinds, receive two hole cards, then bet through four rounds. The dealer reveals three community cards, called the flop, followed by the turn and the river. Anyone left after the last round goes to showdown, where the best five-card hand wins the pot; if everyone else folds earlier, the last player left takes it.
Does a flush beat a straight in poker?
Yes. A flush beats a straight in standard poker because five cards of one suit are harder to collect than five cards in sequence, so the flush ranks fifth and the straight sixth. The exception is Three Card Poker, a casino game in which a straight ranks above a flush because, with only three cards, the straight is the harder hand to make.
Do suits matter when two poker hands tie?
No. Suits have no ranking in standard poker, so a heart flush is worth exactly the same as a spade flush with the same card values. When two hands match in every rank, including the kickers, the pot is split equally between the players. Suits only matter in a few house rules, such as breaking a tie for who pays the bring-in bet in stud games.
What happens when a poker player goes all-in?
A player who goes all-in puts every remaining chip into the pot and stays in the hand until showdown without betting again. They can only win the amount they contributed, matched by each opponent. If other players keep betting, those extra chips go into a separate side pot that the all-in player cannot win, even with the best hand when the cards are revealed.
Can you play poker against the casino instead of other players?
Yes. Casino Hold’em, Three Card Poker and Caribbean Stud Poker are table games where you play against the dealer rather than other players, and video poker is a single-player version based on Five Card Draw. These games use familiar hand rankings but pay from a fixed paytable, so the house keeps a built-in edge, unlike player poker, where the operator earns a rake instead.
What is the difference between Texas Hold’em and Omaha?
Omaha deals four hole cards to each player instead of the two dealt in Texas Hold’em. In Omaha you must use exactly two hole cards plus exactly three of the five community cards, while Hold’em lets you combine cards freely. Hold’em is usually played no-limit, whereas Omaha is most often played pot-limit, which caps every bet at the current size of the pot.