What Beats What In Texas Hold’em poker?

Playing poker online can be a great way to make some extra cash. This article will give you all you need to know about how to play Texas Holdem online, hand rankings, and the Texas Holdem rules. Knowing the basics is essential before playing real money poker online, poker is a fairly simple game, but going to a real money table with no knowledge can be disastrous. Thankfully, these tips will help you get your knowledge up to scratch and get your ready to start playing!

How To Play Texas Holdem Online

In poker, at the beginning of a round, each player on the table is dealt two cards, these are called ‘hole cards’. The hole cards are not shown to any other players, once each player is dealt their hole cards, a betting round commences. Players place a bet based on the potential strength of their hole cards creating a strong hand when the community cards are dealt. There are five community cards dealt in a round of poker, the community cards are cards that are dealt on the table for all players to see and create the best hand using their hole cards. Community cards are dealt periodically, first three cards are dealt on to the table, these are known as ‘the flop’. After the flop is dealt, players are given the option to place a bet based on their hands. After this betting round, another community card is dealt, this is called the ‘turn’. After the ‘turn’ players can then choose to bet again. Finally, the last community card known as ‘the river’ is dealt, then a final betting round occurs and players show their cards, the person with the best hand is deemed the winner.

At the start of each round of poker forced bets called ‘blinds’ are placed. This is to accumulate some money in the pot, these bets are determined by a dealer chip that is passed around the table. The dealer chip moves to the left and given to a different player after each round. The blind bets are paid by the two players sat to the left of the dealer chip. There is a small blind and a big blind, the small blind will be half the value of the big blind. The dealer chip moves this way so that each player pays the blinds, meaning these forced bets are evenly requested from each player at the table.

The main aim of poker is to have a better ‘hand’ than your opponents. In poker, each hand has a different value, a ‘hand is made up of five cards using the hole cards and the community cards on the table. The hands in poker are ranked in order of worst to best, the ranks are detailed below.

Hand Rankings

There are nine hand rankings in poker, in terms of numerical value the cards rank from 2-Ace, 2 being the lowest card and Ace being the highest. The suits of the cards (Clubs, Diamonds, Spades, Hearts) do not differ in value. The possible hand ranks are detailed below in order of weakest to strongest:

1. High Card: Cards are ranked from 2- Ace. If there are two or more players with the same high card, the second highest card will determine the winner, and so on.
2. Pair: A pair is two cards of the same rank e.g. 4H and 4S. A pair of Aces is the best pair. If more than one player holds the same pair, the player(s) with the highest remaining cards will win.
3. Two Pair: A two paid is two pairs, e.g. 4H and 4S, and 8D and 8S. If there are more than one player with a two pair, the player with the highest pair wins. If two or more players hold the same two par, then the value of the remaining card (known as a kicker) determines who the winner will be.
4. Three of a Kind: Three of a kind is three cards of the same rank, e.g 4H, 4D, 4S.
   If two players or more have the same three of a kind, the kickers determine who the winner is.
5. Straight: A straight is five cards in numerical order e.g 4H,5D,6H,7S,8C. The lowest straight is A-5, with the highest being 10-A. If two players have a straight, the highest straight wins.
6. Flush: A flush is five cards of the same suit (diamonds, hearts, spades, clubs). If two players or more have a flush, the player with the highest card in the flush will win.
7. Full House: A full house is made up of two other hands ‘three of a kind’ and ‘pair’. If more than one player has a full house, the winner is the player with the highest three of a kind, and pair.
8. Four of a Kind: Four of a kind follows the same principle as three of a kind but with 4 cards of the same numerical value e.g 4H, 4S, 4D, 4C. If there are two or more players with the same four of a kind, the winner is chosen based on the kicker card.
9. Straight Flush: The straight flush combines a straight and a flush e.g
   4H, 5H, 6H, 7H, 8H. it is five cards of the same suit, in numerical order. The highest straight flush is 10-A, this is known as a ‘royal flush’ and is the best hand you can get in poker.