How To Play Poker
If you want to learn how to play poker, you found the right place! This WPT.com article serves as a guide for learning how to play poker for beginners.
Poker is one of the world’s most popular card games, with many variants and ways to play. Games like Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Seven Card Stud, and Five Card Draw all fall under the broader category of poker.
The poker variants listed all play quite differently from each other, but share some basic concepts that apply to almost all poker games.
This guide covers the basics of poker, and applies to many of the most popular poker games. No matter what game you want to play, you’ll do well to add all of these basic concepts to your level of poker knowledge.
CLUBWPT AD
WPT GLOBAL AD
Before you dive into poker, it’s crucial to understand the rules of the specific poker game you want to play. Texas Hold’em, for example, plays very differently than Seven Card Stud.
Most poker games share many of the same basic poker rules, however. Many of the world’s most popular poker variants share the following components:
Poker games (with a few exceptions) use the standard 52-card deck.
The 52 playing cards are separated into cards ranked ace through deuce, with the ace as the highest card and the deuce (aka the two) as the lowest card. The ace can also act as the lowest card.
From highest to lowest, the card values look like this:
The deck includes 13 different ranks total. Each of the 13 ranks come in four different suits:
With 13 ranks and four suits for each rank, the deck adds up to 52 cards. If you were to separate the 52 cards by rank, that would look something like this:
Note that most player card decks include at least one Joker (wild card), but poker games rarely use Jokers during gameplay.
Whether it’s Texas Hold’em, stud poker, draw poker, or even video poker, most poker variants use the same system of poker hand rankings.
These rankings determine which player wins when two (or more) poker hands go head to head. Most poker games task the player with making the best five-card hand possible, and these rankings are based on five-card hands.
From strongest to weakest, the poker hand rankings look like this:
A royal flush consists of A-K-Q-J-T of all the same suit. is an example of a royal flush.
A straight flush is five sequential cards that are all the same suit. In other words, a straight flush is both a flush and a straight at the same time.
is an example of a straight flush.
A four-of-a-kind hand is made of four cards of the same rank. Examples of four-of-a-kind include four aces, four kings, four nines, four fours, etc,
A full house consists of three of a kind and a pair in the same five-card hand. Examples of a full house could include,, and .
Five cards of all the same suit make a flush in poker.
Examples of flushes could include , , and .
A straight is made of five sequential cards. The five cards in the straight don’t have to be of the same suit.
Examples of a straight could include , , and .
A three-of-a-kind hand consists of three of the same-ranking card. Examples of three of a kind could include Qc/pc, and .
Much like the name suggests, a two-pair hand is made when you hold two distinct pairs in the same five-card hand.
Examples of two-pair hands could include , and .
A one-pair hand (or just a “pair”) is made when you have two cards of the same ranking in your five-card hand.
A pair is the lowest-ranking made hand you can have in poker. In a battle of two or more one-pair hands, the highest pair wins.
When you don’t make a pair or better with your five cards, you’re hand is known as a high-card hand.
A hand like is known as “ace-high,” a hand like is known as “king-high,” and so on.
When two high-card hands face off, the hand with the highest-ranking high card wins.
CLUBWPT AD
WPT GLOBAL AD
Texas Hold’em, Omaha, and several other poker games use a betting system with a button and blinds.
The blinds are mandatory bets that go into the pot before each hand starts. These bets ensure that at least some amount of money is on the line in every hand.
When you look at a Texas Hold’em or Omaha poker table, you’ll see a setup that looks something like this:
The dealer button, small blind, and big blind rotate one player to the left after each hand. The small blind is always on the immediate left of the big blind, and the dealer button is on the immediate left of the small blind.
The amount of the small blind and big blind are determined by the stakes of the game in cash games, or by level in poker tournaments.
For example, if you’re playing a $1/$2 No-Limit Hold’em cash game on WPT Global, the small blind is $1 and the big blind is $2. Those blind amounts don’t change at any time in the game.
If you’re playing a tournament, the blinds begin at a certain amount, then increase in time intervals called levels.
For instance, the annual WPT Prime Championship at Wynn Las Vegas start with the blinds at 100/200. All players begin with 40,000 starting chips.
The blinds increase every 40 minutes. At Level 2, the blinds increase to 200/300, and Level 3 the blinds increase to 200/400, and so on.
Some poker games use antes as mandatory bets, either in place of the blinds or along with the blinds.
Many tournaments include a big blind ante equal to the amount of the big blind in each hand. So if the blinds are listed as 100/200/200, the 100 represents the amount of the small blind, the second number (200) represents the amount of the big blind, and the third number (also 200) is the amount of the big blind ante.
Each pot begins with 500 chips in the middle if the blinds and antes are at 100/200/200.
Some cash games also use an ante. You’ll see antes in use if you play Seven Card Stud, for example.
If you’re playing at an online poker site, or you look at the cash game waitlist at a casino poker room, you’ll see notations like NLHE, PLO, Limit, etc.
Most poker games play under one of the following betting structures:
A brief overview of these betting structures follows below:
Under No-Limit betting rules, a player can bet all of their chips at any time during any part of a hand.
No-Limit Texas Hold’em is the most popular form of poker in the world. When you see a notation like NLHE or NLH, that denotes a game of Texas Hold’em played under No-Limit betting rules.
Whatever amount of chips you have in front of you at a given time, you can bet that entire amount at any point in the hand.
For instance, if you’re in the WPT Prime Championship, you could bet all 40,000 of your starting chips in the very first hand if you wanted to.
Most Texas Hold’em games played at live poker rooms and online poker sites are played under No-Limit rules. Some other games use No-Limit betting structure as well.
Under Pot-Limit rules, the maximum allowed bet or raise at any time is equal to the amount of the pot.
Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) is the most popular poker game that uses Pot-Limit betting rules, by far. PLO is the second-most popular poker game in the world, trailing only No-Limit Hold’em.
You can play many poker variants as Pot-Limit games, but the two most common you’ll see are Omaha and Texas Hold’em.
Fixed-Limit (or simply Limit) games play with preset limits on the maximum amount you can bet or raise. Stud games are almost exclusively played as Limit games, but you’ll sometimes see Texas Hold’em, Omaha, and other poker games played as Limit games as well.
The “limits” in a Limit game are determined by the stakes of the game. For example, you might see a listing for $4/$8 Limit Hold’em at a poker room.
Generally speaking, a $4/$8 game allows a maximum of $4 for a bet or raise in the first two betting rounds, and a max of $8 in the final two betting rounds.
The maximum number of raised per round is usually four. After four bets/raises have occured in a betting round, other players can only call after that.
The overarching category of “poker” can include hundreds of games. For the purposes of this article, the following brief explanations cover the most common poker variants you’ll see at the poker room.
Texas Hold’em is the most-played poker game in the world. No-Limit Hold’em (Texas Hold’em played with No-Limit betting rules) is the game at the center of the most prestigious poker tournaments in the world, including on the World Poker Tour.
If you’re just getting into poker, Texas Hold’em is a great game to learn how to play. You’ll find plenty of games of Texas Hold’em running at most poker rooms at any time.
CLUBWPT AD
WPT GLOBAL AD
Omaha is similar to Texas Hold’em, but with some key differences:
The requirement of using exactly two hole cards and three community cards can trip up a player who’s used to playing exclusively Texas Hold’em.
Pot-Limit Omaha (Omaha played under Pot-Limit betting rules) is the second-most popular poker game in the world.
You can also find Limit Omaha, and Omaha Hi-Lo (where each pot is split between the best high hand and the best low hand) at many poker rooms.
Big-O, yet another Omaha variant, is played with five hole cards.
Seven Card Stud was at one time the most popular poker game in the world. Stud plays quite differently than Hold’em and Omaha:
Seven Card Stud is the most common Stud variant, with Five Card Stud a distant second.
Some of the other poker games you might see at the poker room (particularly at live poker rooms) include:
As you branch out as a poker player, you’ll encounter far more variants than what’s included in this guide.
ClubWPT presents a great option for players looking to learn the game online.
You can play for free at ClubWPT, or purchase a monthly subscription. The monthly subscription allows access to tournaments that award cash and prizes, including entries into World Poker Tour live events.
Poker is a game of skill. While luck certainly plays a role in the short term in poker, in the long term good players will always win more than bad players.
Poker in general is relatively easy to learn. The best players in the world, however, have spent many thousands of hours studying poker strategy to get to where they are in the game.
Texas Hold’em, as World Poker Tour legend Mike Sexton once said, takes “only minutes to learn and a lifetime to master.”
Five Card Draw is quite possibly the easiest poker game to learn. Each player gets five cards, there’s one round of discards, and the player with the best five-card hand wins.
The most practical game to learn, however, is Texas Hold’em. It’s relatively simple to learn, and is played all over the world.
Yes. ClubWPT is a great online poker site for players looking to learn how to play poker on their own.
ClubWPT offers free-to-play poker games, as well as subscription-based tournaments that award cash and prizes. The prizes at stake in ClubWPT’s tournaments include entries to WPT live events, WPT Voyage Cruise packages, and more.
CLUBWPT AD
WPT GLOBAL AD
**
There is no purchase necessary to play on ClubWPT. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. For more information regarding events, including how to qualify and location eligibility, visitClubWPT.com
Ensure your jurisdiction allows play on WPT Global. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.
FAQ
Can you win real money at WPT Global?
Can you win real money at WPT Global?
Yes, you can win real money at WPT Global. WPT Global also offer the chance to win seats in any number of exciting live tournaments.
How many decks are used in poker?
![]()
how many decks are used in poker?
In most popular poker variants, such as Texas Hold’em and Omaha, a standard deck of 52 playing cards is used. Each deck contains four suits (hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades) and consists of 13 ranks (Ace, 2 through 10, and the face cards: Jack, Queen, and King).
However, it’s important to note that the number of decks used in poker can vary depending on the specific game or variation being played. For example, some poker tournaments or cash games may use multiple decks to speed up the gameplay or reduce the frequency of card shuffling. In such cases, it is common to use two or more decks that are shuffled together.
What is the bonus code for WPT Global Poker 2023?
![]()
What is the bonus code for WPT Global Poker 2023?
We’ll save you time. The best bonus code for WPT Global is WPT777. By entering the bonus code, players will get a welcome bonus 100% up to $1,200 on the first deposit. The minimum deposit is $20.
What is the best WPT Global bonus code?
What is the best World Poker Tour bonus code?
Use the WPT Global bonus code WPT777 when registering to get a 100% deposit bonus up to $1200 plus a $100 No Deposit poker bonus.
What is the WPT bonus code?
What is the WPT bonus code?
The WPT bonus code is WPT777. Use this code at WPTglobal.com to get up to $1200 poker bonus. This code has been approved by WPT Global and gives new users the maximum new user offer.
Download & Play WPT Global Application In Shortly
This site only collects related articles. Viewing the original, please copy and open the following link:How To Play Poker
