Poker is the general term given to a number of different games. Some players enjoy Texas Hold’em, a game made popular by ESPN and a number of million dollar champions there. Others like stud poker, and others still enjoy Omaha poker. Even within these games, there are variations, including different limits and high and low versions. Some rules are specific to these games, while other rules can generally apply to all of the games. Any player who wants to succeed in poker will need to know these rules, as well as the strategies that underlie the rules.

Poker is a game of hands. The goal is to have a better hand than the other players. With that in mind, one must understand that there is a hierarchy of hands. Hands are ranked in the following way, high to low.

In poker, when no player has any other hand, the player with the highest card will win. From there, the hand rankings are relatively easy to understand. Higher pairs, with aces being the best, will beat out lower pairs. One interesting quirk involves how to value two pair hands. When two players have two pair hands, the highest pair is the winner. For instance, a player with kings and twos will beat out a player with queens and jacks. Only the highest pair matters when determining hand rankings.

One of the most important rules is in regard to betting limits. Some games are known as no-limit games. In these games, any player can push all of his chips into the middle at any time. This can happen during the first round of betting or the last. No-limit games tend to be the most volatile games out there, and players tend to experience wild swings in monetary success when they play these games. The power move in a no-limit game is the all-in push, and players use the all-in move to force other players to fold on occasion.

Other games are limit games. They are set up in a similar way to no-limit games though limit games cap the amount of money a person can bet. In a limit game, the limits might either be fixed or the pot limit. As the name suggests, a pot-limit game allows players to only bet as much money as is in the middle.

Popular Texas Hold’em games require players to put in some bets before the cards come out. These bets are called the blinds, and they are required of the two players to the left of the dealer. The small blind is usually half of the big blind, and the big blind amount will equal the minimum bet. For instance, some players play $1/$2 Texas Hold’em games. This notation means that the small blind will put in one dollar, the big blind will add two dollars, and the minimum bet will be two dollars. Any player who wants to stay in will have to match the big blind.

About The Author

Reviewed By: +Alvaro Santos

My name is Alvaro Santos, I'm part of a team of experienced poker players, who have been playing poker for many years now. I'm sharing my experiences about the different online poker rooms by reviewing and rating them accordingly take many factors into consideration. I'm reviewing these sites to give you my professional and objective perspective about the best poker rooms online.