With the advancement of technology, there are now new options for people to enjoy physical experiences and one of them is poker. If you have a smart device and a stable internet connection, you can now play poker with your new friends from half the world away on platforms like WBET.
However, we don’t want to make the assumption that everyone knows how to play poker. To some, it may look like a daunting and quite complicated task. We want to empower you in this article by giving you the basic rules that you may need to learn online poker.
The ranking of poker hands
Regardless of the type of poker that you are playing, the gist of the game revolves around the rank of the cards you have in your hand. That said, it is important to have an idea of the power of the cards you hold. Here are some common rankings.
– Royal flush. This card group stands at the apex. It is the best hand that you can hold and features five cards, all of a similar suit. They must be arranged in order of their value.
– Straight flush. Next up is the straight flush. It consists of any possible five cards in the same suit of sequential value. One can only beat a straight flush with a royal flush.
– Four of a kind. This hand consists of four similar cards of all four suits. The hand is completed with the highest card in your hand.
– Full house. This is similar to having four of a kind, but only with three cards. It comprises three similar cards of the same suit, completed with two similar cards but of different suits. If two players have a full house, the one with the highest value of the three similar suits wins the hand.
Bluffing
You might have seen this a number of times in movies and TV shows, and we can confirm that bluffing is an important part of the game. You should know that it is possible to win in poker without having the best hand possible.
Bluffing is all about confidence; suggesting to your opponents that your hand is better than theirs. If you have a worse hand, you hold to the thought that they will fold rather than put your bluff to the test.
Forced bets
While there are many variants to the game, most require the players to make a forced or compulsory bet at the start of the hand. This bet is referred to in the industry as a blind or ante. In some forms of poker, there are two kinds of blind bets made; a small blind and a bigger one. The big blind is often twice the size of the small blind.
The dealer
Not always donned in a tuxedo, the dealer is a third party who serves the players. They determine the order in which the game is played. From the dealer, the game always flows in a clockwise manner.