Online poker is by far the most convenient way to play poker, but getting up and running can be confusing for new online players. Our online poker guide was created to take players who were brand new, and turn them into online poker experts. Our guide contains articles that will teach you how to play online poker, pages that recommend the best online poker rooms based on your favorite games and your location, and full reviews of all the major poker sites, so you can learn everything you need to know before signing up.
Poker is a game of chance. However, when you consider the concept of making a bet, this card game involves certain skills and psychology.
In an online poker game everything is much simpler and you can forget about the psychological issues as you will play only against one opponent, a computer. Rules are simple and straight forward. If your hand is higher than that of the computer you win.
The odds of wining are very high because you can win at least the amount of money you betted if you have at least one pair. The better the hand the bigger the amount you can win. The best hand you can have is the Royal Flush and in online poker games you can win even 100 times the sum you wager.
Also, in the case of an online game you do not have to compete against other players, so that if they had a better hand you would lose, or if it were a tie you would not have to split the pot. Also online games are often made to help the player, for instance you have as much time to think as you wish, or you can play around more with the cards you want to discard or hold, no one is pressing you.
The hands are ranked as follows:
Royal Flush: a series of cards, all of the same suit ranking Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten.
Straight Flush: a five card sequence where all the cards are of the same suit. For instance, 4,5,6,7,8, of hearts is a Straight Flush.
Four-of-a-Kind: four cards of the same rank with one other card of varying rank. The highest ranking Four-of-a-Kind would win in case of a tie.
Full House: a hand comprised of both a three-of-a-kind (three cards with the same rank) and a pair (two cards with the same rank). An example would be K-K-K-6-6.
Flush: consists of 5 cards of the same suit.
Straight: five cards in sequence, of mixed suits. (K-A-2-3-4) straights are NOT valid.
Three-of-a-Kind: three cards of the same rank with two other cards of varying rank (not a pair).
Two Pair: a hand that contains two cards of one rank, two cards of another rank, and a dissimilar fifth card.
One Pair: a hand that contains one set of cards with the same rank.
High Card: the weakest of poker hands, is not valid for online poker games, but if you play it at a casino you win if you have the highest ranking card. In the event of a tie, the next highest card wins, and so on.