If you’re looking for different ways to spend your time inside when it’s too hot to go outside, you may want to consider learning the rules of poker. There are several different forms of poker – community card poker, stud poker, and draw poker, and once you have learned how to play just one of these forms, the other two should come easy to you. To begin with, it would be a good idea to learn the different winning poker hands, which are the same in all three types of poker. It would also be a good idea to learn the basic rules of poker.
How to play poker
The aim of poker is to try and win the pot by achieving the best possible hand when all betting rounds have ended. Each player starts with two cards (known as ‘hole cards’), and you can also use any of the five ‘community’ cards to obtain the best possible hand. In between the cards being dealt, there’s a new round of betting, where you can call, check, or fold. If you’re not happy with your cards, you can fold them when it’s your turn and wait for the next game to begin. If someone puts money in the pot, and you want to stay in that round, you would have to ‘call’ by adding the same amount of chips to the pot.
However, if you wish to add more chips, you can ‘raise.’ If nobody has added any chips to the pot, and if you also don’t want to add any chips, then you can simply ‘check,’ which passes play to the next player to decide what he or she wants to do. The first bets are placed before any of the five community cards are dealt. The three cards that are dealt are known as the ‘Flop’ are dealt, and when they are laid down, another new round of betting begins. When this round of betting is over, the next card, known as the ‘Turn’ card, is dealt.
After this new round of betting is over, the fifth and final community card known as the ‘River’ is dealt, which opens up another new round of betting, and then as soon as this round is over, the winner will be revealed. You can learn how to play poker and have fun in just a few minutes, and then once you have learned, you can get a lifetime of enjoyment out of playing one of the most popular card games in the world.
What are the winning poker hands?
The lowest-valued winning hand is a High Card. The next best win is a Pair. Two Pair is the next best win, and then it’s Three-of-a-Kind. You then have a Straight, a Flush, a Full House, and Four-of-a-Kind. The second best possible winning hand in poker is a Straight Flush, and the best winning hand is the iconic Royal Flush. Let’s take a quick look at exactly what this means.
A Royal Flush is when you can make Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and ten of the same suit (e.g., A-K-Q-J-10 of hearts) using either one or both of your hole cards and any of the five community cards. A Straight Flush is when you have five cards in a row of the same suit (e.g., 5-6-7-8-9 of diamonds). Four of a Kind could be, for example, 2-2-2-2-J, or K-K-K-K-5, and a Full House is when you get any three-of-a-kind plus any pair (e.g., 7-7-7-J-J, or 3-3-3-10-10).
Next up is a Flush, which is ANY five cards of the same suit (e.g., 3-5-10-Q-A of hearts, or A-4-7-9-J of clubs). A Straight is five cards in sequential order in any suit (e.g., 4-5-6-7-8-9 or 8-9-10-J-Q of any mixed suits) and Three of a Kind is three matching numbers or Royal Cards and any two other cards (e.g., J-J-J-2-A or 7-7-7-K-2). The third lowest-valued winning hand in poker is Two Pair (can be any two pairs, e.g., 4-4-9-9-J or Q-Q-K-K-4), and the second lowest-valued hand is any pair. The lowest-valued winning hand is a High Card, which is used to determine the winner when none of these other hands are achieved.
More card games to play inside when it’s too hot to go out
There are lots of other popular card games you can play inside when it’s too hot to go out. Some of these games can be played alone, and others are played with multiple players. You can play these games with an actual deck of cards with your nearest and dearest, or you can play online against players from around the world. Some of the oldest and most well-known card games include Solitaire (which is also known as Patience), Rummy/Gin Rummy, Blackjack, War, Crazy Eights, and Cribbage, to name just a few.