Poker: Criteria, Rankings and Hands

Perhaps the reason why poker is the most common card game in American households is because it can be played thousands of ways. There are many variations of poker, such as the Texas Hold 'Em, Longhand Limit Hold 'Em and Shorthand Limit Hold 'Em. Anybody can make his own set of rules. But always keep in mind that there are rules which cannot be changed. Completely changing or eliminating these rules means that the game you will be playing should not be called poker anymore.

Criteria

Basically, poker has these criteria: 1) there must be a specified limit of the number of players who will be allowed to join; 2) there must be bets, could be chips or not, money or not, just as long as it is to be risked; 3) that the objects to bet on or risked and the game should define how the players will play the game; 4) the cards must have a predetermined value and a structure, and; 5) the objects that will be used for the betting will also have some form of structure or ranking for organizing.

Card Rankings

In some card games the King is the highest, but in poker Ace is the highest. The highest card is also called the best hand. In other variations of poker, Ace is the worst hand, but mostly it is the best hand. In most poker games, this is the order of the cards from best hand to worst - Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten, and so on and so forth.

Poker Hands

Royal Flush is the highest possible poker hand. It can be any suit, but it should have ten, Jack, Queen, King and Ace of the same suit. However, if you have JQKA but not all the same suit, it is called a Higher Straight Flush. As long as it is in a sequential order, it is called a Straight Flush. Four of a Kind is when you have same four cards, for example, four Queens.

If you get three cards of the same rank and two cards of the same rank, then it is called Full House. For instance, if you have three Kings and two nines, then you have a Full House. If you have four cards of the same rank, such as four Kings, you would probably win. This is a good hand.

Flush is five cards of the same suit, while a Straight is five cards in sequential order. A poker hand with three cards of the same rank is called Three of a Kind or trips. A Two Pair has two cards of the same rank and another two of the same rank, such as two Queens and two sevens. One Pair is a hand with two cards of the same rank.

If the hand does not fall in any of the categories mentioned, then the winner should be the one who has the highest card.