Poker is a card game that’s easy to learn but a lot trickier to master; it’s a game of strategy, knowing when to bet, when to bluff, when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em.
Poker is a card game that’s easy to learn but a lot trickier to master; it’s a game of strategy, knowing when to bet, when to bluff, when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em.
Poker is a card game that’s easy to learn but a lot trickier to master; it’s a game of strategy, knowing when to bet, when to bluff, when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em! One of the harder skills to acquire is the poker face (and no we don’t mean learning the lyrics): making sure your face and your words communicate the same message without giving the game away. Many poker players have spent hours in front of the mirror practising different expressions to perfect the bluff. So it’s something of a relief that online poker bypasses this entirely.
The popularity of poker has grown exponentially since the advent of online gambling, since you no longer have to dress up for a trip to your local casino or spend weeks planning a friendly game on a night that works for everyone (and doesn’t clash with Dave’s PTA meeting or Sheila’s pottery class).
Whether you’re playing online poker or video poker, you now have instant access to multiple variations at the click of a mouse. This can be daunting, but it helps to start by learning poker hands and how they’re ranked in terms of what beats what. Here’s a table to fill you in on winning hands, from highest to lowest.
The Hand | The Cards |
Royal flush | 10, jack, queen, king, and ace of the same suit – so, all clubs, diamonds, hearts, or spades. This hand cannot be beaten but it can be matched by a royal flush of another suit. |
Straight flush | Five consecutive cards of the same suit |
4 of a kind | Four of the same value across the suits – eg, four aces |
Full house | Three matching cards plus two matching cards of another value – eg, three kings and two 2s |
Flush | Five cards of the same suit – eg, 2, 4, 9, 10 and Q of clubs |
Straight | Five consecutive cards from more than one suit – eg, 3 of spades, 4 and 5 of hearts, 6 of diamonds and 7 of spades |
3 of a kind | Three cards of the same value – eg, three jacks |
2 pairs | Two matching cards, plus two matching cards of a different value – eg, two kings and two 6s |
Pair | Two cards of the same value – eg, two 8s |
High card | If no player has even a pair in their hand, the highest single card wins |
We advise learning at least the basic rules of poker using our online guide before diving headfirst into your maiden game.
Poker has more variations than New York has coffee shops; Texas Hold’em is the variation that most people know as it features prominently in movies and television, but this is only the tip of the poker iceberg. The name of the game changes according to the number of decks, the type of deck, the number of cards dealt, and how they are dealt, among other things. Here’s a shortlist of some of the more popular poker variations.
Game | Provider | Variant | RTP | Why we like it |
Casino Stud Poker | Play’nGO | Stud | 94.78% | Two words: progressive jackpot. 1% of your ante goes directly into the jackpot as you play. This adds an extra dynamic to the game and encourages you to play several hands. |
3 Hand Hold ‘em | Play’nGO | Texas hold ‘em | 94.34% | This is a classic game of Texas hold ‘em with the exciting addition of two extra hands being dealt. This gives you three chances to beat the dealer rather than just the one of traditional hold ‘em. |
Pai Gow Poker | Play’nGO | Double-hand | 97.15% | An unusual variation of poker, based on the Chinese game Pai Gow. It’s a welcome change from the typical variants. It’s also simple to play and a lot of fun. |
Honestly? It sounds hella’ cool when you tell people that you play poker; it earns you a certain amount of street cred while still being easy to learn – at a basic level – and a lot of fun to play.
At 888poker.com, you’ll discover a great variety of poker games: you can play 7 Card Stud, Omaha Hi, Omaha Hi/Lo, Snap Poker, Blast Poker, 888 God of the Arena, and more. You can play for free or as a cash game, SNG, or tournament.
BitStarz offers over 30 poker games and a wealth of opportunities to practice your poker skills.
Yeti Casino offers a wide variety of poker – they have 15 video poker games, and almost every one is a different variant, with only two games in total sharing the same rules and structure.
