#1 STRAIGHT FLUSH (5 IN A ROW ALL SAME SUIT) #2 FOUR OF A KIND
#3 FULL HOUSE (3OF ONE # TWO OF ANOTHER) #4 FLUSH (ALL SAME SUIT)
#5 STRAIGHT #6 TRIPS (3 OF SAME #) #7 2 PAIR
#8 ONE PAIR #9 HIGHEST CARD
IMPORTANT TERMS
FLOP = FIRST 3 CARDS UP IN THE MIDDLE TURN = 4TH CARD
RIVER = 5TH , LAST CARD UP OUTS = CARDS YOU NEED TO WIN
DRAW = WHEN YOU NEED A CARD OPEN ENDED STRAIGHT = 4 #s IN A ROW _4,5,6,7_
GUT SHOT = 4 CARDS TO A STRAIGHT BUT THE 5TH NEEDED IS INBETWEEN EX. 4,5,_,7,8
BUTTON = ROTATING PUCK THAT TELLS PLAYERS WHERE THE ACTION STARTS
BLINDS = TO PLAY YOU MUST PAY AN ANTY EVERY TIME THE BUTTON IS TO YOUR RIGHT
CHECK = IF YOU DONT WISH TO BET AND NO BET HAS BEEN MADE YOU MAY PASS
POT= THE MONEY COLLECTED IN THE MIDDLE, PRIZE
OUTS = THE NUMBER OF CARDS IN THE DECK THAT WIN YOU THE HAND
KICKER = THE HIGHEST CARD OTHER THAN YOUR MADE HAND ex.hand 2237A= 2's ACE KICKER
BETTING OF POKER:
There are three types of games No Limit ( bet as much as you want any time ), Pot Limit ( you may bet up to the value of the pot at any time ), Structured Games which have a value for the first two rounds for example $2 and the second two rounds is twice the value of the first $4 this would be called 2-4. Online you wont have to worry about most of this because the computer will not allow you to make a mistake. When starting you should play a structured game because mistakes will cost you less.
MAKING MONEY
The diffrence between a good player and a bad player is often reveled in folding. Over the long run everyone will have the same number of good hands. If the good player is able to fold one bet faster than the bad player he will be using his skills to make $$. Praying for a miracle is just like giving your money away you may win once every 20 times but if your putting in $4s you better be winning more than 80 in the pot. So save your money, make everyone else chase you. This is most important with your first two cards, these are called your starting hands. for lack of space i cant go through them all with full explinations but its very important so you should get a book where you can learn more. The fastest way to stay out of trouble is to never play a ANY cards below 10 with the exception of pairs of 9s, 8s, and 7s. you will be able to learn how to play just a few others once you have played about 1000 hands. Remember you are going to throw hands away that "would have won" but if you know what cards are going to come out use your skills for the lottery its much faster. Another mistake people play is they play a bad hand becouse it is suited, you should think of this as a bonus to play not a reason.
Another one of the most important concept of the game is POSITION. This is the order in which you act who ever acts last has the advantage of seeing how the others play he will then have the option to improve on how they play and either make more money or save money. This will be explained better in a book but because of this concept the earlier you have to act the better your hand must be or you will be at risk of someone stealing the pot from you. So because of this you can adjust hands you are allowed to play. If your first or second you should stay away from any 10 from being in your hand so stick to A, K, Q, J. if your in the last two positions you are allowed to play any pair. If you feel as though you arnt allowd to play many hands this is true. On average you should only play from 11-18% of your hands and win around 7-11% just make sure you win the big ones and only lose when their small pots. These strict rules may also result in you not playing a hand for 30 hands. You must be prepared for the ups and downs of poker you wont always be dealt good cards so dont get angry or fustrated that would be called TILT( playing bad because your mad). This is the most cosly mistake of new players. If your patient you will have days where no matter what you do you always seem to win and these are the days for which all poker players play.
Remember that poker is a game of thousands of hands if your making a small mistake that is only costing you a dollar every 10 hands it will cost you $100 very quickly. On of the most common of these is when DEFENDING YOUR BLINDS. Dont change the way you play because you have a blind in already. One should think of their blinds as already lost. They are paying for each round of hands. If you are calling a raise before the flop in your big blind with a hand you wouldnt play for one bet in another position your chances to win are not good, and as a result you will be paying twice as much as everyone else for your 10 hands. Save your money, save your money anywhere you can. In the small blind same idea with one exception if the pot isnt raised this would be the only time you can play cards just because they are suited, but make sure that a few people are in a pot so if you do win it will be worth it.
DRAWING in poker is when your behind in the hand and you are looking for improvement. To be secessful at poker you will need to know when it is a good time to draw and when to fold. It is very important to remember that once you have seen the flop you have seen 71% of your hand. If you have not hit the flop with a good pair or have atleast 8 OUTS it is a good idea to fold your hand. When all of the cards have floped below both of your cards in low limits it is a good idea to cut your losses, fold. The reason for this is that even though it may look like hitting one of your two cards makes you a winner someone may already have 2 pair or a pair with one of your cards as their KICKER making that a dead card. Weather or not you are going to see the turn or river is to calculate the ODDS OF THE HAND. You dont need to no the exact amount but you do need to have a good idea of what they are. You can even keep a list infornt of you. If the the value of the pot divided by the amount you must call is less than the amount you must call times the chance of hitting your outs then you should fold if its greater its profitable and you should call. Sonetimes this means to muck a flush or straight draw.
STATS A very usefull tool to making sure you play well is the stats tracker. Many of the websites have this function. on party poker and empire you will want to right click on your name and then select show stats. what this will tell you is when your playing to many hands. You should be playing from 12-19% of your hands if your playing more and not winning money then you should tighten up a little. your over all % of hands winning should be from 7 to 11% if it is lower you may want to make sure that you are not folding winning hands before the river. Now these stats can be anyting on one perticular day. If you play enough youll have days where you never win a hand and where you never lose. This is just a good tool to tell you one possible reason your losing money. You should have it open at all times so you get an idea what your average stats are when you win.
If you have any more questions you can email me @ I will do my best to point you toward the most profitable direction.