How to Play Poker Online
| Online Poker · How to Play Poker |
Are you interested in learning how to play poker games like No Limit Texas Hold'em? In this in-depth poker guide, we'll go over everything you want to know about the game including its history, hand rankings, how to play Texas Hold'em, and how to play poker online to put your skills to the test.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The most popular poker game in the world today is Texas Hold'em, which will be the main focus of this poker strategy guide.
- Players looking for a poker game online should seek out a legal online poker room like WSOP.com for a safe and secure online poker experience.
- Most poker variants are played with the rules that the highest hand wins, with the royal flush ranking as the best hand possible.
CONTENTS:
- Understanding the Basics of Poker
- What is Poker?
- Most Popular Poker Variants
- Key Dates in Online Poker History
- Hand Rankings
- Positions & Betting Rounds
- Starting Hands: Evaluating Hole Cards
- Playing the Hand
- Options During Betting Rounds
- Reading the Board
- Advanced Concepts
- Understanding Range and Competition
- Calculating Pot Odds and Outs
- Bluffing
- Using Bonuses
- Mastering the Basics
- Learn How to Play Poker Online
- Try to Avoid Tilt
- Manage Your Bankroll
UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS OF POKER
Early versions of poker that were played with a 20-card deck date back to the early 1800's. The game has come a long way since then and has seen a steady rise in popularity since the World Series of Poker was founded in 1970. While this page will focus on Texas Hold'em game rules and strategies, this section will cover some other poker variations and provide a brief history of online poker.
WHAT IS POKER?
Poker is one of the most popular card games in the world. It is typically played with a standard 52-card deck. Players participating in the game can choose between a series of actions during betting rounds that allow them to continue in the hand or to fold and relinquish their claim to the pot. After all betting rounds are completed, the remaining players reveal their hands, and the player holding the winning hand is awarded the pot.
Former poker professional Mike Sexton once said that No Limit Texas Hold'em is a "game that takes a minute to learn but a lifetime to master." Poker games require both skill and luck, as skill can put a good poker player with a winning strategy in position to succeed, but the luck of the cards dealt still plays a role in determining the winner. The element of luck makes it difficult to accurately measure a player's skill in the short term, but in the long run, skilled players can be profitable.
Poker games are generally played in one of two formats; cash games and tournaments. In cash games, poker chips represent actual dollar amounts, and bets made throughout the game are for the real money represented by those chips. In tournaments, every player buys in for a set price and receives the same number of chips, playing down to one winner. The top performers are paid out from the prize pool comprised of the tournament buy-ins.
MOST POPULAR POKER VARIANTS
Texas Hold'em games are the most popular version of the game played in person and online. But there are plenty of other great poker games out there for players to try as well, which can be played in both tournament and cash game formats:
- Texas Hold'em Poker: While most commonly played in No Limit form (which means bet sizing has no limit), fixed limit Texas Hold'em is still popular in casinos as well. Each player is dealt two cards (called hole cards), and must try to make the best five-card poker hand using some combination of their two cards and the five community cards dealt face up in the middle of the table.
- Omaha Poker: Typically played with a pot limit on bets, Omaha is played with four cards in each player's hand and five community cards. Unlike in Texas Hold'em where players can "play the board" (using only community cards) or just one of the cards in their hand, Omaha requires players to use exactly two of their four hole cards and three community cards.
- Five Card Draw Poker: In Five Card Draw, each player starts the hand with five cards. After a round of betting, players can discard one to five of their cards and draw that many, attempting to improve their hand. This form of poker is rarely dealt in casinos nowadays, but is still popular for video poker online.
- Seven Card Stud Poker: Seven Card Stud is a poker game in which players are initially dealt two cards face down and one card face up. After a round of betting, each player remaining in the hand is dealt another card face up. This is followed by two more betting rounds and two more cards dealt to each player face up, before the final card is dealt face down and one last round of betting occurs.
- Razz Poker: Unlike most poker games in which the best hand wins, Razz is a variant of Seven Card Stud in which the lowest (or worst) hand wins. Straights and flushes don't count in Razz, so the best possible hand is a measly five-high hand of 5-4-3-2-A. This poker game is rarely dealt on its own, but is often included in mixed game events.
KEY DATES IN ONLINE POKER HISTORY
- January 1, 1998: Planet Poker launches to become the first online poker room to offer real money games.
- May 23, 2003: Chris Moneymaker wins the World Series of Poker Main Event as an amateur, creating a massive boom in poker's popularity.
- October 13, 2006: The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was signed into law in the United States, bringing the legality of online poker into question.
- April 15, 2011: Known as "Black Friday" among poker players, the U.S. Department of Justice shut down PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and other major online poker sites.
- May 14, 2018: The U.S. Supreme Court repealed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) which had banned sports betting nationwide, paving the way for states to decide for themselves whether or not to legalize different forms of gambling including online poker.
- January 1, 2020: New Jersey and Nevada launched the first interstate online poker agreement, allowing players in those two states to legally play against each other across state lines.
HAND RANKINGS
The first step in learning the basic rules of poker is understanding hand rankings. Here's a breakdown of what each poker hand is, in order from best to worst.
- Royal Flush: The royal straight flush, shortened to the royal flush, is the five highest cards in the deck all in the same suit. The royal flush is the highest ranking straight flush possible, the A-K-Q-J-10 of a single suit, making it an unbeatable poker hand.
- Straight Flush: A straight flush consists of five cards of the same suit in consecutive order. For example, the 10-9-8-7-6 of clubs would be a straight flush and would defeat all of the other hands ranked lower on this list.
- Four of a Kind: A four of a kind is a hand possessing four cards of the same rank, such as a four of a kind tens with the 10 of clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds.
- Full House: A full house is a combination of a three of a kind and one pair. For example, 9-9-9-2-2 would be a nines full of deuces full house.
- Flush: A flush is a hand with any five cards of the same suit, like the K-Q-10-4-2 of all diamonds.
- Straight: A straight is made up of five consecutive cards, with the ace being available for the highest possible straight of A-K-Q-J-10 and the lowest possible straight of 5-4-3-2-A.
- Three of a Kind: A three of a kind is a hand possessing any three cards of the same rank.
- Two Pair: A two pair hand consists of two different pairs and one extra card that does not match either of those pairs.
- One Pair: One pair is two cards of the same rank along with three unmatched cards.
- High Card: If a player can't even make just one pair, they are left to play the weakest hand in poker, a simple high card hand.
When it comes to determining the winner between two hands of the same rank, the hand with the higher valued cards wins. For instance, four aces defeats four jacks, and an Ace-high hand beats a King-high hand. Learn more about hand rankings and tiebreakers in our free Ultimate Poker Cheat Sheet.
POSITIONS & BETTING ROUNDS
Positions at the poker table determine which players put money into the pot without seeing their cards (these positions are called "blinds") and what order the players take action in. These positions rotate one spot to the left after every hand, ensuring that everyone at the table takes turns paying their blinds and playing with the advantages and disadvantages of each position. In this section, we'll go over each of the positions and betting rounds in a Texas Hold'em game.
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POSITIONS AT THE POKER TABLE
The most common way to play Texas Hold'em is with nine players at the table. There are exceptions however including 10-handed tables in crowded tournaments, 6-handed events, and other short-handed tables with fewer than nine players if seats are empty.
No matter how many players are in the hand, action starts to the left of the big blind preflop and to the left of the dealer button post-flop. The positions at a standard 9-handed table are listed below.
- Under The Gun (UTG): Seated directly to the left of the big blind, first to act during the preflop betting round.
- Under The Gun +1 (UTG+1): Seated to the left of UTG, acts second.
- Middle Position (MP): Seated to the left of UTG+1.
- Lojack (LJ): Seated three spots in front of the dealer button. This is the UTG seat in a six-handed game.
- Hijack (HJ): Seated two spots in front of the dealer button.
- Cutoff (CO): Seated to the right of the dealer button.
- Button (BN): Short for dealer button, the button is seated to the right of the small blind.
- Small Blind (SB): Seated to the left of the button, must commit half of the big blind to the pot before the cards are dealt. For example, in a $4/$2 Texas Hold'em game, the small blind pays the $2.
- Big Blind (BB): Seated to the left of the small blind, must commit a full bet based on the table stakes blind before the cards are dealt. This is the last player to act before the flop.
BETTING ROUNDS
There are a total of four potential rounds of betting in a hand of Texas Hold'em. A hand ends early if all players fold to a bet or raise, awarding the pot to the last remaining player. If two or more players continue in the hand through the end of the final round, each remaining player reveals their hand, and the strongest hand takes the pot. In the event that two or more players have the same winning hand, the tied players split the pot.
- The River: The fifth card (called "the river") completes the community cards board, and one final round of betting takes place.
- Preflop: The first round of betting occurs after all of the players have received their hole cards and before any community cards are dealt. The under the gun player left of the big blind acts first.
- The Flop: After the preflop round of betting is completed, the first three community cards (called "the flop") are dealt face up, and then there is another betting round. All post-flop rounds of betting begin with the first player remaining in the hand left of the dealer button.
- The Turn: The fourth community card (called "the turn") is dealt, and then there is another round of betting.
STARTING HANDS: EVALUATING HOLE CARDS
Before the first round of betting begins in Texas Hold'em, players are dealt two cards. It is important to be selective about what hands you choose to continue with and which ones you choose to fold before the flop.
As a general rule, you will want to play hands that either start strong like high pocket pairs, or have the potential to flop strong hands. You should also consider your position and the betting action in front of you.
You should fold a mediocre hand when you are in early position or there has been a raise in front of you, as you don't want to get into the habit of playing big pots with weak hands. But in later positions with nothing but folds or a small bet in front of you, it may be worth trying to see a flop with a speculative hand.
- Strongest Starting Hands: High pocket pairs (like J-J, Q-Q, K-K, and A-A), A-K, and high suited aces (like A-10, A-J, and A-Q) are very strong starting hands. The high pairs may be strong enough to win on their own without improving. If you flop an ace or a king with A-K, you will have the highest pair and highest kicker (tie-breaking card) possible. And high suited aces have the potential to flop draws to the best possible straight or flush, in addition to high pairs.
- Good Starting Hands: Medium pocket pairs (like 8-8, 9-9, and 10-10) and suited "Broadway" cards higher than a ten (like K-Q, Q-J, and K-J) all have good potential to be the best hand or to improve to a very good hand. Hands like these are worth playing in most cases, but are vulnerable against the strongest hands.
- Hands With Good Potential: All pocket pairs have the potential to flop a "set," or three of a kind. Cards that are closely connected and suited like the 9-8 of hearts have the potential to make a straight or a flush. Any suited ace like A-7 of clubs has the potential to improve to the best flush possible, called the "nut" flush. Unsuited Broadway cards like K-10 can make top pairs or nut straights. These hands should be played situationally, as they have good enough potential to be worthwhile, but will likely need to improve to win.
- Weak Hands: Hands that don't fall into one of the categories above are typically weak hands. These include unconnected and unsuited cards. One of the biggest mistakes that amateur players make is continuing with too many hands. Weak hands should be folded by beginners and only used by stronger players in very specific position-based circumstances.
PLAYING THE HAND
Now that we've covered position, rounds of betting, and starting hands, let's move on to playing the hand. Players have multiple options to choose from when it is their turn to act in Texas Hold'em, and these decisions will be influenced by what other players in the hand are doing and what community cards have been dealt. This section will look at the different options players have on their turn and how they can use the board of community cards to their advantage.
OPTIONS DURING BETTING ROUNDS
No-Limit Texas Hold'em players will have some combination of these five actions available to them during each betting round:
- Bet: A bet puts money into the pot that all of the remaining players in the hand must at least match in order to continue.
- Check: If no one has placed a bet post-flop or the player is in the big blind and has not faced a raise preflop, they have the option to check, which allows them to continue in the hand without placing any more money in the pot.
- Call: If a player has made a bet, others can continue in the hand by matching that bet with a call, placing the same amount of money into the pot.
- Raise: A player facing a bet post-flop or wanting to bet more than the big blind preflop can increase the size of the bet with a raise. Other players will need to call or raise this new amount to continue in the hand.
- Fold: Instead of calling or raising when money is required to continue in the hand, players can instead fold, relinquishing their cards and their potential to win the current pot.
READING THE BOARD
The community cards being visible to everyone is one of the most interesting parts of Texas Hold'em. This is valuable information that players should always be considering while they play.
Let's look at a couple of examples. Consider the difference between a "dry board" like K-8-2 with three different suits and a "wet board" like J-10-8 with three clubs.
On the first board, there aren't too many strong hands available. Anyone holding a king in their hole cards will have a good top pair. The best possible hands would be K-K, 8-8, or 2-2 for a three of a kind. There aren't any potential straights or flushes currently available.
The second board, on the other hand, could be used to make many different strong hands. A player with a Q-9 or 9-7 already has a straight. A player with two clubs in their hand already has a flush. Pocket aces without a club would be a very strong hand on the first board and very vulnerable to be beaten on this one.
Analyzing the board and its possibilities can help players decide how to continue in the hand. How strong is their hand? What might their opponents have? What are their odds of improving? We'll dive into how to answer these questions in the next section.
ADVANCED CONCEPTS
Understanding advanced concepts like hand ranges, opponent types, pot odds, bluffing, and the value of the best online casino bonus codes is what separates winning poker players from recreational ones. These concepts will require a lot of additional research to fully understand, but we'll help you get started with them in this section.
UNDERSTANDING RANGE AND COMPETITION
Building hand ranges for your opponents is an invaluable skill to learn. A hand range is a group of hands that your opponent may logically have based on the information you have available. The key factors you will consider when putting together hand ranges are the actions they've taken in each betting round, the community cards on the board, and the playing style of your competition.
- Actions Taken: In general, bets and raises indicate strength while checks and calls indicate weakness. A player who raises before the flop when they've only seen their hole cards, then bets big after the flop and big again on the turn is much more likely to have a strong range of potential hands than a player who just called preflop and checked post-flop.
- Community Cards: How a player acts post-flop in relation to the cards on the board can help you solve the puzzle of what they might have. For example, a player who is betting on an A-9-8 board with two clubs could have a strong made hand like A-K or A-Q, or a strong drawing hand with two clubs (one away from a flush) or 10-J (one away from a straight). How the turn card affects those draws and whether or not they continue to show strength will be clues you can use.
- Competition's Playing Style: Some players are extremely aggressive, consistently betting and raising with a wide range of hands. Others are far more passive and conservative, only betting when they have one of the best hands possible. Pay attention to how many hands your opponents are playing and what they have in hands that get to a showdown. Then you can build wider ranges of potential hands for players you observe to be aggressive and narrower ranges for tighter players.
CALCULATING POT ODDS AND OUTS
Calculating pot odds allows you to factor mathematics into your decision. Consider, for example, that you are holding A-9 on the river with the board reading K-K-9-7-5. There are $100 in the pot, and you check. Depending on how much your opponent bets, you will have a very different decision on your hands.
- If your opponent bets $100, you are getting pot odds of 2:1 to call. That's $200 in the pot (the $100 that was in there plus the $100 they just bet) to your $100. To make this call profitable in the long run, you need to have the best hand 33.33% of the time (100 to call divided by 300 total pot), as the $200 win will compensate for two times you lose $100.
- If your opponent bets $20, you are getting pot odds of 6:1 to call with $120 in the pot and $20 required to call. For this call to be profitable in the long run, you only need to have the best hand 14.29% of the time (20 divided by 140), as the amount you stand to lose is much lower than the amount you stand to win.
In that example, calling the $100 is a tough decision, as there are a lot of potential hands that beat you. But getting 6:1 odds to call only $20 is a pretty easy decision, as your opponent will likely be bluffing often enough to make that worthwhile.
You can also use math to calculate the odds of hitting a card you need to improve, known as an "out." For instance, say that you have the A-3 of clubs in your hand and the flop comes K-10-9 with two clubs.
You are very unlikely to have the best hand right now with only ace-high, but if another club comes, the nut flush is very likely to be best. There are 52 total cards in the deck and you can see five of them (your two hole cards and the three cards on the flop).
So with 47 cards remaining, and nine clubs remaining, you have a 9/47 chance of hitting a club on the turn. If the turn isn't a club, the river will have a 9/46 chance of being one. You can calculate your odds of hitting a flush by multiplying the inverses of these two numbers:
- 38/47 (no club on turn) multiplied by 37/46 (no club on river) = .6503 = 65.03% no club on either street
- 100% - 65.03% = 34.97% chance that a club will come.
Experienced players consider the pot odds they are currently getting, the implied odds they may get on future bets, and the odds of their outs coming to help them decide whether to continue in a hand.
BLUFFING
A bluff is a player's bet intended to make stronger hands fold. By representing strength in your hand even if you don't have the goods, you can force weaker hands to fold and be awarded the pot, even if your opponent actually had a better hand than you.
Bluffing is vital to a successful poker strategy, as you can't always rely on having the best hand to win. Finding the right balance for your bluffs can be tricky, as bluffing too much will allow opponents to win money off of your weak hands, but bluffing too little will make you predictable at the table and make it difficult to generate a profit when you don't get a good run of cards.
Semi-bluffing is a great place to start. This is the act of betting with strength when you have a drawing hand like a straight draw, flush draw, or two cards higher than the ones on the board. You may win the pot without having to improve if everyone folds, but if opponents do call, you have outs to win a big pot if you do improve.
You can also add bluffs to your game using the skills learned in the previous two sections. While calculating pot odds and building hand ranges for your opponents based on their actions and the community cards on the board, you may sense weakness. This could be a good time to put an opponent to the test with aggression, even if you don't have a great hand either.
USING BONUSES
Taking advantage of welcome bonuses and player reward programs is the surest way to win when you play Texas Hold'em. WSOP.com is one of the best legal online poker sites in the industry, and it is currently available to players in Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. New players can claim this great offer today:
Updated on 12/22/24
MASTERING THE BASICS
Mastering the basics of poker and then moving on to more advanced concepts requires both learning from studying away from the tables and practicing against other players at the tables. By using the resources available to you online to learn and practicing good habits like avoiding tilt and managing your bankroll, you should have all the tools you need to become a successful poker player.
LEARN HOW TO PLAY POKER ONLINE
Online poker guides like this one can help you learn important information like basic poker rules and hand rankings. You can also use valuable resources like free poker tutorials and training sessions to learn beginner, intermediate, and advanced poker strategies.
While studying the game is important, there is no substitute for real experience. Playing against other players will give you the opportunity to put what you've learned into practice. Consider playing for free at poker sweepstakes casinos like Clubs Poker or using low stakes at online casinos while you learn, waiting until you have gained more experience to move up to bigger money games.
TRY TO AVOID TILT
Some players go on "tilt" when they are losing, letting their emotions cloud their judgment and playing poorly out of frustration or anger. Always remember that poker is supposed to be fun, and that no matter how well you play, you will experience some unlucky runs of cards.
Focus on keeping an even temperament during these downswings. And if you notice you are on tilt and can't shake yourself out of it, take a break or end the session. You can always play again another time when you are feeling better.
MANAGE YOUR BANKROLL
One of the most reliable ways to avoid tilt and to ensure that poker remains fun is to play responsibly. Avoid playing with money you can't afford to use, and always play at stakes you feel comfortable at.
With free and low-stakes cash games and tournaments available at online poker rooms and social casinos, you can always find a game that suits your poker bankroll. Try not to commit too much of your entire bankroll into any one buy-in, and wait until you have built your bankroll up with consistent wins before moving up to higher stakes.
HOW TO PLAY POKER ONLINE FAQ
HOW DO YOU PLAY BASIC POKER?
Poker is a card game in which players try to make the best five-card hand possible. The position the first card is dealt to at the table rotates on every hand, and the order in which players take turns acting during the game is determined by that rotation.
HOW DO YOU WIN IN POKER?
To win at poker, players must try to make as much money as possible when they have the best hand, and to mix in bluffs to win when they don't have the best hand sometimes as well. Winning players study strategy and practice a lot to improve their chances at winning.
WHAT IS THE GOAL OF POKER?
The goal of poker is to win money and to have fun. Unlike other forms of gambling that rely only on blind luck, poker has an element of skill as well that makes winning in the long term possible for strong players.
WHAT ARE THE RULES OF TEXAS HOLD'EM?
In Texas Hold'em, players make their best five-card hand using some combination of the two hole cards in their hand and the five community cards on the board that all players can see and use. Rounds of betting occur before the flop (the first three community cards) is dealt, after the flop, after the turn (the fourth community card), and after the river (the final community card). A player wins by being the last player remaining in the hand, or by having the best hand among the remaining players.
HOW MANY CARDS ARE DEALT IN HOLD'EM?
Each player at the table in a Texas Hold'em game is dealt two cards (hole cards). A total of five cards known as community cards are then dealt face up in the middle of the table.
WHERE CAN I PLAY POKER ONLINE?
You can play poker online legally at regulated online poker sites like WSOP or at sweepstakes poker rooms using a Clubs Poker promo code.