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| C A R D G A M E S |
| Poker |
Black jack |
Spanish 21 |
| 3 Card Poker |
4 card Poker |
Texas Hold-Em |
| Fortune Paigow |
Double Action Blackjack |
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| P o k e r |
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Poker is played with a standard pack of 52 cards. (Some variant games use multiple packs or add a few cards called jokers.) The cards are ranked (from high to low) Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace. (Ace can be high or low, but is usually high). There are four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs); however, no suit is higher than another. All poker hands contain five cards, the highest hand wins.
Some games have Wild Cards, which can take on whatever suit and rank their possessor desires. Sometimes jokers will be used as wild cards, other times, the game will specify which cards are wild (deuces, one-eyed jacks, or whatever).
Hands are ranked as follows (from high to low):
A five of a kind (which is only possible when using wild cards) is the highest possible hand. If more than one hand has five of a kind, the higher card wins (Five Aces beats five kings, which beat five queens, and so on).
A straight flush is the best natural hand. A straight flush is a straight (5 cards in order, such as 5-6-7-8-9) that are all of the same suit. As in a regular straight, you can have an ace either high (A-K-Q-J-T) or low (5-4-3-2-1). However, a straight may not 'wraparound'. (Such as K-A-2-3-4, which is not a straight). An Ace high straight-flush is called a Royal Flush and is the highest natural hand.
Four of a kind is simply four cards of the same rank. If there are two or more hands that qualify, the hand with the higher-rank four of a kind wins. If, in some bizarre game with many wild cards, there are two four of a kinds with the same rank, then the one with the high card outside the four of the kind wins. General Rule: When hands tie on the rank of a pair, three of a kind, etc, the cards outside break ties following the High Card rules.
A full house is a three of a kind and a pair, such as K-K-K-5-5. Ties are broken first by the three of a kind, then pair. So K-K-K-2-2 beats Q-Q-Q-A-A, which beats Q-Q-Q-J-J. (Obviously, the three of a kind can only be similiar if wild cards are used.)
A flush is a hand where all of the cards are the same suit, such as J-8-5-3-2, all of spades. When flushes ties, follow the rules for High Card.
A straight is 5 cards in order, such as 4-5-6-7-8. An ace may either be high (A-K-Q-J-T) or low (5-4-3-2-1). However, a straight may not 'wrap around' (such as Q-K-A-2-3, which is not a straight). When straights tie, the highest straight wins. (AKQJT beats KQJT9 down to 5432A). If two straights have the same value (AKQJT vs AKQJT) they split the pot.
Three cards of any rank, matched with two cards that are not a pair (otherwise it would be a Full House . Again, highest three of a kind wins. If both are the same rank, then the compare High Cards.
This is two distinct pairs of card and a 5th card. The highest pair wins ties. If both hands have the same high pair, the second pair wins. If both hands have the same pairs, the high card wins.
One pair with three distinct cards. High card breaks ties.
This is any hand which doesn't qualify as any one of the above hands. If nobody has a pair or better, then the highest card wins. If multiple people tie for the highest card, they look at the second highest, then the third highest etc. High card is also used to break ties when the high hands both have the same type of hand (pair, flush, straight, etc).
So, how do you bet? Poker is, after all, a gambling game. In most games, you must 'ante' something (amount varies by game, our games are typically a nickel), just to get dealt cards. After that players bet into the pot in the middle. At the end of the hand, the highest hand (that hasn't folded) wins the pot. Basically, when betting gets around to you (betting is typically done in clockwise order), you have one of three choices:
- Call
- When you call, you bet enough to match what has been bet since the last time you bet (for instance, if you bet a dime last time, and someone else bet a quarter, you would owe fifteen cents).
- Raise
- When you raise, you first bet enough to match what has been bet since the last time you bet (as in calling), then you 'raise' the bet another amount (up to you, but there is typically a limit.) Continuing the above example, if you had bet a dime, the other person raised you fifteen cents (up to a quarter), you might raise a quarter (up to fifty cents). Since you owed the pot 15 cents for calling and 25 for your raise, you would put 40 cents into the pot.
- Fold
- When you fold, you drop out of the current hand (losing any possibility of winning the pot), but you don't have to put any money into the pot.
Betting continues until everyone calls or folds after a raise or initial bet.
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| 3 C a r d P o k e r |
Three Card Poker ( Tri Card Poker ) is Two Games in One:
A seat at the 3 Card Poker table offers two separate games to play. You are usually allowed to play either one or both games at the same time, but some casinos will require you to play both while others will make only one optional.
The two games are "Three Card Ante/Play", where you compete against the dealer, and "Pair Plus" that has different bonus payouts for 3 card poker hands of one pair or better.
When both games are played at the same time, players may wager different amounts on each game. The games are played with a standard 52 card deck. The cards are distributed to the dealer in groups of three by an automatic shuffling machine. The player's table layout is shown at the right. Poker rules and payouts are printed on the table at each player spot, just like this:
Play MUST EQUAL Ante
DEALER PLAYS WITH
QUEEN HIGH OR BETTER
WHEN DEALER DOES NOT PLAY
Play. . . PUSH ● Ante. . . 1 to 1
WHEN DEALER PLAYS
Play. . . 1 to 1 ● Ante. . . 1 to 1
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Pair Plus Pays
PAIR . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 to 1
FLUSH . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 to 1
STRAIGHT . . . . . . . . . 6 to 1
THREE OF A KIND . . . 25 to 1
STRAIGHT FLUSH . . . 40 to 1
Ante Bonus Pays
STRAIGHT. . . . . . . . . 1 to 1
THREE OF A KIND. . . 3 to 1
STRAIGHT FLUSH. . . 5 to 1
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3 Card Hand Values: The first thing you will probably notice from the hand rankings list at the right is that a straight has a higher ranking than a flush. That's simply because there are fewer ways to make a 3 card straight than a 3 card flush. Aces play both high and low to a straight in this game. An ace high straight flush is the highest hand you can get but unfortunately, this is just a straight flush and not a mini-royal flush with extra bonus considerations.
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| 4 C a r d P o k e r |
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| B l a c k J a c k |
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| S p a n i s h 2 1 |
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| T e x a s H o l d ' e m |
How to Play.
Texas Hold?em is a deceptively simple game to learn but a harder game to master. Each player is dealt two personal cards and then five community cards are turned up on the board. You make the best five card hand using any combination of the seven cards. For this example we will use a low limit structure of $2/4. There are four betting rounds and the first two have a limit of $2 and the last two rounds have a limit of $4. You must bet or raise only the amount of the limit for that round.
The Start
To start a new hand, two "Blind" bets are put up or "Posted." The player immediately to the left of the dealer puts up or "posts" the small blind which half the minimum bet one dollar. The player to the left of the small blind posts the big blind which is equal to the minimum bet which is two dollars for this game. The rest of the players do not put up any money to start the hand. Because the deal rotates around the table, each player will eventually act as the big blind, small blind and dealer.
The Opening
Each player is dealt two cards face down with the player on the small blind receiving the first card and the player with the dealer button getting the last card. The first betting round begins with the player to the left of the big blind either putting in two dollars to "Call" the blind bet, or putting in four dollars to "raise" the big blind or folding his hand. The betting goes around the table in order until it reaches the player who posted the small blind. That player can call the bet by putting in one dollar since a dollar blind was already posted. The last person to act is the big blind. If no one has raised, the dealer will ask if they would like the option. This means the big blind has the option to raise or just "check." By checking the player does not put in any more money. A rookie mistake sometimes occurs here. Because the blind is a live bet, the player with the big blind has already put his bet in. I have seen some players throw their cards in not realizing that they are already in the hand. Another rookie mistake is betting or folding your cards when it is not your turn. You must wait before you act.
The Flop
After the first betting round is completed, three cards are dealt and turned face up in the middle of the table. This is known as the "Flop." These are community cards used by all the players. Another betting round begins with the first active player to the left of the dealer button. The bet for this round is again two dollars.
The Turn
When the betting round after the flop is completed, the dealer turns a fourth card face up in the middle of the table. This is called the "Turn." The bet after the turn is now four dollars and begins again with the first active player to the left of the dealer.
The River
Following the betting round for the turn, the dealer will turn a fifth and final card face up. This is called the "river," and the final betting round begins with four dollars being the minimum bet.
The Showdown
To determine the winner, the players may use any combination of their two hole cards and the five cards on the "Board" (Table) to form the highest five-card hand. In some rare cases the best hand will be the five cards on board. Don?t count on this happening too often. In that case the active players will split the pot. A sixth card is never used to break a tie.
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