What Are The Best Poker Hands And How Is The Game Played
Try to flip the channels on any television in the world and go through the whole repertoire of available shows and for sure you will find at least one poker card game tournament going on, and being broadcast. Poker is the best loved and the most played card game on the face of the earth, and has morphed from the sordid, smoke laden back rooms in saloons in the Old West, to the first choice for entertainment of players everywhere, whether in casinos or family living rooms on a Saturday night.
Of course there are rules to be followed when playing poker, just as there are regulations for any card game or any game for that matter. The down to earth basics for the more noted and more commonly played types of poker are the rankings of the playing cards in the deck. Please note that only the face values of the cards count for anything here, the suits do not have any value when it comes to assigning value or ranking to the hand. The most common rankings of the playing cards are as follows: in descending value; Ace (high), 2 (low); with the face cards ranking as Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and 10. Keep in mind that the best poker hands in traditional play are those with the highest value. The opposite is true if you are playing lowball poker where the best poker hands are not the highest value in cards, but the lowest. In lowball, Ace plays low when you are playing games in A to 5, and A to 6; and in 2 to 7 lowball, the Ace plays high.
If you keep in mind that suits play no part in evaluating a poker hand and are used only to decide if a hand fits into a certain type of description such as a flush or a straight flush. The player holds 5 cards in sequence all in the same suit, that is a straight flush; and his opponent holds 5 cards in sequence in another suit; they would be tied and would have to split the pot-if a straight flush is the winning combo in that dealt round. It doesn’t matter if Joe has 4,5,6,7,8 of spades and Max has 4,5,6,7,8 of diamonds; spades are not higher than the diamonds and the hands are equal in value. Similarly, to decide if you have one of the best poker hands at the table; you must know inside and out, what the hierarchy of card values is. To illustrate: let’s start with the lowest valued card combo and count up to the highest; high cards (no pair), 1 pair, 2 pair, 3 of a kind, Straight, Flush, Full House, 4 of a kind, and Straight Flush.
So to get the upper hand at the poker table, not only must you know what constitutes the best poker hands, but you must also know how to bid correctly on the hand that is dealt to you. Sometimes the bidding can get pretty hairy and nerve wracking because every player is trying to outwit the player sitting next to him or across the table from him, and decide if those other players really have the type of hand they seem to have because of their bidding; or are they sitting without any good cards at all and trying to take you to the cleaners by bluffing. Having a good “poker face” is mandatory, because all at the table are watching to see if your expression gives away what’s in your hand.
No one ever became an expert in any field without lots of experience and the same holds true for playing poker. The more experience you have playing with all kinds of different players, watching how they bid, how they move, how they react when they look at their cards; the more prepared you will be for every successive game you get into as you keep on playing. Remember that old western jingle that goes something like “know when to hold ‘em, and know when to fold ‘em”; well they were singing about poker hands and playing out their hands whether they were the best poker hands or the worst, and that advice is just as sage today as it was way back when.
Following closely on the heels of experience is the need to be informed if you are to do well in the field you have chosen to pursue. There is no place better for informing yourself with the ins and outs of poker and what the best poker hands are, than the Internet. There are tons of sites that will help you understand the act of playing and bidding poker, as well as interactive sites that allow you to join a game in progress and sharpen your skills as you match your wits with other players around the virtual table. There is no need for money to play on these sites, and they are great places to learn and have fun.
Just think how dull the world would be without card games, and for a good share of the population that are playing cards, poker is the game of choice, with out a doubt. The thrill of the play and the bidding itself, as well as the air of suspense that hangs over the table as each player tries to outwit the others and reveal who holds the best poker hands; makes poker the exciting game that it is. There are plenty of expressions that have evolved into the general language showing how much poker has become a part of our every day lives, such as “when the chips are down” and wearing a “poker face.” One thing is for sure; whether you are new to the game and just learning the ropes, or a seasoned player; poker holds the same attraction and satisfies one’s need for excitement more than anything else.
