Poker Hand Rankings
Once you learn the rules of internet poker by playing on PokerStars.net you’re not home free yet, you still need to learn a few more important things and one of them is the ranking of poker hands. If you don’t know the ranks of the possible poker hands then it will be fairly difficult to win any money in this game. You need to know what beats what so that you can gauge how valuable your hands are while playing.
Hand Rankings (From Highest to Lowest)
Royal Flush – A royal flush is any A-10 straight of the same suit – Ex- A-K-Q-J-10
Straight Flush – A straight flush is any five card straight of the same suit – Ex- 6-5-4-3-2
Four of a Kind – Four of a kind is when you have four of the same card – Ex- 4-4-4-4-7
Full House – A full house is when you have a pair and a set – Ex- 9-9-9-5-5
Flush – A flush is when you have five cards of the same suit – Ex- 5-7-9-J-K
Straight – A straight is when you have five cards in a row of any suit – Ex- 10-9-8-7-6
Three of a Kind – Three of a kind is when you have three of the same card – Ex- 9-9-9-6-3
Two Pairs – Two pairs is self-explanatory – Ex- 9-9-6-6-2
Pair – A pair is when you have one pair only in your hand – Ex- 10-10-7-5-4
High Card – When you don’t have a pair or higher you use high card to determine winner – Ex- A-9-6-4-2
I recommend that you spend some time memorizing the hand rankings so that when you sit down at the poker tables you know exactly what you’re doing. The rules aren’t enough in order to play this game, especially since you’re risking your money.
For some basic strategy about hand rankings you shouldn’t get excited about anything under three of a kind. In most cases hands will be won by someone with a three of a kind or better, that is if it goes down to a showdown. So if you have under a three of a kind you should generally either fold or take the pot down without a showdown.
If you’re playing a short table at a site like Full Tilt Poker then pairs and two pairs will come into play, but on full tables you should be weary of these hands. A pair of aces will win sometimes, but you shouldn’t fall in love with the hand. If you see a big raise or bet then you should consider the player you’re playing against and determine whether there bluffing or have you beat. Once you make this decision the rest is pretty simple, you’ll either call if you don’t believe or fold if you do believe them.
It shouldn’t take long before you’re ready to sit down at the poker tables on UltimateBet.net and play, but make sure you’re ready. You should memorize the rules and the hand rankings for sure, and you should also read up on some basic poker strategy. You can bet that your opponents spent time learning the game and strategy, so if you want to compete you need to do the work as well.