Your pulse quickens as you go all in on your big slick, patiently awaiting
your opponent to call or fold. Dreading what is in store, your opponent calls,
flipping over his pair of ladies. Your heart sinks as the river is turned. An
ace saves your very existence as your big slick overtakes your opponents pocket
pair of ladies.
Sound like a bunch of gibberish? It's actually a scenario of a very popular
poker game played in the world today called "Texas Hold 'Em." For now though,
let's start with the basics:
Poker is played with a regular ol' deck of playing cards. The object of poker
is to survive the rounds of betting and have the best hand out of all players.
Let's go over the wining hands of poker:
Royal Flush – Did you remember to put the lid down? Actually, this is
the rarest of all poker hands to be dealt. A royal flush consists of an ace,
king, queen, jack, and ten, all of the same suit.
Straight Flush – Another rare hand to be dealt in the game of poker.
A straight flush is five cards all in numerical order of the same suit. Example:
two, three, four, five, and six of clubs.
Four of A Kind – Four of a kind is exactly that: four of the same
cards, plus any other card. If another player also has four of a kind, the
player with the highest value of their four of a kind wins. Example: you're
holding four kings and an ace and your opponent is holding four queens and an
ace. Your kings beat your opponents four queens since kings are a higher value
than queens–you win, rake that pot in!
Full House – No, this does not mean that because your house is full
of your buddies that you automatically win. A full house consists of a set of
three of the same numbered cards, plus a set of two numbered cards. Example:
you're holding three kings and two queens—that's a full house!
Flush – Still forgetting to put that lid down? A flush is any
numerical sequence of cards that are all the same suit. The cards don't have to
be in numerical order, they just have to be the same suit, whether it's five
hearts, five clubs, five spades, or five diamonds.