Daily Telegraph columnist Ben Grundy introduces Poker for the uninitiated! BBC Commentator Ian Robertson on the Six Nations Daily Telegraph columnist Ben Grundy introduces Poker for the uninitiated!

There’s been a massive surge in poker in the last few years fuelled by tournaments on TV, and the growth of Internet poker. With this year’s World Series of Poker champion picking up an astonishing $7.5 million and new poker millionaires emerging on line all the time – it’s no wonder it’s getting so much attention.

The great thing about poker is that anyone can learn to play it to a decent level. Practising online is a great way to start. You can play for next to nothing at home and then play for bigger stakes when you’re feeling brave enough.

Here’s how it’s done

Texas Limit Hold’em is played with a standard 52-card deck. Each player at the table receives two facedown cards - these are often referred to as hole or pocket cards. There are also 5 community cards dealt face up for all players to share. The winner is the player that, after betting has taken place, uses their hole cards together with 5 community cards to make the best 5-card poker hand.

In order to assess the strength of your hand you will need to understand hand rankings. Your 5-card hand is made up using the best 5 cards from your pocket cards and the community cards – you can use all 5 community cards as your hand, 4 community cards and 1 pocket card or 3 community cards and 2 pocket cards. The hand ranking is as follows (ordered best to worst):

ROYAL FLUSH

The highest possible ranked hand. To achieve this hand you need an Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and 10 of the same suit.

(Example: A, K, Q, J, 10)

STRAIGHT FLUSH

Five cards of the same suit in ascending order.

(Example: 8, 7, 6, 5, 4)

FOUR OF A KIND

Four cards of the same value.

(Example: K, K, K, K, 2)

FULL HOUSE

Three of a kind and a pair. The player with the higher value three of a kind, wins in the event of a tie.

(Example: A, A, A, 5, 5)

FLUSH

A hand containing five cards of the same suit. If two players have the same hand the winner is the player holding the highest valued cards.

(Example: Q, 10, 6, 3, 2)

STRAIGHT

Five cards of any suit in ascending order. The ace can be either high or low and the high straight wins the tie.

(Example: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6)

THREE OF A KIND

Three of a kind is simply three cards of the same value.

(Example: 8, 8, 8, 10, 3)

TWO PAIR

The player holding the highest pair takes the pot in the event that more than one player is holding two pairs.

(Example: 3, 3, Q, Q, A)

PAIR

One pair of cards in a hand.

(Example: J, J, 5, 9, 6)

HIGH CARD

Highest card takes all in the event there is a complete absence of the above hands.

(Example: A, Q, 3, 9, 10)

The order of player at a poker table is decided by the dealer button. This marker rotates clockwise between players before each hand is dealt. Before any cards are dealt the first player to the left of the dealer and the player to their left must make a compulsory bet – known as a blind. A blind is used to get the action started and ensures that there is always money in the prize pot.

When it is your turn to act at a poker table you have to decide whether to bet, check, fold, call or raise. Making a bet is adding a wager to the pot. When you check, you pass the action to the next player. Raising is increasing a bet that has already been placed. A call is matching a bet and folding means you are giving up on your hand. Each round of betting will continue until all the players have either matched the largest bet or folded their cards.

I will run briefly through how a hand works.

Posting the Blinds

Two players each make a mandatory small bet before any cards are dealt. This responsibility rotates around the table from round to round so that everybody shares the burden of posting the blinds throughout the game.

The Deal

Each player gets 2 cards, face-down. These are called the hole cards. Players place their bets, or fold.

The Flop

Three community cards are dealt face up to the centre of the table. Each player can use any or all of these cards along with his/her hole cards to make the best 5-card hand. This is done in your head; nobody touches the community cards. The players bet again, or fold.

The Turn (aka Fourth Street)

A fourth community card is dealt. More betting ensues.

The River

The fifth and final community card is dealt. Followed by the final round of betting.

The Showdown

Anyone still in the game (i.e., anyone who hasn't folded) when the betting finishes has their cards turned face up so all the players can see who won. The winner takes the pot, which is all the money that was bet during that round.

If you’d like to learn more about Poker why not take a look at the various articles posted on Betfair Poker.