Poker Glossary

Poker is a popular card game that has become increasingly accessible thanks to the massive explosion of online casinos and the ability to play on the desktop or via apps on mobile devices.

This means that people are able to try the game for the first time, but you might find that many of the resources online assume that you already know how to play the game and skip over the basics which is not helpful if you are a new player.

So to help americancasinos.com has put together a guide to some of the terms you will hear most.

Royal Flush: This is the best hand in poker but really hard to get dealt. To have a Royal Flush, you need to have a 10,J,Q,K, A all from the same suit. The odds of getting this hand are really stacked against you.

Straight Flush: Only a Royal Flush beats this hand; this is the second best hand. The Straight Flush is made up of 9,10,J,Q,K and again they must be all from the same suit.

Four of a Kind: Working down the hands now, next comes Four of a Kind. To achieve this you must have all the same number card from the deck, so all four 9’s or all four 8’s the fifth card doesn’t matter in this case.

Full House: As we work out way down the hands get easier to achieve on a single deal but are still good hands that can win the game. A full house requires three of the same number, and a pair of the same number, so three 9’s and two 8’s

Flush: In this hand, all five cards need to be from the same suit. It doesn’t matter what the numbers are, but if two players have a flush, then the player with the highest card wins. So, if one player has all hearts and has 2,6,Q,5,10 then that beats all clubs with 3,10,7,6,J.

Straight: A run of cards but it doesn’t matter what suit they are from and can be mixed so 9,10,J,Q,K made up of all different suits would be a straight. If two players have a straight again the highest card straight wins.

Three of a Kind: As the name suggests we are back on cards from all suits but with the same number Instead of needed all four of a number you can just have three, so three 9’s or three 7’s and the remaining two cards can be anything.

Two Pairs: Again reasonably self-explanatory, you would need to have two pairs of numbers, so two 10’s and two 3’s. In the event of two players having this combination the player with the highest pair wins.

One Pair: An easier hand to achieve but trumped by any of the combinations shown above. Two 5’s two 10’s, and as you may have come to realise the highest pair wins if there are two players claiming one pair.