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Learn poker in 5 minutes

Everything in the shorter versions, plus which hands to start with from each seat, how to tell whether a call pays, and three habits for your first sessions.

Lesson: Seven cards, best five (needs an invite). In the glossary: Streets: preflop, flop, turn and river, Hand rankings, Pot odds. How the numbers are made.

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The whole game in five rules

  1. You get two cards that only you see. Five shared cards are then dealt face up in the middle: three, then one, then one.
  2. Your hand is the best five cards from your two and the five shared ones.
  3. There is a round of betting before the shared cards and after each new batch. On your turn you fold, check, call, bet or raise.
  4. You win the pot when everyone else folds, or when your hand is the best one shown at the end.
  5. Before the cards, two players put in forced bets called the blinds, so there is always something to win. The button marks the dealer and moves one seat left each hand.
Preflop2 cards eachAce of heartsA♥Jack of spadesJ♠betting round 1Flop3 on the boardKing of diamondsK♦Jack of heartsJ♥Seven of clubs7♣betting round 2Turn1 moreKing of diamondsK♦Jack of heartsJ♥Seven of clubs7♣Two of spades2♠betting round 3Riverthe last oneKing of diamondsK♦Jack of heartsJ♥Seven of clubs7♣Two of spades2♠Ace of clubsA♣betting round 4
Each street adds cards and then a round of betting. The new card on each street has a gold edge. Your two cards are yours alone; the five on the board are shared by everyone.

What beats what

  1. 1Royal flushAKQJ10Ace to ten, all one suit.
  2. 2Straight flush98765Five in a row, all one suit.
  3. 3Four of a kindQQQQ7All four cards of one rank.
  4. 4Full houseKKK99Three of one rank and a pair of another.
  5. 5FlushAJ863Five cards of one suit.
  6. 6Straight109876Five ranks in a row; the ace plays high or low.
  7. 7Three of a kind777K2Three cards of one rank.
  8. 8Two pairJJ10104Two different pairs.
  9. 9One pairAA963Two cards of one rank.
  10. 10High cardAJ853None of the above; the highest card plays.

When two players hold the same kind of hand, the higher cards win: a pair of kings beats a pair of queens. Suits never decide. The hand rankings page gives the odds of each one.

Where you sit matters

Before the flop, the player left of the big blind acts first. After the flop, the player nearest the button's left acts first and the button acts last. Acting last is an advantage: you see what everyone else did before you decide. So play fewer hands from early seats and more from late ones.

Action moves clockwisepot in the middleCutoff: acts 3 of 6 before the flopCO3Button: acts 4 of 6 before the flopBTN4DSmall blind: acts 5 of 6 before the flopSB5½Big blind: acts 6 of 6 before the flopBB61Under the gun: acts 1 of 6 before the flopUTG1Middle position: acts 2 of 6 before the flopMP2
A six-handed table. The button moves one seat to the left after every hand, and the two blinds move with it. The number on each seat is its turn to act before the flop.

Your first decision

Most hands should be folded before the flop. Pairs, two high cards, and suited cards close in rank are the hands worth playing; small unconnected offsuit cards like 7-2 or 9-3 are folds from every seat up to the button. When nobody has entered the pot before you, come in with a raise rather than a call.

Which hands to start with

The six-handed charts raise 15% of the 1,326 starting hands from under the gun (utg) and 45% from the button. Here is the button's chart at 100 big blinds. Pairs run down the diagonal, suited hands are above it and offsuit hands below.

AA: raise 100%AKs: raise 100%AQs: raise 100%AJs: raise 100%ATs: raise 100%A9s: raise 100%A8s: raise 100%A7s: raise 100%A6s: raise 100%A5s: raise 100%A4s: raise 100%A3s: raise 100%A2s: raise 100%
AKo: raise 100%KK: raise 100%KQs: raise 100%KJs: raise 100%KTs: raise 100%K9s: raise 100%K8s: raise 100%K7s: raise 100%K6s: raise 100%K5s: raise 100%K4s: raise 100%K3s: raise 100%K2s: raise 100%
AQo: raise 100%KQo: raise 100%QQ: raise 100%QJs: raise 100%QTs: raise 100%Q9s: raise 100%Q8s: raise 100%Q7s: raise 100%Q6s: raise 100%Q5s: raise 100%Q4s: raise 100%Q3s: raise 95%, fold 5%Q2s: raise 45%, fold 55%
AJo: raise 100%KJo: raise 100%QJo: raise 100%JJ: raise 100%JTs: raise 100%J9s: raise 100%J8s: raise 100%J7s: raise 100%J6s: raise 80%, fold 20%J5s: raise 30%, fold 70%J4sJ3sJ2s
ATo: raise 100%KTo: raise 100%QTo: raise 100%JTo: raise 100%TT: raise 100%T9s: raise 100%T8s: raise 100%T7s: raise 100%T6s: raise 60%, fold 40%T5sT4sT3sT2s
A9o: raise 100%K9o: raise 100%Q9o: raise 100%J9o: raise 100%T9o: raise 100%99: raise 100%98s: raise 100%97s: raise 100%96s: raise 85%, fold 15%95s94s93s92s
A8o: raise 100%K8o: raise 100%Q8o: raise 100%J8o: raise 5%, fold 95%T8o98o88: raise 100%87s: raise 100%86s: raise 100%85s84s83s82s
A7o: raise 100%K7o: raise 100%Q7oJ7oT7o97o87o77: raise 100%76s: raise 100%75s: raise 90%, fold 10%74s73s72s
A6o: raise 100%K6o: raise 100%Q6oJ6oT6o96o86o76o66: raise 100%65s: raise 100%64s63s62s
A5o: raise 100%K5o: raise 60%, fold 40%Q5oJ5oT5o95o85o75o65o55: raise 100%54s: raise 100%53s52s
A4o: raise 100%K4oQ4oJ4oT4o94o84o74o64o54o44: raise 100%43s42s
A3o: raise 100%K3oQ3oJ3oT3o93o83o73o63o53o43o33: raise 100%32s
A2o: raise 100%K2oQ2oJ2oT2o92o82o72o62o52o42o32o22: raise 100%

Every seat and stack depth has its own chart in the preflop charts.

Does a call pay?

Compare what you must put in with what you can win. turn that into how often the call has to win:

  • A bet of a third of the pot: the call must win 20% of the time.
  • A bet of half the pot: the call must win 25% of the time.
  • A bet of the whole the pot: the call must win 33% of the time.
  • A bet of twice the pot: the call must win 40% of the time.

If your hand wins more often than that, calling makes money over time even when this one loses.

Three habits

  • Fold more from the early seats. The chart above plays about 3 times as many hands as the earliest seat's.
  • Raise when you are first in. The opening charts never just call the big blind from under the gun to the button.
  • Judge the decision, not the result. A good call loses often; the daily puzzle grades the choice, not the cards that came.

For the full walk through a hand with pot sizes at each step, read how to play poker.