Almost all games of poker involve one or more rounds of betting. In the final round, a showdown occurs, which is when each player’s hand is revealed and the highest hand wins the pot.
Players must bet into the pot in a clockwise fashion. The first player to act is the player to the left of the button. The button moves one spot clockwise after each hand.
The cards are dealt face up. The player who deals the cards is the dedicated dealer. Each player receives five cards. The cards are ranked from Ace high to Ace low.
The best hand is usually the straight flush. In a tie, the straight starts with the highest card. If two or more players have a similar hand, the highest unmatched fifth card breaks the tie. If the players all have a pair, the second highest pair wins.
A backdoor flush is achieved when a player hits a needed card on the turn and river. A king, ace, and deuce are good off the deal, but not great.
A wild card is a card that substitutes for another. Some variant games use a “wild” card to complete the hand. Some use a special “wild” card called a joker.
A straight flush is a straight with five cards in the same suit. Some games also allow for a “JJ+” which means you select pocket pairs above it. If the player in the left seat folds, the dealer cuts the deck and passes the cards to the player on his right.