Hand rankings
- Royal flush
- Straight flush
- Four of a kind
- Full house
- Flush
- Straight
- Three of a kind
- Two pair
- One pair
- High card
Poker hand rankings matter because the best five-card combination wins at showdown. In Texas Hold’em, each player combines private cards with shared community cards. The same ranking order applies whether a hand uses both private cards, one, or none.
Poker hand ties are decided by the cards that make the hand, then by kickers when the main combination matches. A pair of aces beats a pair of kings. Two players with the same pair compare the next highest unused card, then the next one if needed.
Poker hand strength depends on the board as well as the private cards. A king in your hand does not make a pair when the board has no matching king. Check the full five-card combination before deciding whether a hand is strong.
The ten standard categories run from High Card to Royal Flush. In Hold’em, five cards count at showdown, even when a player holds seven available cards.
Position and starting hands
Acting last gives you information about everyone else's choices. Play tighter in early position and loosen up on the button. Fold most hands; strong pairs and big suited cards are worth playing, weak offsuit cards rarely are.
Table position describes when you act during a betting round. The dealer button marks the last position after the flop in most Texas Hold’em games. The small blind and big blind act early after the flop, while the button acts last.
Late position gives you more information because earlier players have already checked, called, bet, or folded. Use that information to judge whether a pot is contested. The guide to poker variants explains how action and rules change between formats.
Position changes by one seat after each hand, so a player cannot rely on being last. Early action leaves more opponents to respond. Choose a narrower range of starting hands there, then consider more playable hands when fewer opponents remain to act.
Position is useful only when you also consider the betting action. A late player can still fold a weak hand after a raise, because later action does not make poor cards valuable.
Bankroll
A common rule is at least 20 buy-ins for the stake you play in cash games. With £100, that means £5 buy-in tables or lower. Move down when you drop below it.
A buy-in is the amount you bring to a cash-game table. The suggested 20-buy-in cushion is a personal bankroll guideline, not a guarantee against losses. At a £5 buy-in, £100 covers 20 entries, but a losing run can still use that amount quickly.
A poker bankroll is separate from rent, bills, debt payments, savings, and other essentials. Decide the total amount you can lose before opening a game. The gambling control guide covers practical limits and ways to keep play within a budget.
Move down in stakes when the remaining bankroll no longer supports the table buy-in you chose. A lower buy-in reduces the money exposed in one session. Stop when the limit you set is reached instead of adding funds to recover a loss.
Tournament buy-ins need a separate limit because the entry fee is lost when you are eliminated. Do not use money reserved for later bills to re-enter.
Rooms and casino poker
Poker rooms take a rake from each pot; casino poker has a fixed house edge. Our poker hub compares casino poker games, and our guide to Jacks or Better covers video poker.
Poker rooms and casino poker use different opponents and payment models. In a poker room, players compete against one another and the operator may take a rake from eligible pots. In casino poker, the player faces a house game with its own rules and payout table.
Before joining a poker room, check whether the table is cash play or a tournament. Cash-game chips represent money at the table, while tournament chips determine survival and position within that event. The formats also change how a player should value short-term risk.
Before choosing a casino video-poker game, read its paytable and rules. A paytable lists the return for each qualifying hand, and the Jacks or Better strategy guide covers the decisions in that specific format. Video poker is a house game, so its strategy differs from table poker.
Poker room rake and casino-house payouts are different costs. Compare each game’s written rules before selecting a table, since the fee structure changes the amount at risk.