Poker School

How did the card game get its name?

Answer: There's no definitive answer to how we got the name "poker" for the popular card game. One theory says that is comes from the German verb "pochen," which means to brag or bluff. There is a contrasting theory that says it comes from the French "poque,' a card game similar to today's poker.

​​ROYAL FLUSH

​This is an ace high straight with all cards of the same suit. This is the best possible hand in poker (without wild cards, and depending on the variation).

SoundPoker Says: A royal flush can beat any other hand at the table. A player must have A-K-Q-J-10 all of the same suit for this to be a royal flush.

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FULL HOUSE

​A full house, also known as a full boat, is a hand such as 3♣ 3♠ 3♦ 6♣ 6♥, that contains three matching cards of one rank and two matching cards of another rank. Between two full houses, the one with the higher-ranking three cards wins.



STRAIGHT FLUSH

A poker hand consisting of 5 cards of the same suit whose rank form a sequence. Thus, a straight flush is both a Straight and a Flush. The highest possible straight flush is AKQJT of The lowest possible straight flush is 5432A of the same suit.

FLUSH

​​​​​​​​​five cards of the same suit (not consecutive). The highest card of the five determines the rank of the flush. Our example shows an Ace-high flush, which is the highest possible.

Any

FOUR OF A KIND​

The actual odds of getting 4 of a kind are one in 4165. This can be obtained by figuring that there are 624 combinations of cards that make up four of a kind out of 2,598,960 possible hands. How do we derive these 624 combinations

STRAIGHT

Any ​five consecutive cards of different suits. Aces can count as either a high or a low card. Our example shows a five-high straight, which is the lowest possible straight.