The suits are all of equal value, meaning that no suit is more valuable than another. Each player is dealt five cards. The object of the game is to end up with the highest-valued hand. From best to worst, hands are ranked in the following order.

• Royal Flush
• Straight Flush
• Four of a Kind
• Full House
• Flush
• Straight
• Three of a Kind
• Two Pair
• One Pair
• High Card

Royal Flush
This is the most valuable hand in all of poker. A Royal Flush is composed of 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace, all of the same suit. It's the toughest hand to get.

HAND 1:		10	J	Q	K	A
HAND 2:		10	J	Q	K	A

Four of a Kind
Four cards of the same numerical rank and another random card. If there are two or more hands that qualify, the hand with the highest-ranking Four of a Kind wins. In the examples below, Hand 2 would beat Hand 1.

HAND 1:		6	6	6	6		J
HAND 2:		Q	Q	Q	Q		3

Full House
Of the five cards in your hand, three have the same numerical rank, and the two remaining card also have the same numerical rank. Ties are broken first by the Three of a Kind, then the Pair. So K-K-K-3-3 beats Q-Q-Q-A-A, which beats Q-Q-Q-7-7.

HAND 1:		J	J	J		4	4
HAND 2:		5	5	5		A	A

Flush
A Flush is comprised of five cards of the same suit, regardless of their numerical rank. In a tie, whoever has the highest ranking card wins. In the example below, Hand 1 (with a King) beats Hand 2 (with a Queen).

HAND 1:		2	4	7	J	K
HAND 2:		5	6	7	8	Q

Straight
Five cards in numerical order, regardless of their suits. Just like with the Straight Flush, a Straight cannot "wrap around." In a tie, whoever's Straight goes to a higher ranking card wins (so in the examples below, Hand 1 beats Hand 2).

HAND 1:		7	8	9	10	J
HAND 2:		3	4	5	6	7

Three of a Kind
Three cards of the same numerical rank, and two random cards that are not a pair.

HAND 1:		10	10	10		3	Q
HAND 2:		2	2	2		8	9

Two Pair
Two sets of pairs, and another random card.

HAND 1:		7	7		J	J		5
HAND 2:		Q	Q		K	K		A

One Pair
One pair and three random cards. If more than one person has a One Pair, then the person with the highest ranking pair wins.

HAND 1:		8	8		5	K	3
HAND 2:		2	2		3	4	5

High Card
If none of the players have anything of value, the player holding the highest-valued card wins, with the 2 as the lowest card, and the Ace as the highest. In the case of a tie, you move to the next highest card, and continue.

HAND 1:		2	4	5	10		Q
HAND 2:		2	8	9	10		J

Playing the Game, some basic rules
Before the game begins, the players should collectively decide on a betting limit. A betting limit keeps the game friendly, there is no need to play for money, use match sticks. Give each player an equal amount before you start the game.

First, each player places an ante or "token bet" into the pot before the cards are even dealt. The ante can be anything from a 1 match to 10 matches. You need an ante because it guarantees that someone will always win something on each hand.

The dealer deals the cards face down around the table, starting at the player to his left and continuing clockwise. The dealer (if he's playing) always deals to himself last. The dealer deals everyone their first card, then goes back around the circle to deal the second, and so on. As soon as everyone has five cards, the remainder of the deck is placed in the middle of the table.

Each player looks at his or her cards, and then the first player places a bet. While there are several ways of deciding who bets first, poker novices are best off letting the player directly to the left of the dealer make the first bet. Then on the next hand, the person to his left will bet first, and so on around the table.

Players have several options as far as the first round of betting goes. If no one has made a bet yet, you have two choices,

1, Open: If no betting has begun when your turn comes, you may "open" the pot This simply means that you make the first bet which can be any amount up to the betting limit.

2, Check: The opportunity to "check" only occurs if no one has yet opened the betting when it comes time for you to decide what to do. When a player checks, it means that he or she doesn't want to open the betting, but doesn't want to quit either.

Now let's say that someone opens the betting, you now have three choices:

1, See: When you "see" another player, it means that you match their bet. So if someone bets 1 match and you want to stay in the game, you have to "see" their 1 match by putting 2 matches of your own in the pot.

2, Raise: When you "raise," it requires you to first "see" the previous bet, and then increase the bet. For example, if the previous person bet 1 match and you want to bet more than that, you would say "I see (match) your 1 match, and raise you (increase the bet) another match."

3, Fold: When someone else opens, you can always jump ship and cut your losses. In other words, you "fold." The act of folding is to "give up," place your cards face down on the table, lose whatever you've bet so far, this option is used when you think your hand is too weak to compete.

At this point, all the players who haven't folded are allowed to get rid of the cards they don't want and take some new cards. A player is permitted to get rid of up to 3 unwanted cards and receive up to 3 new ones from the deck (as long as the player always has 5 cards total). No one sees what anyone else discarded or drew, it's all done face down.

After every player draws 0 to 3 new cards, the betting begins again. You have the option of opening or checking, and once someone opens, you can see, raise, or fold. The game ends when there are no more raises, or everybody folds, except for the winner, of course.

Now it's time for everyone to turn their cards over and see how they fared. The player with the highest hand wins the pot. The only way to stay in the game is to not fold. If you have a bad hand and want out quick, then you'd seriously consider folding.

If you have what you think could be a good hand , then you would seriously consider staying in. If you have an outstanding hand, then you'll definitely want to stay in. BUT you don't want everyone to know you have a great hand, or else they'll all fold, letting you win the tiny ante pot. The trick is to make everyone else bet a lot, and win even more money. It's all about being a good actor.