If you find yourself wondering where to find video poker games near where you
live, you probably aren’t alone. Luckily, there are resources to help you and
ways to go about finding the best games in your vicinity. Because of the nature
of video poker, it’s crucial to know where the games that bring you the most
positive returns are in your neck of the woods.

Thus the highest hand is five aces (A-A-A-A-joker), but other fives of a kind are impossible - for example 6-6-6-6-joker would count as four sixes with an ace kicker and a straight flush would beat this hand. Also a hand like 8-8-5-5-joker counts as two pairs with the joker representing an ace, not as a full house. Wild Cards in Low Poker. In poker, players form sets of five playing cards, called hands, according to the rules of the game. Each hand has a rank, which is compared against the ranks of other hands participating in the showdown to decide who wins the pot. 11) CLASS 'Poker Hand' Ordinal (0-9) 0: Nothing in hand; not a recognized poker hand 1: One pair; one pair of equal ranks within five cards 2: Two pairs; two pairs of equal ranks within five cards 3: Three of a kind; three equal ranks within five cards 4: Straight; five cards, sequentially ranked with no gaps. An Example Five Card Draw Hand. Five card draw is one of the most common types of poker hands. Each player is dealt five cards, then a round of betting follows. Then each player may discard up to 3 cards (4 if your last card is an ace or wild card, in some circles) and get back (from the deck) as many cards as he/she discarded.

Video poker might just be the ultimate casino game. Certainly, the people who
play it with regularity, either in the casino or on
top gambling websites, would make
that argument. There is a reason why it’s sometimes hard to find a machine that
you want in the casino of your choice on a busy evening.

Five of a Kind – This is only possible if jokers or wild cards are used. This is the best hand to have, with five Aces (the four natural Aces plus the joker) being the highest possible hand. Straight Flush – Having five consecutive cards of the same suit. (Spades, Hearts, Clubs and Diamonds.).

But the tricky thing about video poker is that it might actually be wise to
go looking beyond the closest casino. There are many different variations of
video poker. And although many of those games play the same way, there are
subtle differences that affect the amount of payback you can reasonably expect
from each one.

That is why it’s important to know just what kind of video poker games are in
the area near you. On the one hand, it’s good to know the big picture in terms
of how many machines can be found in a specific casino. You might also want to
know where to find a specific kind of machine that you like to play.

On top of that, online video poker has become so popular that it further
confuses the search for the best games. With so many websites from which to
choose, it’s easy to get lost and miss out on the games you really love. But you
shouldn’t settle, not when failing to find the most lucrative machines can end
up costing you money, especially if you plan to play video poker over a long
stretch of time.

In the following article, we will look into the best ways of figuring out
where to find the best video poker games near you. We will also talk about why
it’s so important to hone in on certain types of video poker over others. And
we’ll also look at the world of online video poker and where to start when
you’re looking for the best games in that realm.

Why It’s Important to Look for Specific Video Poker Games

Video poker combines many of the best aspects of table games and slot
machines. It’s like a slot machine in that it can be played solo, without any
help or bother from casino employees or patrons. You can play it at your own
pace and, like slots, it doesn’t take much effort to learn how to play it.

But, like table games, it shares the notion of the player helping to
determine the outcome. Slot machines only require luck while you watch the reels
spin. But video poker incorporates strategy into the mix, as you have to decide
which cards to hold out of your original five-card deal and which should be
discarded for others.

If that sounds like Five Card Draw poker, you’re right; video poker is
essentially a simulation of that popular game. But video poker doesn’t require
you to top anyone else. You just have to make a hand that is a winner according
to the pay table on the machine.

The rarer the hand, the more the pay table awards you in conjunction with
what you wagered. But not all pay tables are the same, both in terms of the
winning hands that pay out and how much those hands pay. Because of this, video
poker games tend to differ in terms of the expected outcome.

This expected outcome is measured in the payback percentage. Each video poker
machine and the pay table it contains has a payback percentage attached to it.
The higher the percentage, which can be achieved by the player who makes all the
right decisions, the more lucrative the game will be, on average, to the player.

Slot machines tend to come in somewhere in the
neighborhood of 92% payback. But even the lowest-paying video poker games tend
to top 95%. The highest-paying, meanwhile, can come in around 99% or even
slightly above 100%.

Most casino games come attached with something called the house edge, which
is a measurement of how much of an advantage that the casino, or house, has over
players. If there was no house edge, casinos would quickly go out of business
because gamblers would win all their money. It’s a part of the equation that
most gamblers just have to accept.

But a payback percentage of 99% means that the house edge is almost
non-existent. And a payback percentage of 100% or over means that the house edge
is eliminated and that gamblers have a better chance than not of leaving a
session at that video poker machine with a profit. That is one of the reasons
why savvy gamblers love video poker.

Yet you can’t have that advantage if you are playing variations and pay
tables that don’t reach those heights. That is why you shouldn’t be that
concerned about how much video poker you can find at a specific establishment.
You should instead be worrying about where the best games are located.

Finding Specific Video Poker Games

Video Poker Casinos and Locations

We also offer listings by major casino destination in the United States. This listing might (at first glance) seem incomplete, but it’s not. Many states don’t offer video poker because of their laws about gambling.

Atlantic City has 8 casinos, all of which offer video poker games. The casinos have between a dozen and two dozen different games with between 20-100 machines.

Arizona is home to 22 casinos, which are scattered throughout the state. There are over 300 machines on those casino floors.

This state has more video poker games than most. California boasts of 44 casinos and over 1600 video poker machines.

We’ve lumped Canada in as if it were another state or city. You won’t find a lot of casinos there, but there are a few, and they offer a few video poker machines.

Colorado is probably better known for skiing, but the state does have a couple of dozen casinos and close to 500 video poker machines throughout the state.

Poker Mit 5 Karten In Der Hand

Connecticut only has two casinos, but they’re both huge resort style properties with copious amounts of VP machines.

Florida has 17 casinos and over 600 VP machines.

Illinois has 11 casinos and 550+ VP machines.

The home of John Mellencamp and David Letterman is also home to 15 casinos and over 400 video poker games.

Iowa’s casino scene continues to grow, and they now have almost two dozen casinos offering video poker games.

Kansas only has 4 casinos, but they each have a machines equipped with nice selections of VP games.

This is the premier destination for VP players, no matter where you are. If you choose the right casinos in Las Vegas, you can get the best pay tables in the world.

Louisiana is home to the riverboat casino, and you’ll find 19 of them here. Plenty of games to choose from, too.

Maryland only has a half dozen casinos, the largest of which has 60 different machines available.

Michigan now has 17 different casinos with over 700 video poker machines on the floors there.

Most of the machines in Minnesota are in two casinos: The Grand Casino Hinckley and Mystic Lake Casino Hotel.

Most of the casinos are in Biloxi, which is Mississippi’s hotbed of gambling. The state has almost two dozen casinos and over 400 machines.

There are currently dozens of casinos with an average of over 50 machines per property.

Of course, Las Vegas and Reno are both in the state, so it should be no surprise that there are lots of options. In fact, you’ll find over 250 different casinos in the state.

The state only has 15 casinos with an average of less than a dozen machines in each casino.

New York only has 7 casinos, but many of them are large and have lots of games and machines to choose from.

You’ll find two Harrahs properties there, both of which have a smattering of video poker games.

Ohio’s another state with only a handful (4) casinos, but they’re larger properties with a good selection of games.

Tribal casinos have really taken off in Oklahoma over the last decade or so. With 22 casino in the state, you’d expect to see more than 290 VP games.

A dozen casinos with an average of close to 50 machines per property.

Wisconsin has a 13 casinos with over 200 different machines in the state.

The Process of Finding the Best Video Poker Games Near Me

Your first goal is to identify which games are the best. We strongly
recommend that you check out our video poker section to get you started. You
will find everything you need to know.

First of all, we will explain how to play the game and how the pay tables and
payback percentages work in much more in-depth fashion than we do here. More
importantly, we have pages devoted to all of the specific variations of video
poker that might be available to you either online or in actual casinos.

By going through these specific pages, you can learn all you need to know
about how each game is played, what the best strategies for winning are, and
what the benefits and drawbacks for each game might be. On top of all that, we
go over the pay tables and payback percentages, so you can see how each game
stacks up compared to other video poker games like it.

By doing this, you’ll be able to specify which video poker games are ones
that you’ll want to seek out. You can then start the process of finding these
specific games and, in conjunction with that, the most lucrative pay tables that
might be attached to those games.

The Best Resources for Locating Video Poker Games Near Me

It’s important to know how to find the best video poker games near you. You
can’t just wander into a casino and hope that a machine that pays better than
100% will just be sitting there waiting for you. Just as you wouldn’t try to
find some far-off place without a GPS, by the same token, you shouldn’t try to
find your favorite video poker game without first consulting these resources.

vpFREE2

This is a website that is devoted to helping video poker players find their
favorite games. You can search by a particular game, by a specific casino, or
even by region. It’s updated pretty regularly which means that you can generally
trust that the information included is reliable.

vpFREE2 really stands out if you want
to know exactly where to find a specific game. It will even give you the
whereabouts on the premises where you can find it.

If there is a negative to the site, it’s that it could discourage you
somewhat to find out that some of the premium games are much harder to locate
than those that pay less. But if nothing else, the site will provide you with a
kind of guide to get you to the machines you really want to play. Whether you
can make it there is another story.

VideoPoker.com

This site doesn’t go into as much detail as vpFREE2 does about the
whereabouts of certain video poker machines and pay tables. As a matter of fact,
you will only find how many of a particular game is located in a state. It
doesn’t distinguish between the pay tables, meaning that all variations of a
particular game like Jacks or Better or Deuces Wild are lumped together,
regardless of which is most beneficial to you.

But VideoPoker.com is a great place
to start for the beginner who is just finding their way with the game. That’s
because it allows you to play many of the most popular video poker variations
for free on their site. Although you generally can’t win any money this way, you
can conceivably win a bit from contests they have on the site.

What you can do with VideoPoker.com is try out a game that you might not have
yet considered. If you find out that it’s a game that you prefer, you can then
follow it up to see if it’s located in your state or one nearby. If nothing
else, it will give you a place to start when you begin your search for the best
video poker games online.

Casino Directories

If you’re more interested in video poker in general and not so much worried
about playing a specific game, you can simply look at the big picture. By that,
we mean that you should simply look for casinos nearest you. Most casinos have
ample video poker machines with a pretty wide selection.

This method isn’t highly recommended if you’re concerned about your profits.
But if you’re a person who really wants to maximize your winnings, you should be
trying to hone in on specific games. And the directories won’t help you too much
on that front.

Locating Online Video Poker Games

The good news about locating video poker games is that you don’t necessarily
have to be physically near them to play some of your favorite games. Internet video poker is a popular pastime on online casino sites. You can simply fire
up your favorite mobile device, such as a tablet, smartphone, or your computer,
and you can be playing without having to travel at all.

In the case of video poker games online, it’s simply a matter of doing an
online search of the game in question. All of the sites that offer it will pop
up, and you can choose from them.

We would recommend that you don’t simply hop on the first site that you see.

Instead, you should be aware of the bonuses that they offer you for signing
up to play. That should actually be the deciding factor, along with making sure
that the pay table is to your liking.

Poker 5 Karten Auf Der Hand

Bonuses will be much more of a factor when finding video poker games online.
That’s because you are less likely to locate games that will give you high
payback percentages. You will need to find the best free play offers to help
make up for the negative expectation inherent in some of the pay tables that you
come upon online.

Conclusion

When trying to find out where the best video poker games near you might be,
you really have to do a little research. It might be more of a hassle than just
heading into the nearest casino and simply firing up the first machine that you
can find. But the extra effort will make a huge difference in your chances of
actually making money playing video poker.

This page describes the ranking of poker hands. This applies not only in the game of poker itself, but also in certain other card games such as Chinese Poker, Chicago, Poker Menteur and Pai Gow Poker.

• Low Poker Ranking: A-5, 2-7, A-6
• Hand probabilities and multiple decks - probability tables

Standard Poker Hand Ranking

There are 52 cards in the pack, and the ranking of the individual cards, from high to low, is ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. In standard poker - that is to say in the formal casino and tournament game played internationally and the home game as normally played in North America - there is no ranking between the suits for the purpose of comparing hands - so for example the king of hearts and the king of spades are equal. (Note however that suit ranking is sometimes used for other purposes such as allocating seats, deciding who bets first, and allocating the odd chip when splitting a pot that can't be equally divided. See ranking of suits for details.)

A poker hand consists of five cards. The categories of hand, from highest to lowest, are listed below. Any hand in a higher category beats any hand in a lower category (so for example any three of a kind beats any two pairs). Between hands in the same category the rank of the individual cards decides which is better, as described in more detail below.

In games where a player has more than five cards and selects five to form a poker hand, the remaining cards do not play any part in the ranking. Poker ranks are always based on five cards only, and if these cards are equal the hands are equal, irrespective of the ranks of any unused cards.

Some readers may wonder why one would ever need to compare (say) two threes of a kind of equal rank. This obviously cannot arise in basic draw poker, but such comparisons are needed in poker games using shared (community) cards, such as Texas Hold'em, in poker games with wild cards, and in other card games using poker combinations.

1. Straight Flush

If there are no wild cards, this is the highest type of poker hand: five cards of the same suit in sequence - such as J-10-9-8-7. Between two straight flushes, the one containing the higher top card is higher. An ace can be counted as low, so 5-4-3-2-A is a straight flush, but its top card is the five, not the ace, so it is the lowest type of straight flush. The highest type of straight flush, A-K-Q-J-10 of a suit, is known as a Royal Flush. The cards in a straight flush cannot 'turn the corner': 4-3-2-A-K is not valid.

2. Four of a kind

Four cards of the same rank - such as four queens. The fifth card, known as the kicker, can be anything. This combination is sometimes known as 'quads', and in some parts of Europe it is called a 'poker', though this term for it is unknown in English. Between two fours of a kind, the one with the higher set of four cards is higher - so 3-3-3-3-A is beaten by 4-4-4-4-2. If two or more players have four of a kind of the same rank, the rank of the kicker decides. For example in Texas Hold'em with J-J-J-J-9 on the table (available to all players), a player holding K-7 beats a player holding Q-10 since the king beats the queen. If one player holds 8-2 and another holds 6-5 they split the pot, since the 9 kicker makes the best hand for both of them. If one player holds A-2 and another holds A-K they also split the pot because both have an ace kicker.

3. Full House

This combination, sometimes known as a boat, consists of three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank - for example three sevens and two tens (colloquially known as 'sevens full of tens' or 'sevens on tens'). When comparing full houses, the rank of the three cards determines which is higher. For example 9-9-9-4-4 beats 8-8-8-A-A. If the threes of a kind are equal, the rank of the pairs decides.

4. Flush

Five cards of the same suit. When comparing two flushes, the highest card determines which is higher. If the highest cards are equal then the second highest card is compared; if those are equal too, then the third highest card, and so on. For example K-J-9-3-2 beats K-J-7-6-5 because the nine beats the seven.If all five cards are equal, the flushes are equal.

5. Straight

Five cards of mixed suits in sequence - for example Q-J-10-9-8. When comparing two sequences, the one with the higher ranking top card is better. Ace can count high or low in a straight, but not both at once, so A-K-Q-J-10 and 5-4-3-2-A are valid straights, but 2-A-K-Q-J is not. 5-4-3-2-A, known as a wheel, is the lowest kind of straight, the top card being the five.

6. Three of a Kind

Three cards of the same rank plus two unequal cards. This combination is also known as Triplets or Trips. When comparing two threes of a kind the rank of the three equal cards determines which is higher. If the sets of three are of equal rank, then the higher of the two remaining cards in each hand are compared, and if those are equal, the lower odd card is compared.So for example 5-5-5-3-2 beats 4-4-4-K-5, which beats 4-4-4-Q-9, which beats 4-4-4-Q-8.

7. Two Pairs

A pair consists of two cards of equal rank. In a hand with two pairs, the two pairs are of different ranks (otherwise you would have four of a kind), and there is an odd card to make the hand up to five cards. When comparing hands with two pairs, the hand with the highest pair wins, irrespective of the rank of the other cards - so J-J-2-2-4 beats 10-10-9-9-8 because the jacks beat the tens. If the higher pairs are equal, the lower pairs are compared, so that for example 8-8-6-6-3 beats 8-8-5-5-K. Finally, if both pairs are the same, the odd cards are compared, so Q-Q-5-5-8 beats Q-Q-5-5-4.

8. Pair

A hand with two cards of equal rank and three cards which are different from these and from each other. When comparing two such hands, the hand with the higher pair is better - so for example 6-6-4-3-2 beats 5-5-A-K-Q. If the pairs are equal, compare the highest ranking odd cards from each hand; if these are equal compare the second highest odd card, and if these are equal too compare the lowest odd cards. So J-J-A-9-3 beats J-J-A-8-7 because the 9 beats the 8.

9. Nothing

Five cards which do not form any of the combinations listed above. This combination is often called High Card and sometimes No Pair. The cards must all be of different ranks, not consecutive, and contain at least two different suits. When comparing two such hands, the one with the better highest card wins. If the highest cards are equal the second cards are compared; if they are equal too the third cards are compared, and so on. So A-J-9-5-3 beats A-10-9-6-4 because the jack beats the ten.

Hand Ranking in Low Poker

There are several poker variations in which the lowest hand wins: these are sometimes known as Lowball. There are also 'high-low' variants in which the pot is split between the highest and the lowest hand. A low hand with no combination is normally described by naming its highest card - for example 8-6-5-4-2 would be described as '8-down' or '8-low'.

It first sight it might be assumed that in low poker the hands rank in the reverse order to their ranking in normal (high) poker, but this is not quite the case. There are several different ways to rank low hands, depending on how aces are treated and whether straights and flushes are counted.

Ace to Five

This seems to be the most popular system. Straights and flushes do not count, and Aces are always low. The best hand is therefore 5-4-3-2-A, even if the cards are all in one suit. Then comes 6-4-3-2-A, 6-5-3-2-A, 6-5-4-2-A, 6-5-4-3-A, 6-5-4-3-2, 7-4-3-2-A and so on. Note that when comparing hands, the highest card is compared first, just as in standard poker. So for example 6-5-4-3-2 is better than 7-4-3-2-A because the 6 is lower than the 7. The best hand containing a pair is A-A-4-3-2. This version is sometimes called 'California Lowball'.

When this form of low poker is played as part of a high-low split variant, there is sometimes a condition that a hand must be 'eight or better' to qualify to win the low part of the pot. In this case a hand must consist of five unequal cards, all 8 or lower, to qualify for low. The worst such hand is 8-7-6-5-4.

Deuce to Seven

The hands rank in almost the same order as in standard poker, with straights and flushes counting and the lowest hand wins. The difference from normal poker is that Aces are always high , so that A-2-3-4-5 is not a straight, but ranks between K-Q-J-10-8 and A-6-4-3-2. The best hand in this form is 7-5-4-3-2 in mixed suits, hence the name 'deuce to seven'. The next best is 7-6-4-3-2, then 7-6-5-3-2, 7-6-5-4-2, 8-5-4-3-2, 8-6-4-3-2, 8-6-5-3-2, 8-6-5-4-2, 8-6-5-4-3, 8-7-4-3-2, etc. The highest card is always compared first, so for example 8-6-5-4-3 is better than 8-7-4-3-2 even though the latter contains a 2, because the 6 is lower than the 7. The best hand containing a pair is 2-2-5-4-3, but this would be beaten by A-K-Q-J-9 - the worst 'high card' hand. This version is sometimes called 'Kansas City Lowball'.

Ace to Six

Many home poker players play that straights and flushes count, but that aces can be counted as low. In this version 5-4-3-2-A is a bad hand because it is a straight, so the best low hand is 6-4-3-2-A. There are a couple of issues around the treatment of aces in this variant.

• First, what about A-K-Q-J-10? Since aces are low, this should not count as a straight. It is a king-down, and is lower and therefore better than K-Q-J-10-2.
• Second, a pair of aces is the lowest and therefore the best pair, beating a pair of twos.

It is likely that some players would disagree with both the above rulings, preferring to count A-K-Q-J-10 as a straight and in some cases considering A-A to be the highest pair rather than the lowest. It would be wise to check that you agree on these details before playing ace-to-six low poker with unfamiliar opponents.

Selecting from more than five cards

Note that in games where more than five cards are available, the player is free to select whichever cards make the lowest hand. For example a player in Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better whose cards are 10-8-6-6-3-2-A can omit the 10 and one of the 6's to create a qualifying hand for low.

Poker Hand Ranking with Wild Cards

A wild card card that can be used to substitute for a card that the holder needs to make up a hand. In some variants one or more jokers are added to the pack to act as wild cards. In others, one or more cards of the 52-card pack may be designated as wild - for example all the twos ('deuces wild') or the jacks of hearts and spades ('one-eyed jacks wild', since these are the only two jacks shown in profile in Anglo-American decks).

The most usual rule is that a wild card can be used either

1. to represent any card not already present in the hand, or
2. to make the special combination of 'five of a kind'.

This approach is not entirely consistent, since five of a kind - five cards of equal rank - must necessarily include one duplicate card, since there are only four suits. The only practical effect of the rule against duplicates is to prevent the formation of a 'double ace flush'. So for example in the hand A-9-8-5-joker, the joker counts as a K, not a second ace, and this hand is therefore beaten by A-K-10-4-3, the 10 beating the 9.

Five of a Kind

When playing with wild cards, five of a kind becomes the highest type of hand, beating a royal flush. Between fives of a kind, the higher beats the lower, five aces being highest of all.

The Bug

Some games, especially five card draw, are often played with a bug. This is a joker added to the pack which acts as a limited wild card. It can either be used as an ace, or to complete a straight or a flush. Thus the highest hand is five aces (A-A-A-A-joker), but other fives of a kind are impossible - for example 6-6-6-6-joker would count as four sixes with an ace kicker and a straight flush would beat this hand. Also a hand like 8-8-5-5-joker counts as two pairs with the joker representing an ace, not as a full house.

Wild Cards in Low Poker

In Low Poker, a wild card can be used to represent a card of a rank not already present in the player's hand. It is then sometimes known as a 'fitter'. For example 6-5-4-2-joker would count as a pair of sixes in normal poker with the joker wild, but in ace-to-five low poker the joker could be used as an ace, and in deuce-to-seven low poker it could be used as a seven to complete a low hand.

Lowest Card Wild

Some home poker variants are played with the player's lowest card (or lowest concealed card) wild. In this case the rule applies to the lowest ranked card held at the time of the showdown, using the normal order ace (high) to two (low). Aces cannot be counted as low to make them wild.

Double Ace Flush

Some people play with the house rule that a wild card can represent any card, including a duplicate of a card already held. It then becomes possible to have a flush containing two or more aces. Flushes with more than one ace are not allowed unless specifically agreed as a house rule.

Natural versus Wild

Some play with the house rule that a natural hand beats an equal hand in which one or more of the cards are represented by wild cards. This can be extended to specify that a hand with more wild cards beats an otherwise equal hand with fewer wild cards. This must be agreed in advance: in the absence of any agreement, wild cards are as good as the natural cards they represent.

Incomplete Hands

In some poker variants, such as No Peek, it is necessary to compare hands that have fewer than five cards. With fewer than five cards, you cannot have a straight, flush or full house. You can make a four of a kind or two pairs with only four cards, triplets with three cards, a pair with two cards and a 'high card' hand with just one card.

The process of comparing first the combination and then the kickers in descending order is the same as when comparing five-card hands. In hands with unequal numbers of cards any kicker that is present in the hand beats a missing kicker. So for example 8-8-K beats 8-8-6-2 because the king beats the 6, but 8-8-6-2 beats 8-8-6 because a 2 is better than a missing fourth card. Similarly a 10 by itself beats 9-5, which beats 9-3-2, which beats 9-3, which beats a 9 by itself.

Ranking of suits

In standard poker there is no ranking of suits for the purpose of comparing hands. If two hands are identical apart from the suits of the cards then they count as equal. In standard poker, if there are two highest equal hands in a showdown, the pot is split between them. Standard poker rules do, however, specify a hierarchy of suits: spades (highest), hearts, diamonds, clubs (lowest) (as in Contract Bridge), which is used to break ties for special purposes such as:

• drawing cards to allocate players to seats or tables;
• deciding who bets first in stud poker according to the highest or lowest upcard;
• allocating a chip that is left over when a pot cannot be shared exactly between two or more players.

I have, however, heard from several home poker players who play by house rules that use this same ranking of suits to break ties between otherwise equal hands. For some reason, players most often think of this as a way to break ties between royal flushes, which would be most relevant in a game with many wild cards, where such hands might become commonplace. However, if you want to introduce a suit ranking it is important also to agree how it will apply to other, lower types of hand. If one player A has 8-8-J-9-3 and player B has 8-8-J-9-3, who will win? Does player A win by having the highest card within the pair of eights, or does player B win because her highest single card, the jack, is in a higher suit? What about K-Q-7-6-2 against K-Q-7-6-2 ? So far as I know there is no universally accepted answer to these questions: this is non-standard poker, and your house rules are whatever you agree that they are. Three different rules that I have come across, when hands are equal apart from suit are:

1. Compare the suit of the highest card in the hand.
2. Compare the suit of the highest paired card - for example if two people have J-J-7-7-K the highest jack wins.
3. Compare the suit of the highest unpaired card - for example if two people have K-K-7-5-4 compare the 7's.

Although the order spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs may seem natural to Bridge players and English speakers, other suit orders are common, especially in some European countries. Up to now, I have come across:

• spades (high), hearts, clubs, diamonds (low)
• spades (high), diamonds, clubs, hearts (low)
• hearts (high), spades, diamonds, clubs (low) (in Greece and in Turkey)
• hearts (high), diamonds, spades, clubs (low) (in Austria and in Sweden)
• hearts (high), diamonds, clubs, spades (low) (in Italy)
• diamonds (high), spades, hearts, clubs (low) (in Brazil)
• diamonds (high), hearts, spades, clubs (low) (in Brazil)
• clubs (high), spades, hearts, diamonds (low) (in Germany)

As with all house rules, it would be wise to make sure you have a common understanding before starting to play, especially when the group contains people with whom you have not played before.

Poker Regeln 5 Karten Auf Der Hand

Stripped Decks

In some places, especially in continental Europe, poker is sometimes played with a deck of less than 52 cards, the low cards being omitted. Italian Poker is an example. As the pack is reduced, a Flush becomes more difficult to make, and for this reason a Flush is sometimes ranked above a Full House in such games. In a stripped deck game, the ace is considered to be adjacent to the lowest card present in the deck, so for example when using a 36-card deck with 6's low, A-6-7-8-9 is a low straight.

Playing poker with fewer than 52 cards is not a new idea. In the first half of the 19th century, the earliest form of poker was played with just 20 cards - the ace, king, queen, jack and ten of each suit - with five cards dealt to each of four players. The only hand types recognised were, in descending order, four of a kind, full house, three of a kind, two pairs, one pair, no pair.

No Unbeatable Hand

In standard poker a Royal Flush (A-K-Q-J-10 of one suit) cannot be beaten. Even if you introduce suit ranking, the Royal Flush in the highest suit is unbeatable. In some regions, it is considered unsatisfactory to have any hand that is guaranteed to be unbeaten - there should always be a risk. There are several solutions to this.

In Italy this is achieved by the rule 'La minima batte la massima, la massima batte la media e la media batte la minima' ('the minimum beats the maximum, the maximum beats the medium and the medium beats the minimum'). A minimum straight flush is the lowest that can be made with the deck in use. Normally they play with a stripped deck so for example with 40 cards the minimum straight flush would be A-5-6-7-8 of a suit. A maximum straight flush is 10-J-Q-K-A of a suit. All other straight flushes are medium. If two players have medium straight flushes then the one with higher ranked cards wins as usual. Also as usual a maximum straight flush beats a medium one, and a medium straight flush beats a minimum one. But if a minimum straight flush comes up against a maximum straight flush, the minimum beats the maximum. In the very rare case where three players hold a straight flush, one minimum, one medium and one maximum, the pot is split between them. See for example Italian Poker.

In Greece, where hearts is the highest suit, A-K-Q-J-10 is called an Imperial Flush, and it is beaten only by four of a kind of the lowest rank in the deck - for example 6-6-6-6 if playing with 36 cards. Again, in very rare cases there could also be a hand in the showdown that beats the four of a kind but is lower than the Imperial Flush, in which case the pot would be split.

Hand probabilities and multiple decks

The ranking order of poker hands corresponds to their probability of occurring in straight poker, where five cards are dealt from a 52-card deck, with no wild cards and no opportunity to use extra cards to improve a hand. The rarer a hand the higher it ranks.

This is neither an essential nor an original feature of poker, and it ceases to be true when wild cards are introduced. In fact, with a large number of wild cards, it is almost inevitable that the higher hand types will be the commoner, not rarer, since wild cards will be used to help make the most valuable type of hand from the available cards.

Mark Brader has provided probability tables showing the frequency of each poker hand type when five cards are dealt from a 52-card deck, and also showing how these probabilities would change if multiple decks were used.