Poker Hands: The Value of Cards

Poker hands are a combination of five cards. To determine which hands have higher value than others, players conform to the built-in hierarchical order of poker hands . Specifically during showdown, this hand rank structure is used as the yardstick of measure by which a player wins over another.

Because of the many game variations of poker, the dealing of poker hands are also done in many ways. In some, they are dealt piecemeal or in installments. In some, players receive them all at one time. Rules regarding the composition of poker hands are also many and variegated.

In hold 'em poker, for instance, players receive their cards bit by bit. Poker hands in hold 'em poker have to be a composition of two hole cards plus any three shared or community cards. Hold 'em poker uses five community cards in all. To get their share of the community cards, players need to place a bet. The five community cards will be dealt out in three phase, with every phase alternated by a betting round.

In stud poker, hands are also dealt out in gradual manner, and every dealing of cards is also sequenced with a betting round. To get their next card or cards, players have to check, raise, or call.

In draw poker, on another hand, players receive all that cards that will constitute their hand at one time. Players have the option to substitute any of their hand cards with cards on the deck. There are rules circumscribing the card-substitution, but they also vary among the different draw poker game variants.

Irrespective of their individual play structures, the ranking of hands are the same for all game variants of poker. The highest ranked hand is royal flush, followed by straight flush. The next rank of hands are as follows: four of a kind, full house, flush straight, three of a kind, two pair, pair, and high card.

Poker hands may also consist of wild cards. Wild cards are any cards --- usually the joker--- with no fixed value. They are sort of bonus cards, and you may affix them any value to make your most winning hands.

In a nutshell, poker hands are the game's instrument or mode of competition. They are the logic behind the betting. They are the means through which winners in poker are determined, and winners are determined in accordance with the game's built-in hierarchy of poker hands.