Playing Poker in Vegas

If you’re taking a trip to Las Vegas, you’ll have endless opportunities to join one of many different kinds of poker games. Whether or not you’re already a poker fan, you can’t help but feel the fever when you set foot in the Entertainment Capital of the World. Sure, there are many exciting activities to occupy your time while you’re in Vegas; a trip to the neon graveyard, a show at Caesars Palace, and the fountain show at the Bellagio. If you’re more of a lone wolf, you could spend some time taking a walk down the strip or even playing on some trustworthy poker sites from the comfort of your hotel. However, if you step out of your comfort zone just a little, you could experience one of the most famous casino games in the world in the gambling capital of planet earth. Why not try your hand at a real-life Vegas poker game?

All the new rules and terminology may seem like a lot to take in, but if you read carefully through these basics, you’ll be able to sit down at any table in any casino in Vegas confidently and have a great time. Let’s begin.

Hand Ranking

The best way to understand what’s happening in a game of poker is to understand the basics of which card or combination of cards has what value.

Royal Flush: This combination is composed of a ten, Jack, Queen, King, and the Ace of a given suite. This is an ideal hand, and it’s rare to get one. 

Straight Flush: The second-rarest hand. The difference between this hand and a royal flush is that a straight flush isn’t allowed to roll over the face cards. One example of a straight flush would be a four, five, six, seven, and eight of a given suite. Another could be a nine, ten, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace of a given suite. The second example has a high value, so if there were two straight flushes at a table, the second kind would beat the first.

Four of a Kind: The name gives it all away with this one. The hand is composed of four cards from different suits of matching numerical values with an extra random crowd thrown in. The hand with the highest value will win if there are two at the table.

Full House: A full house is made up of three matching cards from various suites, and another two cards that match each other in numerical rank as well. Any tie would first be broken by the value of the matching three and then the value of the matching two.

Flush: Any five cards of the same suite can make up a flush.

Straight: If you have five cards in ascending numerical order (three, four, five, six, seven), even if they are all from different suites, then you have a straight.

Three of a Kind: Any three cards of matching numerical value, plus any two completely unrelated cards.

Two Pair: Two sets of matching pairs plus any random card.

One pair: One matching pair and three random cards.

High Card: If no one at the table has anything of value in their hand, then the player who has the highest single value card will win. A two is the lowest card, and an Ace the highest.

Placing Your Bets

Now that you understand what the cards in your hand mean, let’s focus on what kind of bets you can place.

Call: If you elect to call when it’s your turn to place a bet, you will be betting an amount that matches all the bets placed since you last placed a bet.

Raise: When you elect to raise, you need to bet the same amount as you would in a call but then add an extra amount on top of that. This amount is up to you, but most games have a maximum limit.

Fold: If you’ve decided to fold, that means the hand is over from you. Betting will continue until all players either call or fold.

Most Common Kinds of Poker

Five Card Draw: If you play poker at home with friends, this is probably the kind you play. As the name implies, each player receives five cards, followed by one betting round. Next, players may keep all their cards and “stand pat” or dump up to three cards and choose three more from the pack. Another round of betting follows. The showdown takes place, and hands are revealed; the player with the highest hand wins!

Texas Hold’em: If you play poker at a Vegas table, this is likely to be the kind you’ll play. The game goes like this:

• Post blinds. Player to the dealer’s right is the small blind, player to the left is the big blind. Small blind adds half of what the big blind adds to the pot. This means there’s a good amount in the pot to start.
• Dealing. Each player is dealt two “pocket cards” that will be used to build a five-card hand.
• Buy in. To play, each player must add the same amount as the big blind to the pot.
• Betting begins from the little blind back toward the dealer.
• The Flop. Dealer discards the top card from the deck and then flips the top three cards face over, and betting continues.
• The Turn. Another card is burned, betting continues.
• The River. One more card is burned then a final one is flipped face-up. One more round of betting, then players show their hands, and the best hand wins.

Wrap Up

With these basics in mind, you’ll have a great time playing Vegas poker!