How to play
Everyone starts with 1,000 play chips. They’re only points: there is nothing to buy, bet or win here, and no real money anywhere.
Each hand, you get two cards that only you can see. The two players after the dealer button put in the small and big blinds. Then there are four rounds of betting: before the flop, after the flop (three shared cards), after the turn (a fourth) and after the river (a fifth). On your turn you can fold, check (when there’s nothing to call), call, or raise.
If everyone else folds, you win the pot without showing your cards. Otherwise the players still in show their hands, and the best five cards from each player’s two plus the five shared cards win. Equal hands split the pot. A player who is all in can only win what they matched from each other player; the rest goes to a side pot.
The blinds double every eight hands. Run out of chips and you’re out; the last player with chips wins.
Hand ranks, best first
Straight flush (five in a row, one suit) · four of a kind · full house (three of a kind and a pair) · flush (five of one suit) · straight (five in a row; the ace can be high or low) · three of a kind · two pair · a pair · high card.
Tips
Play fewer hands, and play them strongly: pairs, two high cards, and suited cards next to each other are good starts. Compare the price of a call with the pot: calling 100 into a pot of 300 only needs you to win about one time in four. Position matters too: acting last, after you’ve seen what everyone else did, is a real advantage.