Poker Rules for Evaluating Hands

Evaluating poker hands can be a confusing process for new players. There are several different aspects that go into making a Texas Hold’Em poker hand combination, such as the value of each individual card and its suit. Here are some important poker rules that will help define a proper poker hand.

According to the poker rules, all hands must have 5 cards. These cards can be a combination of both pocket (or private) cards and community (or shared) cards. In a 7-card game like Texas Hold’Em, this means that the best 5 cards are chosen.

Individual card rankings are as follows: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace. Note that poker rules allow for Aces to be both the highest and lowest value cards. Aces can only be used as a low value card when used in combination with other cards to make a consecutive sequence.

Suits mark the 4 different families of cards. The 4 suits are Diamond, Heart, Spade and Club. Suits do not give any value to a card, and no suit is considered higher or lower than another according to poker rules. Though suit is often neutral, it does sometimes affect poker strategy, and 5 cards of the same suit are known as a Flush.