Poker For Beginners

So, you want to learn poker but you don’t know where to start. Here’s our crash course in learning the world’s most popular gambling card game.

First up, you need to know the rules. Have a read through our page on poker rules for beginners - but don’t worry if it all sounds like double dutch at first. The game is much easier to play than it is to explain. Try taking a look at our page on how to practice poker online for some ideas of where to hone your skills and get used to the feel of the game. It really won’t take long before you understand the basics - and that’s where the hard work starts!

If you have come to poker from watching it on TV, then the chances are that the game you saw being played was Texas Holdem, and the chances are that the version you saw was “No Limit Holdem” - where any player can bet as much as they like at any time. There are literally hundreds of different versions of poker, and each version requires a slightly different skill set to play well. Far and away the most popular version at the moment is No Limit Holdem, however, so take a look at our page on no limit texas holdem poker rules for some tips on starting hands and overall strategy.

You are now most of the way towards being a fully paid-up member of the poker players’ club. In order to not betray your newbie status, however, you’ll need to get down with the lingo - see our poker glossary page and poker acronyms page for all you need to know about poker slang. Once you can type vnh, ffs, gl and omg with confidence you know you are ready for the tables.

As to which poker room to sit down at, you could do a lot worse than PartyPoker, since they are one of the few rooms that have tables reserved solely for beginners. Remember you wont qualify as a beginner for long, so take advantage of the easy winnings on offer while you can! PokerStars is another good choice, simply because it is currently the best poker room on the planet - and accepts players from all around the world. The downside is that the standard of play is generally a little better - but fear not, you’ll still make money if you have a little patience, and with a $600 sign up bonus currently on offer you only need to break even at the tables to come out well ahead overall.

That’s all there is to learning how to play poker. Learning how to play well enough to win a World Series Of Poker bracelet takes a little more time though. Still, everyone’s got to start somewhere - and if you keep to strong starting hands and use a “tight aggressive” strategy you will be miles ahead of most of your opposition right from the get-go.

So get learning, and get playing!

Tags: beginners, poker, rules