Three most popular card games are poker, blackjack and baccarat. All these games are played for money and can be found in casinos, as well as in specific venues. These card games, especially poker, have many different variations. There are so many poker variations that it is extremely difficult to mention them all. At this page we will speak about poker and other card games in general and will describe the most popular variations.

About Poker:

Poker is a game where the winner is determined according to poker hands ranking. Standard poker hands ranking is the following (from lowest to highest):

• High Card:
  A hand that does not contain any poker combinations and is ranked by the highest card in the hand
• Pair:
  Two matching cards (cards of the same rank)
• Two Pair:
  Two pairs of matching cards
• Three of a Kind:
  Three matching cards
• Straight:
  Five consequent cards (cards that follow each other by rank)
• Flush:
  Five cards of the same suit
• Full House:
  A hand where three cards match and two other cards match too
• Four of a Kind:
  Four matching cards
• Straight Flush:
  Five consecutive cards that also are of the same suit
• Royal Flush:
  A virtual hand, that in fact is Straight Flush of the highest value: 10-J-Q-K-A

Obviously some higher combinations also contain a lower one, like, for example, Full House contains Three of a Kind and Pair. Poker hands are named after the highest combination they contain, and therefore a hand with Full House will be called simply Full House, and not Trip and Pair. If two players at the table have equal combinations, the winner is determined by the highest card included in the combination. For example, a hand with a pair of 10s beats a hand with a pair of 8s. The exception from this rule is Full House. In case of two Full House hands, only the three matching cards are compared. For example, 10-10-K-K-K beats A-A-J-J-J. A problematic situation can occur if two players have Pair, Two Pair, Straight or Flush of the same rank. Table rules must specify the solution for these situations. Normally either the suit of the highest cards breaks the tie, or both players simply share the pot.

Popular Versions:

The most popular formats of poker are draw poker, stud poker and community poker. Draw poker involves exchanging a number of cards from the initial hand with new ones from the deck. In stud poker players receive some of the cards face-down and some face-up, so you can see part of the hands of other players. Community poker is game that involves a number of cards that can be used by all players at the table to combine the final hand. The most popular games of these three formats are Five Card Draw (Draw Poker), Seven Card Stud (Stud Poker) and Texas Hold'em (Community Poker). However, there are hundreds in not thousands of other poker games that may or may not belong to these three basic poker formats.