how to play poker

pokerdeceit.com aims to help players learn to win at poker, but before you can win at poker, you need to learn how to play poker! But poker isn't some sort of widget that comes with easy to assemble instructions. There are a many types of games with different rules (and strategies). There are even different betting structures (like Limit versus No Limit) and different game formats (like normal "ring" games versus tournaments).

Here are a variety of links to pages on this site that deal with the basics, from game rules to hand rankings to basic strategies. After a bit of reading, these days the best way to learn how to play poker is by playing the free poker games at an online cardroom -- or even just watching others play. It's very simple to do, you download the software, sign up (doesn't cost anything unless you eventually play for real money) then click one of the active tables and watch how the game moves and how poker hands are played. If you want to play, click an open seat on a free-play table and start playing. The learning process is greatly accelerated, and you don't need to rely on friends to put together a game. Online there are always games to play or watch. Naturally free games are wilder and somewhat unrealistic compared to money games, but in terms of offering a way to learn the fundamentals, nothing else in history compares.