How to Host the Perfect Poker Home Game: Poker Hand Rankings

How to Host the Perfect Poker Home Game is a 13-part series on how to run the superlative poker night for all your friends and coworkers.
We’ll cover everything from what game of poker is easiest to play, what hand beats what and even what drinks and food to serve. Follow this guide and people will be reserving their seat at your table weeks in advance.
In our second part we’re going to be taking a look at the basic rules of Texas Hold’em (the most popular game of poker) and the hand rankings. This is the first step in understanding the Cadillac of poker marked cards.
We’ll start with hand rankings and then move on to how the game progresses.
Poker Hand Ranking:

Royal Flush		A straight from a ten to an ace with all five cards of the same suit. In poker all suits are ranked equally.
Straight Flush		Any straight with all five cards of the same suit.
Four of a Kind		Any four cards of the same rank. If two players share the same Four of a Kind, the bigger fifth card (known as the kicker)   decides who wins the pot.
Full House		Any three cards of the same rank together with any two cards of the same rank. Our example shows "Aces full of Kings" and it is a bigger full house than "Kings full of Aces."
Flush		Any five cards of the same suit (not consecutive). The highest card of the five determines the rank of the flush. Our example shows an Ace-high flush, which is the highest possible.
Straight		Any five consecutive cards of different suits. Aces can count as either a high or a low card. Our example shows a five-high straight, which is the lowest possible straight.
Three of a Kind		Any three cards of the same rank. Our example shows three-of-a-kind Aces, with a King and a Queen as side cards - the best possible three of a kind.
Two Pair		Any two cards of the same rank together with another two cards of the same rank. Our example shows the best possible two-pair, Aces and Kings. The highest pair of the two determines the rank of the two-pair.
One Pair		Any two cards of the same rank. Our example shows the best possible one-pair hand.
High Card		Any hand not in the above-mentioned hands. Our example shows the best possible high-card hand.

How to Make a Hand

In Texas Hold'em you combine your two hole cards with the community board to make the best five-card poker hand. Both hole cards, one hole card or no hole cards (play the board) can be used to comprise a hand.

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Example: Hold'em

Hole Cards A                                       Hole Cards B
                                                 
Flop                                                     Turn                            River
                                                                    
Final Hand A                                        Final Hand B
                                     
Two pair (Q's and 3's with a K)                Two pair (K's and 3's with an A)

Top 5 Strangest American Poker Laws

American law books are filled from cover to cover with random, obsolete, and outright strange laws created in a time long passed marked poker.
As I have surmised after spending no time doing any actual research into the subject, laws were created in the olden days only as a reaction to an odd situation. Some laws are so ridiculous I'm just not sure how they ever came to be in the first place, such as:
In Connecticut, by law, a pickle is not officially a pickle unless it bounces.
Or better yet:
In Florida, having sexual relations with a porcupine is illegal.
If you need a law to tell you that having sex with a porcupine is a bad idea, you have much bigger problems than needing to know a lawyer ... mainly the hundreds of quills you now have stuck deep into your bird.
Here are the craziest American laws pertaining to poker: 5. In San Francisco, it's illegal to play poker in public or gamble in a barricaded room.
So you can't play poker in public. You can play it in private, but you can't barricade the door. So I guess you just leave your front door open, and hope no one walks in?
As a side note, a regulation in San Francisco makes it unlawful to use already-worn underwear to wipe off cars in a car wash.
So next time you need to clean your car on your way to a private game in the Bay, don't even think about taking off those britches.
4. Riverboat gamblers in Iowa have a $5 maximum bet.
If you ever want to prevent people from playing poker infraredink , this law will do the trick. They never said you can't play, but you just can't bet more than $5. Have fun.

If you choose to spend your poker nights with your lady friend instead, make sure to take note that kisses may last for as much as, but no more than, five minutes.
Also, if you wear a mustache you're not allowed to kiss any woman in public.
3. In Schulter, Oklahoma, women may not gamble in the nude, in lingerie, or while wearing a towel.
This is the only poker law I completely agree with. How's a person supposed to concentrate on the game with naked, or nearly naked women are at the table. That's truly an unfair advantage.
I speak from personal experience after trying to play during the 2006 WSOP while sitting across from Anna Benson, who chose not to wear a shirt under her jacket. Good luck trying to focus on your cards while sitting across from this.
2. Both Massachusetts and New Hampshire had old laws that penalized gamblers who lost money.
Talk about kicking a horse while he's down. Not only did you lose all your money gambling, but you're now getting a fine as well. "If only you had won, I wouldn't have to write you this ticket".
What's next? Fines for being the victim of a mugging?
1. In New Hampshire, you cannot sell the clothes you are wearing to pay off a gambling debt.
New Hampshire has officially made it illegal to "lose your shirt" at a poker game. I assume this law came into effect after having to watch some unlucky gambler walk nakedly home through the streets every week.
Rather than stopping the guy from gambling, they just created a law to keep the guy dressed: the law makers must have been regulars at his game.
There you have it, the five most ridiculous poker laws in the United States. Luckily, I don't think any of these laws are actually enforced anymore, even if #3 should be.