Learn Intuitive Poker Easily With 3 Core Decisions: Attack, Defend, Surrender

Introduction

Are you eager to join the thrilling poker world but overwhelmed by all the complicated terms and rules? We’ll guide you comfortably through your first home poker tournament.

This article teaches through quizzes and an over-the-shoulder example to make the rules easy to grasp. Research suggests there may be strong links between frequent quizzing and student success.

All the poker jargon is stripped away, leaving only intuitive, easy-to-understand ideas. Grab your cards and get ready to play!

Setting Up: A Step-by-Step Guide

You will need:

• Poker Chips: Don’t have a set of chips? Use pasta, buttons, coins, or small torn pieces of card.
• Deck of Cards: Bullet Playing Cards are slightly oversized, resistant to bending and perfect for poker, but any playing cards will do.
• A Timer: An alarm on your phone every 20 minutes will do fine.
• 3-10 Players: Six is the golden number for a blend of excitement and fast play. More than 10? Split up into multiple tables. Fewer than three? Make more friends.
• A Ruthless Attitude: This tournament is going to be winner takes all…

Everyone starts with $10,000 in chips:

Poker Tax: A Race Against Time

The first two players clockwise of the dealer must pay tax at the start of each hand. After the dealer, the first player pays the small tax, and the second pays the big tax (also called the small blind and the big blind, respectively). These taxes give all the players something to fight for before the betting starts and make the game more exciting.

The game intensifies as the tax level increases every 20 minutes. The small and big taxes for each level are in the table below.

Tax 

The first two players clockwise of the dealer must pay poker tax at the start of the hand

• Level 1 – $50/$100
• Level 2 – $75/$150
• Level 3 – $125/$250
• Level 4 – $200/$400
• Level 5 – $300/$600
• Level 6 – $500/$1,000
• Level 7 – $1,000/$2,000
• Level 8 – $1,500/$3,000
• Level 9 – $3,000/$6,000
• Level 10 – $4,000/$8,000
• Level 11 – $7,000/$14,000
• Level 12 – $10,000/$20,000

You can expect the game to finish before you reach level 10

Dealing, Taxes and Decision-Making: The Game Mechanics

• Dealing: The dealer holds the dealer chip and deals cards one at a time in clockwise order, starting with the player to their left. This continues until each player holds two cards. The dealer chip will move one place clockwise in the next hand.
  
• Taxes: The small tax pays $50, and the big tax pays $100. These amounts increase every 20 minutes.
  
• Betting round: The players make decisions clockwise, starting with the player after the big tax.

Surrender, Defend, or Attack: Your Three Decisions

Poker is all about choices. The terms we use below are not technical but intuitive, making learning poker more accessible.

Surrender

Defend

Attack

Give up

Stay in the game

Raise the stakes

Learn to balance these decisions, and you’re on your way to becoming a poker master.

Example: A Full Poker Hand

Usually, you won’t see your opponent’s cards, but for this example, let’s look at a friendly game of poker between six Game Knights to understand the game’s rules and decisions. By following this example, you’ll grasp the fundamentals of poker and be ready to enjoy this thrilling game.

As you swipe through the slides, try to guess what each player should do next.

setting up

Setting Up

Black is the dealer and holds the dealer chip. He deals the cards clockwise starting with the player to his left. Yellow and Green pay the small and big taxes, contributing $50 and $100, respectively.

brown quits

Brown Quits

Brown doesn’t like his cards and decides to SURRENDER. He keeps his $10,000 and will wait for a better opportunity.

blue attacks

Blue Attacks

Blue decides to ATTACK! She can bet anything from $200 (two ‘full taxes’) to $10,000 (all-in). She bets $300. Even the players who have already paid a smaller amount will have to make another decision.

pink is bold

Pink is Bold

Pink has two Aces and decides to ATTACK. He sets the price at $1,000 (10 big taxes)! It doesn’t matter that Blue already attacked before him; he can attack and increase the price further.

black is torn

Black is Torn

Black likes his cards but is scared of Blue and Pink. He doesn’t want to attack again. He decides to take a chance and DEFEND, hoping for things to improve later. He pays $1,000.

yellow gives up

Yellow Gives Up

Yellow has paid $50 (the small tax) but still has an easy decision. Her cards aren’t good enough to waste $950 defending. She is patient and SURRENDERS, waiting for a better opportunity.

green waits

Green Waits

Green has a great hand! He’s worried about Pink, though. He decides to DEFEND and wait and see. Green pays an additional $900 (he paid the big tax and has already contributed $100).

back to blue

Back to Blue

Blue already made a decision this hand, but the price has gone up again since then, so she’ll have to make another. She’s not as confident as once but still likes her cards. She DEFENDS and pays $700, taking her total contribution to $1,000.

summary 1

Summary

Pink doesn’t get another decision; the price has stayed the same since his last decision. The round ends with four players competing for a pot of $4,050. Black discards the top card from the deck and places three cards face up. The first remaining player left of the dealer makes the first decision.

green waits again

Green Waits Again

A new round, so the defence price is reset to $0! Even if you don’t like your cards, you may as well defend for free! Green is worried about the Ace and Queen and someone making a better pair than him. Green DEFENDS for free and waits to see what the other players will do.

blue deceives

Blue Deceives

Blue is ecstatic! She has just made two pair (a pair of Aces and a pair of Queens). She tries to hide her excitement and decides to deceive the other players. She also DEFENDS and pays nothing.

pink attacks

Pink Attacks

Pink has three Aces. He sees the two high cards and two diamonds on the table. “If I don’t win the money now, someone could make a straight or a flush!” He ATTACKS and bets $800. He didn’t have to match the $1,000 from the previous betting round. He can choose from $100 (one big tax) to $9,000.

black hopes

Black Hopes

Black is excited to see two diamonds on the board. “$800 is a lot, but if the next card is a diamond, I’ll have a flush!” Black DEFENDS and pays $800.

green gives up

Green Gives Up

Convinced he does not have the best hand, Green SURRENDERS.

blue is tricky

Blue is Tricky

Blue pretends to be disappointed that the price has increased. She sighs, but inside, her heart is beating faster. She DEFENDS to hide the strength of her hand. Blue pays $800.

summary 2

Summary 2

Three players remain, competing for $6,450. Black discards the top card from the deck and places one more card face up in the middle of the table.

blue’s trap

Blue’s Trap

She DEFENDS for free again, convinced of her winning hand.

pink pressure

Pink Pressure

Pink is relieved not to see a diamond or another high card but knows his luck could run out if he allows his opponents to see another card. He decides to ATTACK and attack big. He sets the price at $4,000.

black gives up

Black Gives Up

Black groans. He would love to stay in the hand for one last card and see if he can get a diamond, but it’s just too expensive for something that’s not likely to happen! Black reluctantly SURRENDERS.

blue trap

Blue Trap

Blue cannot contain her excitement any longer. She proudly announces “All in!” She attacks and pays the maximum price of $8,200 (all her remaining money). She may have already defended once this betting round, but that does not stop her from switching to attack if given another opportunity.

pink is scared

Pink is Scared

Pink is baffled. Does Blue really have a 3 and a 5? Is she bluffing? Contrary to many TV shows, you may only raise the price to a point your opponent can defend. Neither player has more than $8,200 remaining in their stack, so Pink cannot attack. Pink DEFENDS and fears the worst.

summary 3

Summary 3

Two players remain, battling for $22,850. Black discards the top card from the deck and places one more card face up in the middle of the table. Neither Blue nor Pink has any money left, so neither has any decisions to make. They are essentially both forced to DEFEND for free.

Hand Rankings: The Heart of Poker

Poker is an exciting game, but beginners often need help memorising various hand types. Consider two players: one with a “straight” (a sequence of 5 consecutive cards of different suits) and the other with a “flush” (5 cards of the same suit). Who wins? Or if one has “3-of-a-kind” (three cards of the same rank) and the other “two pair” (two pairs of cards of the same rank), who takes the pot? Try for yourself first, and then read on to learn about the hand rankings in poker.

Can you rank the following nine hands from highest to lowest? Give it a try before moving on.

Hand Rankings (from worst to best)

• High Card: Aces are high
• One Pair: Two cards of the same rank, e.g., 3-3
• Two Pair: Two pairs of cards of the same rank, e.g., 2-2, 5-5
• Trips: Three cards of the same rank, e.g., 4-4-4
• Straight: 5 consecutive cards, e.g., 3-4-5-6-7
• Flush: 5 cards of the same suit, e.g., all diamonds, 3d-7d-Jd-4d-Kd
• Full House: One pair and 3-of-a-kind combined, e.g., 3-3-3-6-6
• Quads: Four cards of the same rank, e.g., J-J-J-J
• Straight Flush: Straight and a flush, e.g., 4d-5d-6d-7d-8d
• Royal Flush: Straight flush from 10 to Ace, e.g., 10d-Jd-Qd-Kd-Ad

Quiz

Put your new Poker skills to the test with our quick-fire quiz!

Conclusion

Following this guide and connecting it with the example will give you a solid foundation to enjoy a friendly poker game. Happy playing! If you want to take poker one step further, learn more about our coaching packages.

Now you’ve finished beating your friends at the poker table, why not learn the unknown rules of Monopoly and get the edge at your next game night?!