What is a poker tournament?

A poker tournament is an organized competition where many players play against each other over a period of time.

Poker is played in stages where the players bet as to who holds the best card combination by progressively raising the stakes until either - there is a showdown, when the best hand wins all the stakes (‘the pot’), or all but one player have given up betting and dropped out of play, when the last person to raise wins the pot without a showdown.

It is therefore possible for the pot to be won by a hand that is not in fact the best, everyone else having been bluffed out of play. One of Poker's earliest names was, in fact, ‘Bluff’.

Players generally play at tables with 8 players and everyone starts with an equal number of poker chips. As the game continues then players bet their poker chips depending on the cards they are dealt and the cards in the middle. Players stay in the game until they have no poker chips left. Tables are consolidated as players get knocked out and the one who ends up with all the chips is the winner.

A “blind” system is put in place, which means the game can generally be timed to finish at a predetermined point. The blind incrementally increases in value and forces the players to bet larger amounts of chips the longer they stay in the game.

Texas Hold'em Poker is a community card game with four betting rounds.

Winning hands from best to worst
Royal Flush	Five cards all in a row of the same suit. Starting at and Ace.
Straight Flush	Five cards in a row, of the same suit.
Four of a Kind	4 cards that are the same.
Full House	Three of a kind, along with two of a kind.
Flush	Five cards of the same suit.
Straight	5 cards in a sequence.
Three of a Kind	3 cards that are the same.
Two Pair	2 x separate pairs.
Pair	2 x cards that are the same.
High Card	This is when you don't have anything.