Poker at The Ridge Casino Poker is a popular card game that brings to mind images of the saloons of the Wild West. At The Ridge we have 2 Poker tables to choose from on our main floor and 1 Poker table in our Salon Prive. The minimum bet on these tables is R25.

How to Play Poker

• Poker has many variants, and each has its own individual rules. However the basics are standard across the board.
• Poker is played from a standard 52 card deck.
• The cards are ranked in this order from lowest to highest: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace. Ace can be low or high.
• There are four suits: hearts, clubs, diamonds, spades.
• No suit is ranked higher than another.
• Players must place an "ante", which is a nominal amount, before the cards are dealt.
• Each player is dealt three cards face down, which the player may pick up to view. The dealer deals himself /herself two cards face down. The player's three cards plus the dealer's two cards makes the 5-card poker hand.
• If the player has a potential hand with his/her initial three cards, he will place a second bet (same amount as the ante bet) on the first betting position.
• Once all players have decided whether to bet or not, the dealer will expose their first card. This is also the player's fourth card.
• If the player has a potential hand now, he will place a third bet (same amount as the ante and second bet) on the second betting position.
• Once all players have decided whether to bet or not, the dealer will expose their second card. This is also the player's fifth card.
• The dealer will now proceed to pay winning hands and take losing hands.
• A minimum winning hand is a pair of 10s or better.
• See winning hand combinations below.

Poker Hands

Hands in Poker are ranked as follows from highest to lowest:

• Royal Flush: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10 of the same suit.
• Straight Flush: Five cards of the same suit in ranking order, for example 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of spades.
• Four of a kind: four cards of the same rank, for example 6 of hearts, 6 of clubs, 6 of diamonds and 6 of spades. If more than one player has four of a kind, the set of the highest rank wins, for example four Aces beats four sixes.
• Full House: This hand consists of three of a kind and a pair, for example three 5's and a pair of Jacks.
• Flush: five cards of the same suit in any order.
• Straight: 5 cards of any suit in sequence.
• Three of a kind: three of the same ranking card.
• Two pair: two sets of pairs, for example two Aces and two Jacks in a hand.
• Pair: two of the same ranking card.
• High card: a hand that has none of the above is ranked according to the highest card.

If no player has any of the above, the winner will be the player with the highest card in hand, for example a Queen will beat a hand where the highest card is a 10.