Royal Poker Academy

Understand the rules.
Discover the possibilities.

From your first hand to the finer details. Find the game you want to understand.

One step at a time

Start with your first hand.

View all guides
  1. 01

    Meet the poker table

    The deck, chips, pot and goal

  2. 02

    Understand blinds and antes

    Positions, compulsory bets and heads-up

  3. 03

    Follow a complete Hold’em hand

    Pre-flop, flop, turn and river

  4. 04

    Compare the best five cards

    Ten hand types, kickers and ties

  5. 05

    Minimum raises: raise to or raise by?

    100 → 300: the next minimum is 500

  6. 06

    Betting, all-ins and side pots

    An all-in does not contest every chip

  7. 07

    Understand tournament formats

    Structures, levels and official rules

Poker’s origins and evolution

Know the rules. Discover the story.

From early riverboat games to today’s worldwide tournaments.

Poker’s origins and evolution
EXPLORE BY TOPIC

Make sense of every detail.

26 game and rule guides
Getting startedSTART HERE

What is poker? Your first look at the table

Understand poker, Texas Hold’em, hand rankings and formats, then learn about the deck, chips, pot, dealer button and the goal of a hand.

6 min read
Getting startedBLINDS & ANTES

What are the big blind, small blind and ante?

Use a 50/100 chip example to understand blind positions, calls, the big blind’s option, antes and the heads-up exception.

9 min read
Getting startedONE HAND · EVERY STREET

A complete Hold’em hand, step by step

Connect the button, blinds, pre-flop, flop, turn, river and showdown, and learn when a betting round is complete.

7 min read
Getting startedRAISE TO · RAISE BY

Minimum raises: raise to or raise by?

Distinguish totals from increments with a 100 → 300 → 500 example, then understand full raises and short all-ins.

7 min read
Getting startedSTACKS & BIG BLINDS

Reading stacks, big blinds and effective stacks

Convert chips to big blinds and distinguish your stack, effective stack and pot using consistent units.

5 min read
Getting startedDRAWS & OUTS

Draws and outs: probability is not a promise

Understand flush draws, open-ended and gutshot straight draws, then distinguish nominal outs from cards that actually win.

7 min read
Getting startedTHE STORY OF POKER

Poker’s origins and evolution: from riverboats to a global game

Follow early nineteenth-century poker, the move to 52 cards, the WSOP and online growth, while separating evidence from legend.

6 min read
Getting startedREAD A HAND HISTORY

How to read a hand history

Read a record through positions, stacks, actions, board cards and results, including folds, uncalled returns and side pots.

6 min read
Community-card gamesTEXAS HOLD’EM

Texas Hold’em: from the deal to showdown

Understand two hole cards, five community cards, four betting rounds and how to select the best five-card hand.

9 min read
Community-card gamesOMAHA

Omaha: remember 2 + 3

Four hole cards create more combinations, but the final hand must use exactly two hole cards and three community cards.

6 min read
Community-card gamesSHORT DECK · 6+

Short Deck: new rules for 36 cards

Understand the deck after removing ranks 2 through 5, the role of Aces, and differences between short-deck variants.

3 min read
Advanced gamesOMAHA HI/LO · 8 OR BETTER

Omaha Hi/Lo: splitting the pot high and low

How high and qualifying low hands split the pot, and why the high hand wins it all when no low qualifies.

3 min read
Advanced gamesSEVEN CARD STUD

Seven-Card Stud: upcards and downcards

Understand three downcards, four upcards, the bring-in and choosing the best five of seven cards.

3 min read
Advanced gamesRAZZ · ACE TO FIVE

Razz: aim for the lowest five cards

See the Stud structure through lowball rules: Ace is low, while straights and flushes do not count against your hand.

3 min read
Advanced gamesFIVE CARD DRAW

Five-Card Draw: one draw, two betting rounds

Explore a classic game without community cards: standing pat, replacing cards and the final showdown.

3 min read
Advanced gamesDEUCE TO SEVEN TRIPLE DRAW

2-7 Triple Draw: a different lowball system

Aces are high, straights and flushes count against you. Learn why 7-5-4-3-2 matters.

3 min read
Advanced gamesBADUGI

Badugi: four suits, four ranks

Explore four-card lowball and the difference between a complete Badugi and a three-, two- or one-card hand.

3 min read
Getting startedHAND RANKINGS

Poker hand rankings and tie-breaks

Complete card faces explain all ten categories, comparison order, ties and common mistakes, with best-five examples for Hold’em and Omaha.

18 min read
Getting startedBETTING & SIDE POTS

Betting, all-ins and side pots

Understand checks, calls, raises, betting structures and who can win each pot when stacks differ.

5 min read
Events & rulesTOURNAMENT ESSENTIALS

How to enter: tournament formats and registration

Understand MTTs, Sit & Gos, blind levels, late registration and re-entry so you can read tournament announcements clearly.

4 min read
Getting startedPOKER GLOSSARY

Poker terminology: a quick reference

From hole cards and the button to side pots and kickers, understand the language of the table.

3 min read
Events & rulesRESPECT THE GAME

Table etiquette and fair play

Act clearly, take your turn and protect your account so everyone can make their own decisions.

3 min read
Getting startedPOSITIONS & ACTION

Positions and action order: find the button first

Understand the button, small blind, big blind and UTG, including who acts before and after the flop and the special order heads-up.

9 min read
Getting startedSHOWDOWN & SPLIT POTS

Showdowns and ties: compare only the best five cards

Use concrete examples to understand kickers, playing the board, identical straights and split pots without inventing a sixth-card tiebreaker.

9 min read
Events & rulesCASH GAMES & TOURNAMENTS

Cash games and tournaments: the same cards, different structures

Understand buy-ins, chips, blind levels, elimination, re-entry and when play ends, without confusing the game variant with its format.

4 min read
Events & rulesREADING JACKPOT TERMS

Reading Jackpot terms: the conditions behind the amount

Learn what to check in a prize-pool promotion, from qualifying hands and triggers to allocation and settlement.

4 min read

Ten hand categories at a glance.

Back to the guide directory

Current hand: Royal Flush; strength rank 1 of 10.

Standard high poker · 52 cardsStrongest to weakest 01 / 10
  1. A of spades
  2. K of spades
  3. Q of spades
  4. J of spades
  5. 10 of spades

Royal Flush

ROYAL FLUSH

A, K, Q, J and 10 of one suit. This is the highest straight flush and the strongest hand under standard high-hand rules.

How hands are compared
  1. All five cards must share a suit and have exactly the ranks 10, J, Q, K and A.
  2. No five-card combination ranks higher under standard high-hand rules.
See a comparison

Separate five-card comparisons, not a single shared deal.

Player AEqual hand strength
  1. A of spades
  2. K of spades
  3. Q of spades
  4. J of spades
  5. 10 of spades
Player BEqual hand strength
  1. A of hearts
  2. K of hearts
  3. Q of hearts
  4. J of hearts
  5. 10 of hearts

Both hands are ace-high straight flushes. Suits do not rank hands in a standard high-hand showdown, so these hands are equal.

Choose a hand, from strongest to weakest

When hands tie

Royal flushes of different suits have equal strength; spades do not beat hearts. If equally strong hands can legally occur in the same deal and are eligible for the same pot, that pot is split.

Common misreading

A, K, Q, J and 10 in mixed suits form only an ace-high straight. A royal flush is a special case of a straight flush, not a separate dealing method.

Explore Royal FlushShort deck and lowball use different rules.Explore short deckExplore high/low split pots

These guides explain common poker rules, not a list of games currently offered by the platform. Confirm hand rankings, fees, registration and Jackpot conditions in the platform's and event's official rules.