Poker Cards & Chips

What Cards Do You Need to Play Poker?

All you need for a game of Texas Hold’em is a single standard 52-card deck, some chips (or anything to bet with), and a flat surface. There are no jokers, no special cards, and no extra decks — the same pack you’d use for rummy or solitaire is exactly what poker uses. In a Hold’em hand you’ll see up to seven cards that matter to you: your two hole cards plus the five community cards, and your best five-card hand plays.

Suits exist only to make flushes and straight flushes possible — they don’t rank against each other, so a flush is a flush no matter the suit. What decides a hand is the rank order above and the standard poker hand rankings.

From the Deck to the Table

Knowing the deck is step one. Step two is learning how those 52 cards are dealt and bet — that’s covered in the full poker rules, and the fastest way to make it stick is to deal a few hands yourself. Our free Texas Hold’em table uses a standard 52-card deck against AI opponents — no download, no signup — and labels every showdown so you learn the cards by playing.

FAQ

How many cards are in a poker deck?

A standard poker deck has 52 cards: 13 ranks (2 through 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace) in each of 4 suits (spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs). Texas Hold'em and most poker games use this standard deck with no jokers.

Are jokers used in poker?

No — Texas Hold'em and the standard poker variants do not use jokers. The deck is exactly 52 cards. (A few home/wild-card games add jokers as wild cards, but that is non-standard.)

Do suits matter in poker?

Not for ranking hands. A flush in spades is exactly equal to a flush in hearts — suits are only used to determine whether cards are "suited" for flushes and straight flushes. (One edge case: some games break a tie for the bring-in or chip-distribution by suit order — spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs — but this never affects the value of a made hand.)

What is the order of cards in poker?

From lowest to highest: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace. The Ace is the highest card, but it can also play as the lowest card to make the "wheel" straight A-2-3-4-5.

What do poker chip colors mean?

Common cash-game values are white $1, red $5, blue $10, green $25, black $100, purple $500, and orange $1,000 — but colors and denominations vary by casino and home set. Tournament chips use their own values that don't represent cash.