Before you can being to play poker, you must know the basics. One of the easiest poker variants to learn is Five Card Draw. We'll cover how to play Five Card Draw shortly, but let's begin by taking a brief look at the poker hands in order of worst to best.

High Card--If no player has anything, the person with the highest card wins. If I had an Ace, then I would win. Not unless the other person has an Ace, then you go to the next highest card.

A Pair-two cards of the same rank. Two kings, Two eights, etc.
2 pair--two pairs of cards--Two kings and two eights in the same hand.
Straight--A run of cards that are in sequential order. For example, 5-6-7-8-9. Suit of the cards does not matter.
Flush--five cards that are of the same suit, do not have to be in a certain order--they only have to be all of the same suit like five hearts.
Full House--two of a kind and three of a kind
4 of a Kind--four cards all of the same rank.
Straight-Flush--five cards that are both in sequential order and are of the same suit.
Royal Flush--Ten, Jack, Queen, King, Ace--all in the same suit.

There are many variations to the game of poker. A very simple and popular poker variant is Five Card Draw. It consists of players being dealt five cards one a time. Carefully look over your hand and decide which, if any, cards you want to discard and be dealt new cards. Basically you want to keep your best cards. If you have four hearts and one club and decide to go for a Flush by getting rid of your club, this can be a tricky move. Either you will have a Flush or nothing. It's best to play as conservative as possible while learning to play poker.

The dealer deals everyone their new cards. The player with the best hand wins the game.

Some house rules allow the dealer to call a card wild once the cards have been dealt but before they are looked at. This means if the dealers calls "2's" wild, all 2's can become any card you would like. This can make for some fun poker play especially when it's just a session for fun with friends or family. Five card draw is popular for home entertainment but is rarely used in casinos or tournament play.

When learning to play poker, it is best just to learn to play and not worry with betting just yet. Since betting can take place at different intervals in the game, it's easiest just to leave it out until you are comfortable with the basic rules and poker hands.