The first time I was asked to play casino poker, I had to confess I didn’t have a clue about it. Then after my friend who extended the invitation explained the rules to me, I thought, “Ah-ha! I now know that I will never, ever learn to play these games, and all of my friends just want me to lose my money.” However, I eventually discovered that it is not impossible to learn, and furthermore, online poker and Internet are fun!

Wondering what the rules are? Fortunately, Internet have the same rules for online poker as you would play around your kitchen table. The two most popular games are Seven-Card Stud and Texas Hold ‘Em. In both varieties you choose the five cards that represent your hand, and the highest ranking hand wins. Sounds simple, right? Well, before you head off to those Internet  let’s discuss the ranks.

Basically, there are ten possible hands. Here they are from highest to lowest:

1. Royal Flush: Five cards of the same suit in order from ten to ace (10, J, Q, K, A). If you have a royal flush, bet the House!

2. Straight Flush: Five cards of the same suit in order, but not necessarily the highest. A straight flush can be 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6; as long as it’s five in a row.

3. Four of a Kind: Four of the same value cards in any suit (four sevens, four queens, etc).

4. Full House: Three of one value card and two of another, any suit.

5. Flush: Five cards of the same suit, order doesn’t matter.

6. Straight: Five cards in ranking order, regardless of suit.

7. Three of a Kind: Three matching value cards, any suit (three fives, three aces).

8. Two Pair: Just like it sounds: two of one card, two of another, any suit.

9. Pair: Two matching cards.

10. High Card: If no one else in the game has any of the above combinations, the person with the highest card in their hand (Ace being the best) wins.

In Seven-Card Stud online casino poker, each player is dealt seven cards and chooses the best five to make their betting hand. With Texas Hold ‘Em, the Internet holds two cards in the “center” of the game, which each player can use in conjunction with their five dealt cards to make the best possible five-card combination. It can be a lot of fun to construct your hand once you learn the ranking order—and like me, you will find out that poker isn’t as hard as you think! Here’s a hint: keep a printed list of the rank of hands beside you while you visit the Internet casino. Nobody else can see you using it!

With the exposure that casino poker has received from television and print media in the last few years, thousands of new players are playing online every day. However, if it weren’t for a few things holding some players back, there would be many more new players. A few of the things that are causing fear and/or apprehension are the safety of your hard-earned money at an online room and exactly how to set up accounts not only at a room but also to fund the account. These are what this article is about, so if you want to play poker online but haven’t started, read this short tutorial and you’ll be started in no time.

The first question I am often asked is about the safety of a player’s money online. Drawing from my personal experience, I have been playing online for about two years and have never had a casino poker site cheat me or steal the first cent. One of the reasons for this is I have followed these rules, which I recommend to you. When I started, I only played at the larger rooms online. (There are over 250 rooms so even restricting yourself to the top 30 or 40 rooms is safe and gives you plenty of options.) My reasoning was that the rooms with the most players must have players that were receiving cash outs in a timely manner. Also, the larger the room, the more they had to lose by cheating players. The way poker is designed, rooms will make more money by being honest than by stealing from players who will never come back. I also read reviews about the different sites in order to become comfortable with my choice of a site, then downloaded the free software and practiced at the play money tables before depositing.

The next question is the best way to get money in and out of an online casino poker site. Here are a few simple and safe steps to get started.

1. Find a poker room you would like to try on this site and download the free software.

2. Open a checking or savings account with a local bank. (You probably already have one, but some players open a separate account for poker.)

3. Go to www.neteller.com or www.firepay.com and open a free account and link it to the bank account from step 2. I have used Neteller and their service is safe, fast and free. You can transfer money from your bank to Neteller and then into any online room for free. Then any money you take out of a room will go back to Neteller and then back to your bank if you so choose. By using this method, you don’t have to worry about the safety of a credit card online and most rooms don’t use credit cards anyway.

4. Set up an account at the casino poker room from step 1. Usually you will click on “register” or “cashier”. You will enter a screen name and password as well as some other information.

5. Either practice at a play money table or make your first deposit and jump into the live action. Good luck!