Red Dead Redemption 2 Poker Beginner Basics - How to Play

Poker in Red Dead Redemption 2 can be a good source of money for your character. If you know what you’re doing, you can increase your earnings very fast. The thing is, if you don’t know how to play poker in RDR 2, you can lose all your hard work very fast, and then be forced to shoot someone in the face to get it back. Out Red Dead Redemption 2 Poker basics guide will show you the ropes of how to play poker. As for the nuances, you’ll have to figure those out on your own.

How to Play Poker in RDR 2?

The word on the street is that you’ll be able to play poker in Red Dead Redemption 2 to earn more money. The type of poker we’ll be playing is most likely to be Texas Hold ‘Em. So, here’s how a game of Texas Hold ‘Em plays out. First, there’s a round of betting. Basically, everybody has to chip in a certain agreed-upon amount at the least. Then, every player gets two cards. There’s another round of betting.

After that round of betting, the dealer puts three cards on the table, face up. Another round of betting. The dealer then puts another card on the table, face up. We get another round of bets, and the dealer places the final card on the table, face up. Then, the final round of bets goes around. After that, everybody reveals their cards, and the strongest hand (combination of cards) wins.

The goal is to get the best possible hand, using the two cards that you have and the five on the table. It’s important to note that you can use only five of the seven cards in play to create a hand. For example, if there’s two kings on the table, and you have another king in your hand, you now have a three-of-a-kind. Also, you don’t need to use the two cards in your hand at all; you can use only those on the table. However, that’s rarely the best of ideas.

Different Hands in Poker – Red Dead Redemption 2

There’s a number of different hands in poker, hands being the different possible combinations of cards. We’re going to list and explain them below, from weakest to strongest.

• High Card – This basically means that you don’t have any combination to speak of. You basically just have a high card, like an ace or a king. It’s a bad time.
• One Pair – You have two cards of the same kind. Two aces, or kings, or nines, whatever it may be.
• Two Pair – Pretty self-explanatory. You have two different pairs. For example, two aces and two kings. Now, you’re in business.
• Three of a Kind – Again, pretty easy to understand. Anything from three aces to three twos counts as three of a kind. Of course, three aces are stronger than three twos. This goes for all the above-mentioned hands.
• Straight – Straight means that you can combine five cards into a sequence. For example; 10, 9, 8, 7, 6. They don’t have to be of the same suit; any combo of clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades goes, as long as the five cards are in the right sequence.
• Flush – Kinda like the reverse of the straight. The values of the cards play no role; the only thing that’s important that the five cards are of the same suit: diamond, club, spade, or heart.
• Full House – A combination of a pair and a three of a kind. An example would be three kings and, say, two jacks.
• Four of a Kind – Should be clear. Just means you have four cards of the same value. The higher the value of the four cards, the better.
• Straight Flush – A combination of a straight and a flush. The five cards are of the same suit, and their values are in sequence.
• Royal Flush – The ultimate hand. It doesn’t get stronger than this. It’s basically a straight flush, but with the strongest combination of values: ace, king, queen, jack, and ten.

How to Raise, Call, Check, & Fold in Poker – RDR 2

Poker does seem pretty simple and basic in nature, but it really is not. The rules are fairly easy to understand, but there’s a lot of nuance to it. The most basic of nuances is to know when to raise, call, check and / or fold in poker. All four of these words are used in the betting portions of the game. Here’s what they mean.

Raising means that you want to raise the bet. So, say if somebody raises the bet by five bucks. Opting to raise means that you follow those five dollars, and raise it even higher. You can use this if you have really good cards, or if you’re bluffing and just pretending that you have good cards to scare the opponent.

Call means that you’re following the new bet, but refuse to add more money to the pile. So, if someone bets five dollars, and you call, you add your five bucks and that’s it.

Check means that you are not giving up on the round, but aren’t placing any bets. Basically, it can happen that the whole table checks in one round of betting, meaning that the pot (the amount of money on the table) stays the same.

Fold means you’re giving up on this whole round. You lose all the money that you might have placed on the table, and you can’t participate until the whole cycle is over and a new round starts. Sometimes, this is the only recourse you have. Better to lose a little than lose everything.

If you end up getting stuck at another point, you might want to check out some of the other guides we have. We've written about mysteries like the missing person Gavin, the Rhodes Gunsmith prisoner, the locked door at Valentine doctor. We also have instructional guides that show how to rob stores without getting bounty or where to sell jewelry and gold bars. If it's collectibles or key items you're after, we've found all the Penny Dreadful comic books, Chick's treasure map location, or that famous pipe for Dutch. Finally, if you don't care to explore the map yourself, you could take a look at our Watson's Cabin and Catfish Jackson's Homestead locations guides. In the latest Red Dead Online Moonshiners Update you'll have a chance to find Navy Revolver and Best Shack Locations.