You see the hand
The table, the cards and the chips, as in a real game.
The course
Learn poker online
The best way to learn poker is to play hands and have every decision explained, in order: how a hand runs and what beats what, then the flop and the price of a call, then betting and reading your opponents. This online poker course does exactly that, in 104 lessons of six to nine minutes, right in your browser.
No money and no sign-up to start. The first lessons are free; the whole course opens with the pass.
- paths, in order
- 18
- playable lessons
- 104
- from the first card to a game of your own
- 12 h
- minutes per lesson
- 6–9
How you learn
Every lesson is a hand you play
You decide
Check, call, raise or fold when it's your turn, and take all the time you need.
It explains why
If you're right, why it was a good idea. If not, what you missed. No penalties.
It comes back as you forget
A few minutes a day with what you are about to forget. What you miss comes back tomorrow; what you know, later on.
The syllabus
What to learn, and in what order
Eighteen paths in five stages, from the cards to a real table. They go in order: each path builds on the one before and ends with a practice round and an exam.
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Stage 1 · paths 1 to 3
The game itself
How a hand runs, what beats what and a game at home. Enough to sit down at any table and follow every hand on your own.
On this site:
Poker rules Check, bet, call, raise, fold Poker hand rankings Hosting a poker night Flop, turn and river Small blind and big blind
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Path 1 · 7 lessons · 52 min
The table comes alive
Cards, betting and order of play
Play a heads-up hand without getting lost in the order of things.
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Path 2 · 9 lessons · 62 min
My cards and everyone's
Combinations with shared cards
Look at the whole table, not just your starting cards.
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Path 3 · 6 lessons · 44 min
Playing with friends
Three or four, no dealer
Set up, deal and run a hand of three or four without anyone telling you whose turn it is.
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Stage 2 · paths 4 to 6
Preflop and the flop
Which hands to play, what the flop tells you and whether a call is worth its price.
On this site:
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Path 4 · 6 lessons · 40 min
Before the flop
Entering with a raise, sizing and the map of hands
Know which hands to enter with, and how.
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Path 5 · 6 lessons · 39 min
Reading the flop
Your hand, the flop, draws and position
Feel what the center of the board tells you before deciding.
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Path 6 · 5 lessons · 38 min
Knowing whether to call
Price, live cards and the call
Decide whether to call by comparing its cost with how often you win.
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Stage 3 · paths 7 to 10
Betting with a purpose
Why you bet and how much, how an all-in with different stack sizes is settled, and what a six- or nine-handed table is like.
On this site:
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Path 7 · 6 lessons · 43 min
Betting with a purpose
Get paid, make them fold or check: every chip with a reason
Bet only when worse hands call or a better one folds.
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Path 8 · 5 lessons · 30 min
How much
Big blinds, pot fractions and raise sizing
Know how much to put in, and why.
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Path 9 · 6 lessons · 45 min
Closing an all-in
Different stacks, layered pots
Know what action follows, which chips come back and who can win each pot when someone goes all-in.
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Path 10 · 6 lessons · 41 min
Playing in a card room
Six or nine, with a dealer
Take a seat in a card room and complete a hand without breaking the turn or the customs of the table.
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Stage 4 · paths 11 to 14
Reading your opponents
Putting your opponent on a range, a plan for the turn and the river, judging a decision by what you knew, and adjusting to whoever you're up against.
On this site:
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Path 11 · 5 lessons · 34 min
Reading a range
Cross out, set aside and count their possible hands
Decide against everything the rival may hold, not against two cards.
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Path 12 · 6 lessons · 42 min
A plan for each street
Plans for the turn and the river
Plan the next street before it arrives.
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Path 13 · 5 lessons · 37 min
Deciding without seeing the end
Decision and result, streaks and the counted bluff
Judge a decision by what you knew and bluff only when the count says so.
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Path 14 · 6 lessons · 46 min
Adjust to the rival
Opportunities, labels and small adjustments
Tag your rival and adapt your game.
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Stage 5 · paths 15 to 18
Harder spots
Flops that miss everyone, re-raises, two opponents at once, and a game of your own, measured against your hand log.
On this site:
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Path 15 · 5 lessons · 35 min
When nobody hits
Bluff, check on purpose or fold on a flop that misses
Take the pot when the flop misses everyone, and know when to check on purpose and when to fold.
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Path 16 · 5 lessons · 35 min
Facing a re-raise
Fold, call or raise again
Answer a re-raise by the count: fold, call or raise again by what you are missing, what is in the pot and what he re-raises with.
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Path 17 · 5 lessons · 36 min
Against two at once
Bluff, value and calls against two
Decide against two rivals without merging their lists: count cases, see who changes the plan and recompute the price.
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Path 18 · 5 lessons · 33 min
Building your game
A rule of your own, measured with your log
Leave the course with a concrete playing rule, measured with your own log and reviewed with what it shows, without looking at the chips.
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The practice table
Then, full hands against the house regulars
Walter plays few hands and hardly ever bluffs; Roxie keeps the pressure on. The house regulars sit in on the game, each with a style of their own. Nobody corrects you while you play: the table watches, and at the end it tells you which habit is costing you chips.
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Walter
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Roxie
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Victor
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Dottie
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Frankie
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Gale
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Desmond
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Rufus
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Mabel
Practice chips: they can't be bought or exchanged for anything.
What it costs
The first lessons are free. The rest comes with the pass.
You start without an account and without paying anything. If you like it, the pass opens the rest of the course, the full practice, the exams and the tables. It's the only thing for sale: nothing inside the course can be bought, no chips and no shortcuts.
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Free, no account
To try the course and see whether it's for you, without even giving your email.
- The first lessons
- $0 no account, no card
- The pages on this site
- $0 rules, hands, glossary and more
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With the pass
The whole course, the full practice, the exams and the tables against the house regulars.
- Monthly pass
- $8.99 a month, cancel anytime
- Lifetime pass
- $65 one payment, never renews
You pay in US dollars, $8.99 a month or $65 for good, or in euros in Europe, €7.99 or €59, taxes included. The pass page shows the price for where you are; if your card is in another currency, your bank does the conversion and may add a fee or the tax your country charges on foreign-currency payments.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best way to learn poker?
Play hands and have each decision explained, in order: the rules and the hand rankings first, then the flop and the price of a call, then betting with a purpose and reading your opponents. Reading the rules teaches you to follow a hand, not to make decisions in one.
How long does it take to learn poker?
The rules take an evening. Following a hand on your own takes the first three paths of this course, about 3 hours of lessons. The whole course, from the cards to a game of your own, is about 12 hours, in lessons of six to nine minutes.
Can you learn poker online for free?
To start, yes: the first lessons of this course play in your browser with no account and no money. The rest opens with the pass, which costs $8.99 a month or $65 for good. The reference pages on this site, such as the rules, the hand rankings and the positions, are free to read.
Is poker hard to learn?
The rules aren't: two cards each, five on the board and ten hands in order. What takes practice is deciding well without seeing anyone else's cards, and you learn that like any skill: one decision after another.
Do you need to play for money to learn poker?
No. Chips worth nothing measure a decision just as well, and without money you can get it wrong as many times as it takes. There's no real money in Pokeo: its chips can't be bought or exchanged for anything.
Is there a Duolingo for poker?
Pokeo works that way: short lessons in order, each one a hand you play, with the explanation on the spot and an exam at the end of every path. It runs in your browser, on a phone or a computer.
Start here
In six minutes you'll know how to read the cards
The first lesson starts with the very basics: what each card tells you. No sign-up.
First lesson · 6 min The cards Every card has two facts: rank and suit. You'll learn to read both, and which one says which card is worth more. Play nowNo sign-up · No money · In your browser
