Poker Question?

[Sharpieman]

Alright I was playing online tonight and I have one real naive question to ask about poker rules. Do you have to use the 2 pocket cards to make your own 5 card hand, meaning, do you have to use 3 cards on the table and your 2 cards to make a five card hand, or can you just use one of your cards and 4 of the community cards to make the best hand?

Heres an example if your confused.
I have an ace of spades and a 3 of diamonds.
the five community cards are a 4 of spades, 8 of spades, jack of spades, queen of clubs and a 2 of spades.

Can I use just the ace of spades and the 4 spades on the table to create a flush and leave out the 3 of diamonds?

[thealmighty]

In Hold-em, yes.

[Sharpieman]

Damn, really that sounds not logical to me, I mean I think it would make more sense to have to use your 2 cards to create something.

[cartman]

In both Hold 'em and 7 Card stud, it's simply the best 5 cards, using any of the 7 available to you. In Omaha, on the other hand, you have to use two of your pocket cards , and three of the board cards.

[Logan]

Yep...royal flush on the board means a royal flush for everybody still in the hand.