The Very Basics
In Texas Holdem, each player is dealt two cards down, your “Hole” cards. Then comes a round of betting called the “pre-flop round”. Anyone still in the game sees the “flop” - that is 3 community cards, dealt face up in the center of the table for all to play. Then comes another round of betting. Next comes another community card, the “turn”. Then comes another round of betting. Finally the last community card, called “the river”, and the final round of betting. Now, anyone still in the hand shows their hole cards, and the best hand wins. Your hand is made up of the best 5 cards you can make from your 2 hole cards and the 5 community cards.
Value of Hands
The basic values of 5-card poker hands are, in order from best to worst:
In Texas Holdem, each player is dealt two cards down, your “Hole” cards. Then comes a round of betting called the “pre-flop round”. Anyone still in the game sees the “flop” - that is 3 community cards, dealt face up in the center of the table for all to play. Then comes another round of betting. Next comes another community card, the “turn”. Then comes another round of betting. Finally the last community card, called “the river”, and the final round of betting. Now, anyone still in the hand shows their hole cards, and the best hand wins. Your hand is made up of the best 5 cards you can make from your 2 hole cards and the 5 community cards.
Value of Hands
The basic values of 5-card poker hands are, in order from best to worst:
- Straight flush, five cards of the same suit in sequence, AKQJT is the best straight flush, also called a royal flush. The ace can play low to make 5432A, the lowest straight flush.
- Four of a kind, three cards of one rank accompanied by two of another, such as 444KK.
- Flush, five cards of the same suit, such as 54897 of diamond.
- Straight, five cards in sequence, such as 87654.
- Three of a kind, three cards of the same rank and two kickers of different ranks, such as JJJ56.
- Two pair, two cards of one rank, two cards of another rank and a kicker of a third rank, such as 55QQ2.
- One pair, two cards of one rank accompanied by three kickers of different ranks, such as QQ753.
- High card, any hand that does not qualify as one of the better hands above, such as KJ542 of mixed suits. Ranked by the top card, then the second card and so on, as for flushes. Suits are not used to break ties.
Reading the Board:
It’s important to be able to “read the board” and know what hands are possible and what’s likely to be out there. The first part of that is identifying “the nuts”. Nuts are the best possible poker hands. If you hold the nuts, you know you cannot lose.
Adjusting to the Table:
A lot of the skill in poker is in adjusting to the table. You make money when other people make mistakes, and it’s good to encourage them to make mistakes. If someone is “tight-weak” i.e. folds too much and rarely plays back at you, then you should get at them with lots of holdings. They will then fold too much. By betting at them, you give them the opportunity to make a mistake. Remember that the goal of poker is to win chips not hands. You might lose a lot of small hands but when you win a pot, you’ll win a lot of chips, and be way up over all. Your goal is to lose the small pots and win the big ones, not the other way around.
It’s important to be able to “read the board” and know what hands are possible and what’s likely to be out there. The first part of that is identifying “the nuts”. Nuts are the best possible poker hands. If you hold the nuts, you know you cannot lose.
Adjusting to the Table:
A lot of the skill in poker is in adjusting to the table. You make money when other people make mistakes, and it’s good to encourage them to make mistakes. If someone is “tight-weak” i.e. folds too much and rarely plays back at you, then you should get at them with lots of holdings. They will then fold too much. By betting at them, you give them the opportunity to make a mistake. Remember that the goal of poker is to win chips not hands. You might lose a lot of small hands but when you win a pot, you’ll win a lot of chips, and be way up over all. Your goal is to lose the small pots and win the big ones, not the other way around.
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