Installment #4:

Reading the Board Cards

As each new board card hits the middle of the table, you should ask yourself, “What, at this moment, is the best possible hand?” If you start with two aces in your hand, you have the nuts before the flop. But what happens if three coordinating cards such as J-10-9 come out on the flop? The best possible hand is K-Q, not pocket aces. Now what do you do if someone bets into you?

To determine the value of your hand, look at the community cards and then choose the best five-card poker hand you can make by using any combination of your hole cards and the community cards. You can use any combination of none, one, or both of your cards combined with the cards in the middle. Look at it as having a seven-card hand, from which you choose the best five cards.

If you have two queens in your hand and a queen comes on the board, you have made three queens (a set). If you have the A§ K§ and the J§ 4§ 8© come on the flop, you have the nut flush draw. Then if another club comes on the turn or river, you will make the nut flush. You also might flop a pair. Suppose the flop comes K© 6§ 4§ and you are holding the A§ K§. You have top pair—two kings with an ace kicker (your highest side card)—and the nut flush draw. You’re in the driver’s seat.

The value of your hand may change after you see the cards that are dealt on the flop. If you have two hearts in your hand and three hearts come on the flop, you have made a flush, which probably is the best possible hand at the moment unless someone else has two higher hearts in his hand. But if the board pairs on the turn, your flush may no longer be the best hand because it is possible that someone else has made a full house. If the flop comes K§ Q¨ 2§ and you have the Kª K© in your hand, you have the nuts on the flop. But what if another club comes on the turn? One of your opponents could have a flush. Or another card (such as a 10) could be dealt on the turn or river that makes a straight for an opponent who has the A¨ J© in his hand. Either way, your three kings may not be the best hand.

Enjoy Yourself - and Win Some Money!

“Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think,” the old song goes. And winning always adds to how much you enjoy playing the game. In hold’em games, you win if all your opponents fold when you make a bet, or if you have the best hand at the showdown. In limit hold’em, more people play their cards all the way to the showdown than they do in no-limit hold’em, where hands seldom are played to the showdown.

You might also win by making a bluff bet. That is, you lead your opponents to believe that you have the best hand when you actually may not even have a pair. In limit hold’em, you can bluff by betting or raising the exact size of the maximum bet allowed. But in no-limit hold’em, you can bet any amount of chips you choose up to the amount of chips you have sitting in front of you. Players often bluff in high-stakes televised no-limit hold’em tournaments, but bluffing isn’t nearly as common in the everyday games that most of us play.

Tips for Winning at Limit Hold'em

Always play good starting hands

Texas Hold’em Super Pro Charts are your guide to the best starting hands in hold’em poker. Looking over the charts, you’ll find that big cards win the most money in hold’em games. Aces, kings, queens, jacks and A-K are the best starting hands, but how about some others? This is where your position in relation to the big blind starts to become more important. You can also play hands such as A-Q, A-J, pocket tens, pocket nines and pocket eights if you are sitting in a middle position and nobody has entered the pot in front of you. The later your position, the better off you are. In fact, in a game with a lot of tight players, you might even raise with these hands if you are sitting in a middle or late position and you are the first player to enter the pot. Since no one sitting in front of you has shown any strength, your cards might be the hand.

What if a tight or solid player raises from an early position? When that happens, a lot of otherwise playable hands go way down in value. Many hands that contain two face cards are not playable. For example, if Tight Ted sitting in first position with a layer of dust on his chips suddenly raises, hands like A-Q, A-J and most pocket pairs are not playable. You must use good judgment in calling raises, even with big starting hands.

How about connecting cards such as J-10, 9-8 or 7-6? In low-limit hold’em games, middle and low cards that connect to each other can be very profitable hands in multiway pots. But here’s the catch—you can play big pairs from any position at the table, but you should play middle or low connectors only from the last two or three positions. Connectors (suited or unsuited) play best in multiway pots, and you only know that the pot will be played multiway after you have found out whether the players sitting in front of you intend to play their hands. You can’t know that information if you have to act early in the hand.

Next Month's Installment #5:

Your seat position relative to the button strongly influences which hands you play

Always ask these questions on the flop

Don’t draw to a lower hand when a higher hand is possible