Basic Rules
In Hold’em, two cards are dealt face down to each player, and a round of betting takes place. On the first round, players may either call or raise the blind bet, or they must fold their hand. Most casinos allow a bet and three or four raises per betting round, with one exception: When only two players contest the pot, there is no limit on the number of raises permitted.
When the first round of betting is complete, three communal cards, called the flop, are turned face up in the center of the table. That’s followed by another round of betting. On this and each succeeding round, players may check if no one has bet when it is their turn to act. If there is no bet, a player may check or bet. If there is a bet, players may fold, call, raise, or reraise.
A fourth communal card — called the turn — is then exposed. Another round of betting takes place. Then the fifth and final community card — known as the river — is placed in the center of the table, followed by the last round of betting. The best five-card poker hand using any combination of a player’s two private cards and the five communal cards is the winner.
That’s all there is to the play of the game. Yet within this simplicity lies an elegance and sophistication that makes Texas Hold’em the most popular form of poker in the world.
Blind Bets
Before cards are dealt, the first two players to the left of the dealer position are required to post blind bets, which are used instead of antes to stimulate action. (Those two players post their bets before they see any cards and, thus, are “blind.”)
In a $10–$20 Hold’em game, blinds are usually $5 and $10. Each blind is considered live. Because blinds represent a forced, first bet, the blind bettors can raise (but only on the first round) after the betting has gone around the table and it is their turn to act again.
Unlike Stud, where position is determined by each player’s exposed cards, referred to as his board, the player with the dealer button (see the “Position, position, and position” section, later in this chapter) acts last in every round of betting — with the exception of the first one.
Hold’em in General
Although Hold’em is exciting, exhilarating, and enjoyable, you should know something before diving in and plunking your money down — even if Hold’em is the lowest-limit game in the house. This section offers a few of those somethings we wish we had known when first making the transition from Seven-Card Stud to Texas Hold’em.
Hold’em only looks like Stud — it plays differently
With a total of seven cards, some of which are turned face up and others down, Hold’em bears a resemblance to Seven-Card Stud. But this furtive similarity is only a “tastes like chicken” analogy.
One major difference is that 71 percent of your hand is defined on the flop. As a result, your best values in Hold’em are found upfront; you get to see 71 percent of your hand for a single round of betting.
Staying for the turn and river demands that you either have a strong hand, a draw to a potentially winning hand, or good reason to believe that betting on a future round may cause your opponents to fold. Because only two additional cards are dealt after the flop, and because the five communal cards play in everyone’s hand, there are fewer draw-outs in Hold’em than Stud. (A draw-out happens when you draw cards that make your hand better than your opponent’s.)
Also, because Hold’em uses exposed communal cards in the center of the table that combine with two hidden cards in each player’s hand to form the best poker hand, it is more difficult for an opponent to draw-out on you than in Stud poker. For example, if you were dealt a pair of Jacks and your opponent held a pair of 9s, the presence of a pair of 5s among the communal cards gives each of you two pair. But you still have the best hand. Unless one of those 5s helped an opponent complete a straight, the only player helped by that pair of 5s would be an opponent fortunate enough to have another 5 in his hand.
The first two cards are critical
You’ll frequently hear players say that any two cards can win. Although that’s true as far as it goes, it doesn’t go far enough. The whole truth is this: Any two cards can win, but they won’t win enough to warrant playing them. Like all forms of poker, you need starting standards (a decision on which hands to start with, before you even sit down at the table). Players who lack starting standards take the worst of it far too often.
Position, position, and position
There’s an old real estate bromide that says the three most important features of any property are location, location, and location. In Hold’em, the important features are position, position, and position. Where your place is at the table (your position) is so important that some two-card holdings, which can’t be played profitably from early position, are cards you might raise with when you’re last to act.
In a typical nine-handed game, early position includes both blinds and the two players to their left. The fifth, sixth, and seventh players to act are in middle position, and the eighth and ninth players are in late position.
Because casino games are dealt by house dealers, a small disk — called a puck, a buck, or, most commonly, a button — is used as a marker to indicate the player in the dealer position. That player is always last to act. The button rotates clockwise around the table with each hand that’s dealt. The expression “passing the buck” does not refer to dollar bills, but to poker. And President Harry S. Truman, an avid poker player himself, had a sign on his desk in the White House that read, “The buck stops here.”
The flop should fit your hand
No matter how sweet your first two cards may appear, an unfavorable flop can render them nearly worthless. A key concept is that the flop must fit your hand. We call this concept fit or fold. If the flop doesn’t strengthen your hand or offer a draw to a very strong hand, you should usually release it.
Suppose you called on the first round of betting with AJ, and the flop is Q53. You don’t have a strong hand at this point. What you do have, however, is a hand with extremely strong potential. If another diamond falls on the turn or the river, you’ll make a flush. Not any flush, mind you, but the best possible flush, because your Ace precludes any of your opponents from making a higher one.
Even if you don’t make a flush but you catch a Jack or an Ace instead, that may be enough to win the pot.
Beyond the flop
As a general rule, you shouldn’t continue beyond the flop without a strong pair and a decent side card (or kicker), or a straight or flush draw with at least two opponents to ensure that the pot is big enough to make it worthwhile.
Because of the communal cards, players frequently have the same hand, with the exception of their unpaired side card, or kicker. When that happens, it’s the rank of each player’s kicker that determines who wins the pot in question. That’s why most Hold’em players love to be dealt A-K (or “Big Slick,” as players call it). If the flop contains either an Ace or a King, the player holding Big Slick will have the top pair with the best possible kicker.
Game texture — the relative aggressiveness or passivity exhibited by the players — is also important in determining whether to call that bet or raise. But you can only get a feeling for the game’s texture and how it should influence your play from live game experience. In the absence of that experience, err on the side of caution — it costs less.
Success at Hold’em demands that you be patient, pay close attention to position, and take comfort in the knowledge that good hands are run down less often than the best Seven-Card Stud hands.
Hold’em in Depth
Combinations of poker hands number literally in the millions; in Hold’em, however, there are only 169 different two-card starting combinations. That number, of course, assumes that a hand like KQ is the equivalent of KQ. If three diamonds were to appear on the flop, the KQ would be significantly more valuable than KQ. But the future can be neither predicted nor controlled, and these two hands have identical value before the flop.
Each one of these 169 unique startin
g combinations fits into one of only five categories:
Pairs
Connecting cards
Gapped cards
Suited connectors
Suited gapped cards
That’s it. Five categories. That’s all you have to worry about.
If you aren’t dealt a pair, your cards will be either suited (of the same suit) or unsuited. They also can be connected (consecutive) or gapped (unconnected). Examples of connectors are K-Q, 8-7, and 4-3. Unconnected cards might be one-, two-, three-gapped, or more, and would include hands like K-J (one gap, with Q missing), 9-6 (two gap, missing 7-8), or 9-3 (five gap, missing 4-5-6-7-8).
Small gaps make more straights
Generally, the smaller the gap, the easier it is to make a straight. Suppose that you hold 10-6. Your only straight possibility is 9-8-7. But if you hold 10-9, you can make a straight with K-Q-J, Q-J-8, J-8-7, and 8-7-6.
Every rule has exceptions. A hand like A-K can make only one straight. It needs to marry a Q-J-T. An A-2 is in the same boat and needs to cozy up to a 5-4-3. Although connected, each of these holdings can make only one straight because they reside at the end of the spectrum.
Other exceptions include a K-Q, which can make a straight only two ways, by connecting with A-J-10 or J-10-9; and 3-2 is in a similar fix. The only other limited connectors are — yes, you guessed it — Q-J and 4-3. These two holdings can each make three straights. The Q-J needs A-K-10, K-10-9, or 10-9-8. It can’t make that fourth straight because there is no room above an Ace. The 4-3 is similarly constrained because there is no room below the Ace. But any other connectors can make straights four ways, and that’s a big advantage over one-, two-, or three-gapped cards.
Unless you’re fortunate enough to wrap four cards around one of your four-gappers, there’s no way these cards can make a straight. But don’t worry about that. If you take our advice, you’ll seldom, if ever, play hands that are four-gapped or worse unless they’re suited — and then only under very favorable circumstances.
Gapped cards
Gapped cards, in general, are not as valuable as connectors because of their difficulty in completing straights. But if you make a flush, there’s no need to be concerned about the gap. After all, a flush made with A6 is just as good as an AK flush. But A-K is more valuable for other reasons. Suppose that flush never comes. You can make a straight with A-K; you can’t with A-6 (unless four cards come on the board to help your straight).
You might also win if you catch either an Ace or a King. If an Ace flops, you’ll have made a pair of Aces with a 6 side card, or kicker, and could easily lose to an opponent holding an Ace with a bigger companion. But any pair you’d make with the A-K would be the top pair with the best possible kicker.
Acting last is a big advantage
Acting later in a hand is a big advantage, so you can afford to see the flop with weaker hands when you’re in late position. If you’re last to act, you’ve had the advantage of knowing how many opponents are still in the pot and seeing how each of them acted on the current round of betting. That’s a big edge, because some starting hands play better against a large number of opponents, while others play better against a smaller field.
In late position, you’ll also know which of your adversaries are representing strength by betting or raising. The later you act, the more information at your disposal. And poker is a game of information — incomplete information, to be sure, but it’s a game of information nevertheless.
Starting Hands
Some starting hands are so strong that they can be played in any position. You don’t get these hands very often, but when you do, you’re generally a favorite from the get-go to win that pot.
Table 2-1 shows that we recommend playing any pair of 7s or higher in early position, as well as the 12 suited and 6 unsuited card combinations.
When you are the fifth, sixth, or seventh player to act, you’re in middle position and can safely play smaller pairs like 6s and 5s. You can also add ten additional suited hands and four more unsuited combinations to your playable repertoire if the pot has not been raised. Table 2-2 spells it out.
In late position, you have the advantage of acting last or next-to-last. As a result, you can add a variety of hands to your arsenal. Most are bargain-basement specials, however, that you should play only if the pot has not been raised. Moreover, you should be disciplined enough to release them if the flop brings anything less than an abundant harvest of friendly cards. Check out Table 2-3 for the breakdown.
If you’re new to the game, you’ve been playing indiscriminately, or you have an any-two-cards-can-win philosophy, you may believe that these recommendations are too tight. They’re not. In fact, they’re somewhat loose.
A hand like K2, while playable in late position, is a pretty sorry excuse for a Hold’em hand. If you flop a King and there’s any appreciable action, it’s fairly apparent that someone else has a King with a bigger kicker than yours. If you flop a 2, you’ve guaranteed yourself the lowest pair on board. Even if you’re incredibly lucky and you flop a flush, there’s no assurance that it’s the best flush. Probably the very best flop you could hope for is something like A22, which gives you three deuces with a strong kicker. You also have three cards to a flush, and though the odds against catching two more hearts are long indeed, it is an additional way to win. Players call this a backdoor draw. More importantly, an Ace on the board guarantees a call or two from any opponent holding an Ace in his hand.
Still, K2 and a lot of the other playable hands in late position are vulnerable from any number of directions, and it takes some degree of skill to navigate your way through the murky waters of a Hold’em pot in a rickety canoe like this one.
The Art of Raising
Raising adds spice to the game of poker and money to the pot. Raising is an act of aggression and causes everyone to sit up and take notice. When there’s a raise or reraise, the level of excitement escalates. Sometimes you’ll be raised, and sometimes you’ll do the raising. Regardless of whether you’re the raiser or raisee, it’s time to sit up and take notice whenever a raise is made.
You’ve been raised
If the pot has been raised before it’s your turn to act, you must tighten up significantly on the hands you play. Savvy players might raise with almost anything in late position if no one except the blinds are in the pot, but if a player raises from early position, give her credit for a good hand, and throw away all but the very strongest of hands.
You need a stronger hand to call a raise than to initiate one. After all, if you raise, your opponents might fold, allowing you to win the blinds by default. If you call a raise, you have to give your opponent credit for a strong hand, and generally you should call only if you believe your hand to be even stronger.
When someone’s raised after you’ve called
When an opponent raises after you’ve called, you’re essentially committed to calling his raise, seeing the flop, and then deciding on the best course of action.
But when you call only to find yourself raised and raised again by a third opponent, you should seriously consider throwing your hand away unless it’s extremely strong.
Suppose that you called with a hand like 109. Just because this hand may be playable in a tame game doesn’t mean you must play it. In a game with frequent raising, it may not be a playable hand because it is speculative and best played inexpensively from late position. The ideal way to play this hand is from late position, with a large number of opponents, in a pot that has not been raised. Now this hand is worth a shot. You can always throw it away whenever the flop is unfavorable.
When should you raise?
Hold’em is a game that requires aggressive play as well as selectivity. You can’t win in the long run by passively calling. You have to initiate your share of raises, too. Here are some raising hands:
You can always raise with a pair of Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, and 10s. In fact, if someone has raised before it’s your turn to act and you h
ave a pair of Aces, Kings, and Queens in your hand, go ahead and reraise. You probably have the best hand anyway. Reraising protects your hand by thinning the field, thus minimizing the chances of anyone getting lucky on the flop.
You can also raise if you’re holding a suited Ace with a King, Queen, or Jack, or a suited King with a Queen. If your cards are unsuited, you can raise if you’re holding an Ace with a King or Queen, or a King with a Queen.
If you’re in late position and no one has called the blinds, you can usually safely raise with any pair, an Ace with any kicker, and a King with a Queen, Jack, 10, or 9. When you raise in this situation, you’re really hoping that the blinds — which are, after all, random hands — will fold. But even if they play, your Ace or King is likely to be the best hand if no one improves.
Playing the Flop
Defining moments are crystallized instances in time, forever frozen in memory, imprinted into consciousness, never to be forgotten. Like Neil Armstrong walking on the moon, and the first home run you hit in Little League, these magical moments shape the way you perceive and value the world around you.
Hold’em also has its defining moment, and it’s the flop. (See the “Basic Rules” section for details about the flop.) Unlike Seven-Card Stud, where cards that follow your initial holding are parceled out one by one with rounds of betting interspersed, when you see the flop in Hold’em, you’re looking at five-sevenths of your hand. That’s 71 percent of your hand, and the cost is only a single round of betting.
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