Tight Play Poker

For me this is the most important thing that beginners should learn, know how to read the board. As a beginner in poker, I always hear my friends telling me, “Read the board.”

In reading the board you must know what rank can you beat, let me give you an example.

You are holding a card of A♦ K♥, and the board is A♥-6-♦-8♦-10♦-K♣ and there are 6 players. What do you see? Do you see your card has the best hand? If your answer is yes, then you will be loosing lots of chips in your stack. Here’s what the board says:

1. You see the board in reds, and you see that there are three diamonds in the board. If one player got another two diamonds then he got FLUSH.
2. You see that there is 6-8-10 in the board, if the player got 7-9 there might be a STRIGHT.

So with your two pair, you will know that your two pair is not good to win the pot.

Situation number 2:

Your card is 8♣K♣ the board is Q♥-8♣-8♦ -7♠-9♠. Wow! You got three of a kind! The player goes all-in will you call or not? Again the answer is a big NO!

1. What if one of the players got pocket 7 or pocket 9 or pocket Q, then they win the pot for FULL HOUSE.
2. What if the player got 10-Jack then he wins for straight.

As you go along playing poker, will acquire this kind of skill, you will know what card can beat you. But ofcourse you can read what does the player got according to his “betting system” which you will learn as you gain more experience in playing poker. As for now, reading the board is the most important thing that you should know.

Straight Flush:

Five cards in sequence, of the same suit.

In the event of a tie: Highest rank at the top of the sequence wins.

The best possible straight flush is known as a royal flush, which consists of the ace, king, queen, jack and ten of a suit. A royal flush is an unbeatable hand.

Four of a Kind:

Four cards of the same rank, and one side card or ‘kicker’.

In the event of a tie: Highest four of a kind wins. In community card games where players have the same four of a kind, the highest fifth side card (‘kicker’) wins.

Full House:

Three cards of the same rank, and two cards of a different, matching rank.

In the event of a tie: Highest three matching cards wins the pot. In community card games where players have the same three matching cards, the highest value of the two matching cards wins.

Flush:

Five cards of the same suit.

In the event of a tie: The player holding the highest ranked card wins. If necessary, the second-highest, third-highest, fourth-highest, and fifth-highest cards can be used to break the tie. If all five cards are the same ranks, the pot is split. The suit itself is never used to break a tie in poker.

Straight:

Five cards in sequence.

In the event of a tie: Highest ranking card at the top of the sequence wins.

Note: The Ace may be used at the top or bottom of the sequence, and is the only card which can act in this manner. A,K,Q,J,T is the highest (Ace high) straight; 5,4,3,2,A is the lowest (Five high) straight.

Three of a kind:

Three cards of the same rank, and two unrelated side cards.

In the event of a tie: Highest ranking three of a kind wins. In community card games where players have the same three of a kind, the highest side card, and if necessary, the second-highest side card wins.

Two pair:

Two cards of a matching rank, another two cards of a different matching rank, and one side card.

In the event of a tie: Highest pair wins. If players have the same highest pair, highest second pair wins. If both players have two identical pairs, highest side card wins.

One pair:

Two cards of a matching rank, and three unrelated side cards.

In the event of a tie: Highest pair wins. If players have the same pair, the highest side card wins, and if necessary, the second-highest and third-highest side card can be used to break the tie.

High card:

Any hand that does not qualify under a category listed above.

In the event of a tie: Highest card wins, and if necessary, the second-highest, third-highest, fourth-highest and smallest card can be used to break the tie.

Source: Pokerstars.com

In Texas Hold’em Poker there’s a button in front of the player, this button is called the “Dealer Button“. On the left of the dealer button is the Small Blind and the Big Blind, the small blind place the smallest blinds and the big blind place the biggest blinds. Lets say you are playing in the 50/100 table blinds, the Small Blind place 50 and the Big Blinds Place 100.

Now when all blinds are place the dealer will give all players two cards faced down. Starting from the left of the dealer button which is the small blind clockwise to the dealer button. After the first two cards are dealt there will be a betting occurs.

Next the dealer will place one BURN card (faced down) below the pot and three cards (faced up) in the center of the table.  This 3 cards is called the FLOP.

After the that there will be another round betting follows then. Then the dealer will burn another card (faced down) and place the fourth card (faced up). This card is the TURN CARD.

Followed by this TURN card is another round of betting, then the dealer will burn another card and finally the fifth and last card of the community card, the RIVER CARD.

After all five (5) community cards is place down, the last betting will occurs. After the betting rounds the players will show their 2 cards and the dealer will judge who made the highest 5 cards combination. The highest rank/combination wins the pot.