Author: horse-racing-free-tips

For those that do not know the basics, here are the ways the hands and cards are ranked in poker.

Number of cards in the deck: 52.

Number of suits: 4 (Hearts, Spades, Diamonds, Clubs)

Number of cards in each suit: 13 (In order of rank; Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2)

Number of cards in a poker hand: 5 (even in games where you are dealt more than 5 cards, only 5 cards count as your poker hand.)

Rank of poker hands from highest to lowest:

1. Royal Flush; (ace, king, queen, jack, ten, all the same suit.)

2. Straight Flush; (5 cards in sequence of the same suit. see “straight” below for explanation of in sequence) (The lowest ranking straight flush is the wheel-flush, ace, 2, 3, 4, 5. 5 is considered the top card, not the ace.) (if two players have a straight flush, the one with the higher top card wins.)

3. Four of a kind; 4 Kings, Queens or other cards. (Of course the higher ranked 4 of a kind wins, such as 4 kings beats 4 queens)

4. Full House; This consists of 3 of a kind, (see below) and a pair all in one hand. (example; you have 3 fours and 2 kings. That would be fours over kings, while having 3 kings and 2 fours would be kings over fours.) (If 2 players each have a full house, the better three-of-a-kind part of the hand wins. example; you have 3 eights and two aces, your opponent has 3 nines and 2 twos. Your opponent wins. Their nines beat your eights.)

5. Flush; 5 cards of any rank, but all the same suit. (If 2 players each have a flush, the flush with the highest top card wins, if that is a tie, then whoever has the highest second card wins, if that is a tie, you compare the third, fourth, fifth card, etc.)

6. Straight; 5 cards in sequence. (example; 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 is a 7-high straight. If you opponent has 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, they have an 8-high straight and they win.)

7. Three of a Kind; (Trips) 3 cards of the same rank. (example; 3 sevens, 3 eights, 3 kings. if 2 players have 3-of-a-kind, the highest ranking cards wins the hand)

8. Two Pairs; A Pair is 2 cards of the same rank. 2 pair means you have 2 sets of 2 cards of the same rank. (If 2 players each have 2 pair, the player with the highest top pair wins. Kings and twos would beat queens and jacks.)

9. Pair; 2 cards of equal rank. (If 2 players each have a pair, the highest ranking pair wins. If 2 players each have the exact same pair, then out of the 3 remaining cards in your hand the highest card is your “kicker”. The highest kicker wins. If still tied, you go to the next highest kicker, etc.)

10. High Card; Where no one has a pair or above, you compare hands like this. The highest card in your hand vs the highest card in opponents hands. If that is a tie, then you compare the next highest card, then the next if still tied and so on. (King, Queen, 10, 6, 2, would beat King, Queen, 10, 5, 4. It would have been a tie until the fourth card compared and the first hand has a 6 to their opponent’s 5.)

There is an essential difference between limit and no-limit Texas hold’em and this difference is based on the position you have at the playing table and on the value of the hands. When you are playing no-limit hold’em you will find that position is much more important than in the limit games. The explanation is quite simple actually because there is no limit so more money are involved and the goals you set depend on your position and they will have a bigger impact on you bankroll. If somehow you manage to get someone into a position trap you will here have a change to get that person’s entire stack, not only a few more bets like in Limit hold’em.

In no-limit poker the big connectors are not to be played because they have a much lesser value overall: they can cause you to win but just small amounts of money and they can also cause you to lose greatly. If we are talking pairs, they increase their value consistently in no-limit Texas hold’em. They give you the opportunity to trap someone (especially the big pairs) and they can get you the entire bankroll of those persons or simply double the value of the pot over a betting round.

When playing no-limit you must before all keep an efficient list of all money spent by you and your opponents. Variations in the stack affect the whole hand and you must be aware of that. So pay attention to all amounts of money players have on the table and to the pot size at all times. The game here is about leaving the others with no money on the table not just about winning small pots and hands.

Let’s take an example to better demonstrate how and why important the amount of money each player has on the table is so important.

Let’s just say you have now $250 and another player has $25. You are playing a game with blinds of $1-$2. Your position is the small blind and the cards you have are QJ suited. Your opponent is in first position and he goes all-in. All other players consider the risk and decide to fold, as strategy requires in this case. Now, you are faced with a problem: to call and risk $24 for his $25 bet or to simply fold like the situation requires. Betting for that kind of money the almost exact amount is an unnecessary risk you should not take. If however your opponent would have an amount of $250 just like you have, then the risk can be acceptable as you were going to risk the money for 10 times their value.