I am going to dedicate one post to Texas Holdem, a form of poker that has gained enormous popularity recently due to TV coverage and celebrity tournaments.
Poker Hands - What hand beats what?
People who know me well know that I love to play Texas Hold'em poker at any opportunity I get. Whether it is playing with friends on a Saturday night, playing online or going to a club for a weekly tournament, chances are I will do what I can to be involved. That being said, I am no Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen or Hoyt Corkins in the way I play but I am usually not the table fish either.
So I have decided to write few articles about poker and what I have learnt about this wonderful and at times frustrating game. This first article will be basic information about what hand beats what.
Texas Hold'em Poker uses a standard 52-card deck regardless of the number of players playing. The standard deck features 4 suits of cards (Spades, Diamonds, Hearts, Clubs) each with 13 face values. These face values are ranked highest to lowest as: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace. It is important to note that an ace can count as both a low or high card.
The object of Texas Hold'em is to achieve the highest possible five card hand by using your two hole cards (the two cards you are dealt) and the five community cards on the table. There are many other elements of this game such as betting and bluffing however I won't discuss them in this article. So how do you know how good your five card are? Below, I have listed the ranking of winning hands, starting with the strongest first and ending with the lowest ranked hand.
Ace, King, Queen, Jack and 10 of the same suit
5 consecutive cards of the same suit (for example,5,6,7,8,9 of diamonds)
4 cards with the same value (for example, 8 of hearts, 8 of clubs, 8 of diamonds, 8 of spades)
3 of a kind and a pair, with the 3 of a kind being regarded first (for example, 7 of diamonds, 7 of clubs, 7 of hearts and 4 of spades and 4 of clubs)
Any 5 different cards of the same suit (for example 3, 5, 6, 9, J of hearts)
5 cards of any suit in consecutive order (for example, 7 of clubs, 8 of diamonds, 9 of clubs, 10 of hearts, J of spades)
3 cards with the same face value (for example, 10 of clubs, 10 of hearts, 10 of diamonds)
2 sets of pairs (for example, 2 of clubs, 2 of hearts and 6 of diamonds, 6 of hearts)
2 cards with the same face value (for example 3 of clubs and 3 of hearts)
In the event that no one has any of the above hands, the player with the highest card wins.
Kickers
Kickers are the leftover cards after a hand is declared. They determine who wins if players have the same hand. Since not all hands have "leftovers", kickers only apply to four-of-a-kind, three-of-a-kind, two pair, one pair, and high card situations. Here is an example of how kickers work.
As you can see, both players have made two pairs - a pair of 2s and a pair of 10s - however, Player 1 will win because the kicker they hold is a 9 of Hearts, while for Player 2, it is the 7 of Clubs (from the community).
Strong Hole Cards
When playing Texas Holdem Poker, you are always dealt two cards known as hole cards. Using your hole cards and any of the five community cards on the table, you are required to make the best five card hand possible. So what makes good hole cards? I will list three examples of strong hole cards:
A Strong Pair
Probebly the most obvious answer would be a strong pair. If you are dealt a pair of Aces or Kings, chances are your going to do well with this hand, unless your out drawn or out bet. Other strong pairs include Queens, Jacks and Tens. If there are 4 players or less, I would also count a pair of Nines as a strong pair but play them a little more cutiously.
Ace or King With A Strong Kicker
Another good starting hand would be Ace and King, also known as "big slick". These hole cards essentially give you a high card of Ace with a King kicker and they can be used to make a straight. Other good hole cards include Ace and Queen, Ace and Jack, Ace and Ten, King and Queen, King and Jack and King and Ten. These hands are even stronger if they are suited eg. Aces of Spades and King of Spades as they also allow you to play for a flush draw.
Suited Connectors
This is where you are dealt two running cards of the same suit. An example of this would be Nine of Hearts and Eight of Hearts. These hole cards allow you to play for a flush or a straight.
Determining The Strength Of Your Hole Cards
You must try to always have a good idea of the strength of your hole cards and how it plays against other players hole cards. You can calculate your pot odds pre-flop using the same principles as the five example above but you will need to factor in your opponents hole cards to determine your hand strength. This can be quite an art as you don't get to see your opponents cards all that often, and you will need to look for signs of strength or weakness know as tells to help with your decisions.
Below are a list of common groupings of hole cards vs other hold cards along with their odds pre-flop so your have a better idea of the strength of your hand.
Pocket Pair vs. Smaller Pocket Pair
VS 
The Kings are 4:1 favourites but this can vary depending on the number of outs available to make straights.
Pocket Pair vs. Two Over Cards
VS
Known as the coin-flip situtation but the pocket pair is usually 5:4 favourites. If the pocket pair is very low such as two fours, the odds change to 50:50 because the pair does not interfer with the over cards straight possibility.
Pocket Pair vs. Two Undercards
VS 
4:1 in favour of the pocket pair. The two undercards may increase in odds if they interfere with the pocket pairs ability to make a straight.
Pocket Pair vs. One Overcard and One Undercard
VS
7:3 in favor of the pocket pair. If the over/over hand contains an Ace and a 2,3,4, or 5 the pocket pair doesn't interfere with your straight chances and the odds increase.
Pocket Pair vs Same Card and One Overcard
VS
Almost the same as the above scenario, 7:3 in favor of the pocket pair. The pocket pair's advantage can end up as low as 5:3 if it's against suited connectors.
Pocket Pair vs Same Card and One Undercard
VS
This is the worst situation you can be in as you are totally dominated. It's around a 7:2 in favor of the pocket pair. Even if the pocket pair is up against a suited connector, it is at best 4:1
Two Overcards vs. Two Undercards
VS
It's typically 7:3 which might be a surprise. If the undercards are significantly far enough away from the overs and suited without matching an overcard's suit, it can reduce to 3:2.
Overcard and Undercard vs. Two Middle Cards
VS
This is usually around 3:2 in favor of the overcard/undercard. It can reduce the advantage to almost 50:50 with a middle-suited connectors that don't share a suit with the over/under and where there is no straight interference.
1st and 3rd Highest vs. 2nd and 4th Highest
VS 
Varies from a 7:3 to 3:2 advantage for the 1st/3rd hand but mostly just falls around a 2:1 edge for the highest card.
Dominated with same high card
VS
Usually the person with the high kicker wins 2 out of every 3 times, but as the kickers get lower, the edge starts to disappear because of split pot possibilities.
Dominated with same low card
VS
The dominated hand has 5:2 odds at best if it's a suited connector vs. two unsuited cards without little chance of making a straight. Otherwise it's 2:1 in favor of the higher hand. If the low cards are really low (A3 vs. A2), there is a significant chance of a split pot.
Same ranks
VS
If it's suited vs. offsuit, the suited cards gain a slight edge due to the flush possibility but in any other case, it'll be 50:50.
This is all part of the fun of poker, deciding what hands to play and how strongly to bet on them. This is why I enjoy this game so much.
Hole Card Nicknames
Hole Card Nicknames
You would have previously seen me talk about "big slick", a nickname to describe Ace and King hole cards. Some other hole card combinations also have nicknames and here are some of the more common ones you might hear when you next play in a tournament or online:
| American Airlines Pocket Rockets |  Big Slick Anna Kournikova | Big Chick Little Slick |
| Ajax Blackjack | Johnny Moss | Cowboys King Kong |
| Royal Wedding | Kojak | Katie Big Al |
| Sigfried and Roy Two Ladies The Hilton sisters | Maverick | Quint |
| Hooks Jokers | JT | Dimes Tension |
Some other hole card nicknames you may also hear are:
- Ace and Eight – Dead Mans Hand
- King and Nine – Fido, Canine
- Queen and Three – San Francisco Busboy
- Jack and Five – Motown
- Jack and Four – Flat Tyre
- Ten and Nine – Countdown
- Ten and Five – Five and Dime
- Ten and Four – Convoy
- Nine and Nine – Popeye's, German Virgins
- Nine and Five – Dolly Parton
- Eight and Eight – Snowmen
- Seven and Seven – Sunset Strip
- Six and Nine – Big Lick
- Six and Six – Route 66, Cherries
- Five and Five – Nickels, Speed Limit
- Four and Four – Sailboats, Magnum
- Three and Three – Crabs, Treys
- Three and Two – Mississippi Slick
- Two and Two – Ducks
Pre-Flop and Flop Odds
One of the factors that helps determine if you want to play with your hole cards is the number of outs you have (ways you can make a winning hand). For this reason, some players may prefer to play Ten and Nine over say King and Queen because those hole cards have more outs than the King and Queen, though I would personally play the King and Queen over the Ten and Nine. Below are five hole card examples showing all of the available outs and before the flop odds for each of them:
If the flop contains:
- three Kings or three Queens => four of a kind (9799 to 1)
- two Kings and one Queen or two Queens and one King => full house (1087 to 1)
- Ace, Jack and Ten => straight (152 to 1)
- two Kings or two Queens => three of a kind (62 to 1)
- both a King and Queen => two pair (24 to 1).
- a King or a Queen => a pair (3 to 1)
If the flop contains:
- two Jacks => four of a kind (407 to 1)
- one Jack and any pair or any 3 of a kind => full house (101 to 1)
- Note - You cannot make a straight
- one Jack => three of a kind (8 to 1)
- any pair => two pair (5 to 1).
If the flop contains:
- three Tens or three Nines => four of a kind (9799 to 1)
- two Tens and one Nine or two Nines and one Ten => full house (1087 to 1)
- Jack, Eight and Seven or Queen, Jack and Eight or King, Queen and Jack or Eight, Seven and Six => straight (76 to 1)
- two Tens or two Nines => three of a kind (62 to 1)
- both a Ten and Nine => two pair (24 to 1).
- a Ten or Nine => a pair (3 to 1)
If the flop contains:
- three Sixes or three Fives => four of a kind (9799 to 1)
- two Sixes and one Five or two Fives and one Six => full house (1087 to 1)
- three cards of same suit as hole cards => flush (120 to 1)
- Eight, Seven and Four or Queen, Seven, Four and Three or Nine, Eight, and Seven or Four, Three and Two => straight (76 to 1)
- two Sixes or two Fives => three of a kind (62 to 1)
- both a Six and Five => two pair (24 to 1).
- a Six or Five => a pair (3 to 1)
If the flop contains:
- three Tens or three Fives => four of a kind (9799 to 1)
- two Tens and one Five or two Fives and one Ten => full house (1087 to 1)
- Note- You cannot make a straight
- two Tens or two Fives => three of a kind (62 to 1)
- both a Ten and Five => two pair (24 to 1).
- a Ten or Five => a pair (3 to 1)
So you can see, the many combinations of hole cards available give you many combinations of available outs. When your hole cards have more outs, your odds of making a stronger winning hand is increased and if you cards are suited, you will also have the option of playing for a flush which further increases your winning odds.
With that said, all of these odds change as each community card is displayed and you may need to re-evaluate your hand. Now let's take a look at an example of a round of Texas Holdem.
Texas Holdem Full Round Example
This post is going to go through an example round of Texas Hold'em and will hopefully illustrate the way things can change from one community card to the next. This example will not include any betting or bluffing, which is something I will talk about in later posts. This example game will contain four players.
The Flop
At this point, Bill is holding King trips and is looking very strong. Joe is holding the rags and although there is a chance he could make a few inside straights (6-7-x-x-10) or (4-x-6-7-x) or (x-4-x-6-7), it would be best for Joe to fold. Mark is holding ace high and 4 spades so he is sitting on a flush draw. Kim has four cards in a run and needs either a 9 or and Ace to make a straight.
The Turn
A jack on the turn made things very interesting. Bills hand has not improved but is still very strong. He may believe he has the best hand out there because he is holding trips with the highest card on the board. The Jack of Clubs does not help Mark with his flush draw and Kim has now a pair of Jacks as well as a chance of making a straight.
The River
The river brings joy to some and pain to others. Bill, while having three Kings no longer has the strongest hand, but there is a good chance he won't realise it (yet). Mark has made a flush with five spades and has the winning hand. He should know he has won this hand and should not try to show Kim or Bill the strength of his hand. If betting was involved in this hand, he should bet an amount he knows they can't resist calling or even better, re-raising. Kim has the potential to get hurt the most. Kim has made a straight and would feel very confident that they are holding the highest hand. Again, if betting was involved, Kim would most likely bet but if Kim bets too strong, Kim stands to lose a lot of chips or go out all together.
So, as you can see, Texas Holdem has many twists and turns and this is part of the attraction of the game. Mark, while he did not start with the strongest hand, ended up winning with the strongest hand, in this case, a 'nut flush'. I hope this helped understand how the game works without betting and bluffing. When you add in those elements, you are never quite sure who has what cards.
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