Texas Hold Him
Basic Strategy:Tips : Position : Starting Hands : Bluffing : Betting : Money Management
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Your position at the poker table will often be more important than the cards that you are dealt... seriously. You will find that the outcome of every hand will be largely dependent on the position of each of the players at the table.
So, I think its pretty important that we learn about the importance of position before the next time we play a hand. You will never look at a hand in the same way again...
What is table position in Texas Hold'em?
If you take a close look at an online poker table, you will notice that the dealer button moves to the left after every hand. This allows for each player to put an equal amount of blinds into the pot as the game is played through each rotation of the dealer button. In addition to this, the dealer button changes the order of which players are going to act on each betting round.
If you are to the left of the button (i.e. in the blinds or just to the left of those), you will be one of the first players to act on the flop, turn and river, and there will be a number of players acting after you. Conversely, if you are on the button or just to the right of it, you will be one of the last players to act, as the majority of the other players at the table will have to make their plays before you.
Why is table position in Texas Hold'em important?
Table position is important because it is going to be incredibly useful to be able to act after our opponents. If we are the last to act on a hand, we can see whether our opponents have checked or bet before us, whereas we would not have this sort of information on our opponents if we were acting before them. The actions of our opponents is going to help us a lot, as it gives us a strong indication of the strength of their hand.
Texas Hold'em position example.
Lets say we are up against one opponent on the flop and we have not managed to improve our hand. If our opponent checks to us, we stand a good chance of being able to run a successful bluff, because we can infer from their check that they are weak by not wanting to bet out. However, if we were the first to act we would have no idea of whether they are strong or weak, because we have not had the opportunity to see what action they are going to take.
You really want to try and avoid playing hands from early position, that is unless your hand really is too good to fold.
That was a pretty basic example, but the theory can be applied to almost every situation in poker. So if you can see why position is important from this example alone, you have already come a long way in developing your game.
Playing hands depending on your position.
As a general rule:
You need a stronger hand to play out of position than you do when you are playing in position.
So basically, if you are going to be one of the first to act on each betting round, you will want to stick to playing premium hands like:
- AA
- KK
- AK
- AQ
- JJ
However, if you have good table position and you are going to be one of the last to act on each round, you can comfortably open up your starting hand range to include the following hands (along with the hands listed above, and assuming that there hasn't been too much action before you):
- AT
- KJ
- TT
- 99
This is all because of the fact that being out of position is going to be quite a big problem, and it is going to make the hand a lot more difficult to play. Therefore you will want to give yourself a much better opportunity to win the hand by only the playing better cards, and avoiding the ones that are likely to get you into trouble.
You can find out more about choosing the best starting hands in the starting hand strategy article, which should be your next stop on the strategy tour anyway.
General Texas Hold'em table position tips.
The big and small blind seats are horrible.
Don't be fooled by the blinds! You may be one of the last to act before the flop, but for every betting round after that, you will either always be first or second to act. So make sure that you stick to playing the best cards in these seats and throw away any marginal hands. You will want to look throw away the vast majority of your hands in these seats as they will lose you money more often than not.
The button is awesome.
The button is the best seat in the hand. If you are on the button, you can guarantee that you will be the last to act on every betting round after the flop. This doesn't mean that you should play anything and everything from the button, but you can really open up your starting hand requirements to get in on the action from such a great seat.
You should be playing a lot more hands from the button than you should from early position.
Middle position is okay.
Middle position is in the middle between the good and bad seats, funnily enough. When you are in middle position you will want to keep an eye on whether players have limped in or raised before you, because you could either end up being one of the first or last to act on each round depending on which players decide to see the flop. The less players acting after you, the better your position becomes.
Texas Hold'em position overview.
Every time you play a hand in Texas Hold'em (or any other poker variant for that matter), you should always take into consideration your position relative to the dealer button. You may well be surprised at how much of an influence your position at the table can have on the outcome of a hand, so don't just look at your cards the next time you decide whether or not to play your hand.
If you are familiar with the principles behind table position, you may want to take it up another level by having a look at the article on relative position.
Go back to the sublime Texas Hold'em guide.
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Hand Rank > FAQ : Quiz
Learning the rank of hands in Texas Hold'em is just as important as learning the rules themselves. Be sure to know what beats what, so you won't be surprised the next time that flush beats your straight. Check out the hand rank FAQ to help answer questions you might have about the ranking of hands in Texas Hold'em.
The hands are in order from top to bottom, decreasing in value as you move down.
Rank of hands.
#1 Royal flush.
An ace-high straight flush. It's just a straight flush really, but it's made with the 5 highest value cards.
A royal flush is the absolute best possible hand in the game of Texas Hold'em. You will rarely (if ever) see this hand.
#2 Straight flush.
5 cards of the same suit in sequential order. This is essentially the best hand in the game, only coming second to it's bigger brother; the royal flush.
#3 Four of a kind.
Four cards of the same value. Virtually a guaranteed winner.
Unfortunately you rarely really win as much money with it as you would like, as it's unlikely that other players in the pot will make a hand that they're happy to call lots of bets and raises with. Still, better than nothing!
#4 Full house.
Three of one and two of another. Or you could think of it as 3-of-a-kind + 2-pair. Also known as a 'boat'.
This is the most common out of the 'big hands' you will see in Texas Hold'em. You can win a nice chunk of money if another player ends up making a weaker hand like a flush or a straight.
If you think your opponent has a weaker full house than you, take advantage of Zeebo's theorem.
#5 Flush
Five cards of the same suit.
As long as there are no pairs on the board (e.g. 448JK or 27TAA), this will be the strongest type of hand anyone can make.
Beginner players love to chase flushes, and it usually results in losing money. Make sure you learn about pot odds before you chase your next flush.
Tip: If you're playing online, use the four colour deck feature. This turns the club cards green () and the diamonds blue (). So less chance of mistaking 4 diamonds and 1 heart as a flush.
#6 Straight.
Five cards in sequence.
This hand is beaten by a flush, so don't make the rookie mistake of over-valuing the straight when there are a number of cards of the same suit on the board. It is actually harder to make a flush than a straight.
#7 Three of a kind.
3 cards of the same value.
A 'set' is when you have 3 of a kind whilst holding a pocket pair. A set tends to be one of the most profitable hands in Texas Hold'em. It's handy to know the difference between sets and trips.
#8 Two pair.
Two pairs of course.
Don't make the mistake of thinking that this hand is stronger than 3 of a kind. It's actually easier to pick up two-pair than it is to get 3 of a kind.
#9 Pair.
Two cards of the same value. Almost like 'two of a kind' really.
A very common hand that can actually win a fair number of pots for you. Just be careful not to go overboard with this hand. The higher the pair the better.
#10 High card.
Texas Holdem Hands
Just the highest value card.
If two players have the same value high card, you look at the next highest card (and so on) to find the winner.
Texas Hold Em Surface
This is not really much of a hand, but occasionally the winner of the hand will be decided on who holds the card of highest value. Don't expect to win any big pots with this one. It's usually there to determine the winner as a last resort.
Texas Hold Em Cheat Sheet
Go back to the interesting Texas Hold'em articles.