Getting Started - Hand Selection

What is a good starting hand? Without getting into more advanced topics like your position relative to the dealer button, your chip stack and what other players at your table have done and might do…beginners just need to decide to (A) fold, (B) call or (C) raise (trust me, this will save you a lot of grief).
So what hands should you fold? Without giving you a list (many books do) the general idea is to fold two small cards like 3 5 or 2 7, fold any middle cards mixed with small cards that are unsuited like a 9 3 or an 8 4; and also fold high cards that are dragged down by a small card (a large gap kills the chance of getting a straight) and are unsuited like a J 4 or K 6 (even an A 3 can be a week hand since another player with an Ace who pairs a community card Ace will bet big and usually the best kicker gets the pot).
What is a good starting hand that is worth calling the big blind? Again, without prescribing a list, you want larger cards that are “connected” with a small gap so a straight is more likely, you want suited cards so a flush is more likely, and of course big cards so your pairs, two pair, straights, flushes and full houses are winners. Try to call the big blind with hands like a 5 6 suited, A 10 or K J unsuited, and pairs 2 2 to 7 7 (some people will go all in with 5 5 so remember these are for beginners to stay conservative and learn to play better by surviving not gambling).
What is a good hand worth raising? These are the hands where your heart goes boom and the adrenaline starts pumping – the middle and high suited connectors like 9 7 diamonds and K Q spades, and the big pairs like 9 9 or K K. The best starting hand…you guessed it the pocket Aces.
Folding pocket Aces? Yes, this happened to me in a small $60 tournament last weekend. I was dealt AA and a few players called the $100 Big Blind I bet 3 times the BB and announced “make it $300”. With a table of seven players there were three callers including the two blinds. Well, now I am not happy because I would rather have had some isolation down to just one player…the odds just went up that a worse hand (three players without AA against me) will get lucky. So the flop looks ok, a pair that can get scary, it was J 6 6 and guess what the first player does…yep, she says All in. Then the 2nd player calls and the 3rd player calls! I bail and get ready to spit like a cobra if an Ace comes out…It turns out she had QQ and now has two pair, next guy has two cards and is just gambling, while the 3rd guy had a 6 and has three or kind and starts celebrating…too early. The turn helps no one and then bam the river is another Q so the new chip leader got there by luck not by the best starting two cards.

Getting Started - Hand Ranks and Ties (Part 2 Ties)

Can there be a tie? Yes, it happens somewhat frequently, and the money in the pot is just split. Usually the players have either the same two hole cards, or the community cards are so strong that your non-pairing "kicker" card does not count. For example, the community cards or "the board" has a 2 Q 4 5 3 (with no three cards of the same suit) so anyone with an Ace would tie (having a 5 high straight). Can everyone remaining in the hand tie? Yes, when the board has that rare straight, or a flush, even a four of a kind. In many cases ties are broken by your kicker as follows: High Card, Pairs, Two pair, and Trip’s all use less than five cards and are often decided by kickers like “Ace High” may be held by more than one player but the player with AK will have the best five cards over weaker kickers.
Larger hands like Straights are commonly split because you need five cards to make one, kickers never count, and you can only beat a 7 high straight with a 8 high – they are different hands. Here’s a fun one: Flushes are battled by your held cards rank (like war) and are only split if the community five cards are all higher than the players cards of that suit. Examples are community cards are a flush of hearts and you and player two each have no hearts, and second case would be the board has four high hearts like A Q J 9 and you have only a 4 of hearts you lose to a player with a 5, 6, 7 or 8 of hearts (8h ). Another variation is the special hand a straight flush, which beats all flushes even if it is made by small cards like the 2 3 4 5 6 of diamonds. Full Houses are not tied if either your triple is biggest, or your triple is the same (using community cards) and your pair is bigger. For example AAA99 beats KKKQQ, and a 77722 loses to a 777JJ. Four of a kind is determined by the best kicker (if the board makes the four then go all in if you have an Ace). And lastly the best Straight Flush is the highest card like comparing straights, so a 9 high straight flush beats an 8 high straight flush (this can happen when the board has 5 6 7 8 of one suit and one player gets the 4 while the lucky player gets the 9). The bottom line is, if you have the best hand and someone bets huge, don’t get nervous just call and split the pot if you tie, or better yet rake it in if they miss-judged your hand.

Getting Started - Hand Ranks and Ties

So you have watched Texas Hold 'em on TV, bought a book, read the basic rules or maybe even played a few games with friends. But, you can't win any money until you can make quick decisions during the game based on the Community cards you can see and the way others are betting. The key to doing this is to figure out the answer to these two questions "What is the best hand possible with the cards showing?" and secondly "Do I have the best hand?" Basically you need to learn the hand ranks, what is highest, what beats what. So study it, print it out, know it. See my blog entry here before reading on....

Later we will learn more about sensing a bluff, or detecting a small value bet (where another player is just testing whether others have a strong hand and hoping to get you fold), but for now let's assume you are in a friendly home game with beginners and flop three cards are a 7 J 9 all different suits and one player bets big, say he/she matches the pot or goes all in. If you have a Jack and a 5 should you call? Here's you quick analysis: Hands that could beat me (two cards other players have you can't see) are QQ, KK and AA all are bigger pairs; any Jx with a Jack and a bigger card than your 5 is also a stronger pair to battle for best five cards; plus J9 and J7 would give someone two pair; plus 77, 99 and JJ kill you with three of a kind (also called "trip's"); and did you figure out the best two cards...a ten and an eight (T8) would make a straight. So the answer is… Fold your cards...most likely someone has a QQ and was happy not to see a King or an Ace on the flop. You will see many people not do this mental reality check, hang in to the river and lose a lot of money just 'hoping' they get lucky when 15 hands can beat them. Next time I’ll tell you about ties and how they are either broken or real ties that share the pot.

Getting Started - Learn the Rules

So you have heard about poker from friends or seen it on television and now you have an interest in this great game. So, you first need to learn how to play, just like any other game. This blog will be dedicated to my favorite version called Texas Hold 'em (the game used in the World Series of Poker). Unlike Draw poker where players can choose to get (draw) replacement cards from their original deal, or Stud poker where other players can see some of your cards turned face up, Texas Hold 'em uses community cards that are shared by all players and only 2 cards face down for each player to determine the best hand. Also, to create action there are “blinds” paid by the 2 players left of the dealer (one “small blind” and one “big blind” that is usually twice the small blind) because they add money to the pot “blind” – before they even see their two hole cards.
So the play goes like this: Dealer gives 2 cards to each player face down, players peek at their cards and round 1 betting starts left of the big blind until all players are in for the same bet or folded. Next the dealer burns a card and deals the “flop” 3 community cards face up followed by a 2nd round of betting starting with player left of the dealer. Next the dealer burns a card and deals the “turn” single card face up followed by a 3rd round of betting starting with player left of the dealer. Finally, the dealer burns a card and deals the “river” single and last card face up followed by a 4th round of betting starting with player left of the dealer. If more than one player remains then the showdown (turning cards over) reveals the winner of the pot based on the best 5 cards. The best two hole or “pocket” cards does not always win. Betting can have pre-agreed limits (Limit Poker) or you can agree there is none (No Limit Poker) where your life can hinge on one “All In” bet. Next time I’ll discuss hand rankings (what determines the best hand) and then I will give you tips on breaking ties and split pots for equal hands.
(a good reference is The Little Black Book of Poker by John Hartley)