A critical skill for the beginning Texas Hold'em player is the ability to read the board. This means being able to look at the community cards on the table and calculate the strongest possible hands.
In a loose, multiway Holdem pot, several opponents may still be drawing. Look for possible straights, flushes and full houses before you decide how strong your own hand is. The examples below show how the strongest possible hand can change from one street to the next.
Some Board Reading Tips
- In order for quads or a full house to be possible there must be a pair on the board.
- In order for a flush or straight flush to be possible there must be at least three cards of the same suit on the board.
- If the board is unpaired at the end there is usually one or more straights possible. In a low limit game you should train yourself to look for straight possibilities especially when a passive opponent suddenly wakes up on the turn or river with a raise.
These tips will help you determine quickly the highest possible hand at the moment (the nuts).
A Sample Flop
With this flop the highest possible hand (called "the nuts") is
The second, third and fourth highest hands would be
After that, two pair and then aces with large kickers.
Suppose the board after the turn looks like this:
Now the highest hand is a straight flush
and the second highest hand is four of a kind
On the river
Now a higher straight flush is possible
Of course it is often not necessary to have the absolute nuts to win a hand. In the above example (depending on the betting) a hand that contained a single king of diamonds would give you the nut flush which could easily win this hand, and someone with pocket aces shouldn't hesitate to bet and raise (and re-raise!) with their hands on this board. The point is to know what hands are possible so you aren't trapped in a raising war thinking you have the nuts when you don't.
Trap: Single Card Straight Flushes
The most common example of this is a board like the following:
Someone holding a hand like
might raise indefinitely on every betting round only to find out that someone holding
has beaten them on the end with a straight flush. Especially when there are four of a suit on the board, consciously look for a single card straight flush possibility when you hold an Ace of that suit!
Trap: The Beaten Boat
Suppose the following flop is dealt...
when you hold...
Chances are that right now you have the best hand. If you bet on the flop and are raised or re-raised you are still probably safe for the moment as other people holding a jack or any overpair (correctly) raise you. However if the final board looks like this:
There is a much greater chance that you are beaten by a higher full house. Although you should call a bet with your 44 you probably do not want to get into a raising war at this point (as many people at a low limit hold'em table will do).
Try it: find the nuts
The nuts means the strongest possible hand at this point in the deal. These are five separate Holdem questions, not five opponents in one hand. Use the board and any hole cards stated in the question. Try an answer, then open the explanation; you can leave several answers open to compare them.
1. A paired board: full house or better?
This is the final board. Which two hole cards make the nuts?
Reveal answer 1: the paired board
Four kings, with an eight kicker. K♥ K♠ join the two kings on the board. A king and an eight in your hand would make kings full of eights, but that full house loses to four kings. Four eights are also possible, but four kings beat them.
Common trap: calling a full house the nuts just because the board has two pairs.
2. Three hearts: how high can a flush go?
Which two hole cards make the best possible hand on this final board?
Reveal answer 2: three hearts
A royal flush: A♥ K♥ Q♥ J♥ T♥. Holding 9♥ 8♥ would give you an ordinary ace-high flush, which loses to this straight flush.
Common trap: overlooking a straight flush because you already see an ace-high flush. Also, one heart in your hand is not enough here: three board hearts plus one hole-card heart make only four hearts.
3. Four spades: is an ace enough?
Find the nuts on this final board. Could a player holding A♠ K♠ still lose?
Reveal answer 3: four spades
A ten-high straight flush: 6♠ 7♠ 8♠ 9♠ T♠. A♠ K♠ makes an ace-high flush but loses to the straight flush. All of those private cards are different, so the two hands could legally oppose one another.
Common trap: assuming the ace of the board's suit guarantees the best hand. Check the connected ranks as well as the suit.
4. The nuts on the turn: still the nuts on the river?
You hold 7♣ 8♦. First find the nuts on the turn, then check again after the river card is dealt.
Reveal answer 4: turn to river
Turn: your eight-high straight is the nuts (4-5-6-7-8). River: the nuts becomes a nine-high straight (5-6-7-8-9), possible for an opponent holding 8♣ 9♦.
Your 7♣ 8♦ still makes an eight-high straight, but it no longer makes the strongest possible hand. The opponent's cards do not overlap yours or the board.
Common trap: keeping the same hand label in your head after a new board card changes what opponents can make.
5. Which full house wins?
You hold Q♥ 7♦ on this final board. Find the strongest hand an opponent can have, taking your known cards into account.
Reveal answer 5: compare the full houses
Aces full of queens beats your queens full of sevens. The opponent uses A♥ A♠ A♣ Q♣ Q♦. You use Q♣ Q♦ Q♥ 7♠ 7♦.
Compare the three-of-a-kind part first: three aces beat three queens, regardless of the pair. You account for three queens, so an opponent cannot have the two hole-card queens needed for four queens. With your Q♥ known, a pair of aces makes the best possible opposing hand.
Common trap: comparing just the pair, or forgetting that a card in your hand cannot also be in an opponent's hand.
Your next decision
Know the board. Then price your draw.
Once you know which hands are possible, count the cards that can improve your hand without giving an opponent a stronger one. Compare your chance of improving with the price of continuing; in a multiway limit pot, allow for further bets or raises.
Next: draw-completion odds