Understanding Hands in Texas Hold’em

Texas Hold’em, the most popular amongst poker, begins with 9-10 players placing the money in the pot before the beginning of the game, otherwise known as ‘blind’. After the ‘big blind’ and the ‘small blind’ are placed, each player is given two ‘hole cards’. The player on the left of the big blind can then either raise the bet or refrain from the game and it continues with the rest.

After the first round of betting, three community cards (those lying face down in the centre of the table) is revealed and the second round of betting continues amongst active players. This is followed by disclosing the fourth community card and another round of betting.

After the fifth community card is placed face up, and the final round of betting gets over, the players are requested to reveal their hole cards and they can use any combination of the hole card and the combination card to have the best hand. Then the ranking system of the game is applied and the winner of the pot gets declared.

Poker, a popular betting game of cards, has gained immense popularity over the years on account of the high stakes involved in its winning. It consists of a ‘hand’ of five cards. A ‘hand’ means the cards in the hands of the player or a game in which all the money that has been bet in a hand or ‘pot’ as it is called is won. The most popular game of poker is Texas Hold ‘Em. The game follows a specific ranking system that determines the winner of the game.

Ranking of hands

The ranking is plotted below in the order of it strength:

• Royal flush
  A straight flush in hand with ace as the highest is a royal flush. Eg: A,K,Q,J,T .
• Straight flush
  A straight flush, the second in ranking, consists of five cards of the same suit in a sequence. Example: 9,8,7,6,5 of the same suit.
• Four of a kind
  Four of a kind or quad consists of cards of the similar rank with the fifth of another rank. For example, if a person holds the tens of spade, hearts, clubs and diamonds, and the fifth is a Jack of hearts, it falls as a winning hand in the absence of royal flush or straight flush.
• Full house or full boat
  It composes of three of the same rank and two of another kind.
• Flush
  If the five cards are of the same suit, it is a flush. In the event of two flushes, the one with the higher card wins.
• Straight
  It is a ‘straight’ when the cards of various suits fall within the ranking order. Example: Cards A, K, Q, J, and T belonging to various suits.
• Three of a kind, two pairs, one pair, high card
  The next order of ranking is dependent on the number of similar ranking cards in your possession. If no one holds a pair, the holder of the highest ranking card turns out to be the winner.