1. Texas Holdem Winning Hand Order
2. Winning Hands In Texas Holdem Poker

Jan 21, 2009  Don't worry - you're not the only one who can get a bit confused trying to determine the winning poker hand! It's such a common problem, in fact, we built the ultimate tool for beginner players to figure out winning hands in all scenarios. A hand of poker can be won in two ways: either by betting and forcing your opponents to fold or by having the best poker hand at showdown. Poker hands consist of the best five-card hand made up from any combination of the cards you are dealt and the community cards.

• Poker Hands Recommends These Texas Holdem Downloads
• Variations of Texas Holdem Poker
• Rules of Texas Holdem
  • The Poker Hands Showdown
• Texas Holdem POKER GAMES and RULES
• Stud Poker Games

Texas Holdem Poker Games, Rules, Hands, History, & Downloads

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Texas Holdem Poker, also known as Texas Hold ‘em belongs to the family of poker card games whose origination is speculated to be dated back to 1900.

The game used to be called as hold ‘em. Texas holdem grew in popularity, gradually, and the release of Doyle Brunson’s ground-breaking poker strategy guide, Super/System in 1978 played a major role in popularizing Texas Holdem to wider range of card players. Texas Holdem was introduced to the European card players in the early 1980s.

Today Texas Holdem is one of the most popular forms of Poker. Its popularity has increased ten fold in the 20^th century due to the extensive television coverage and the internet exposure. The simplicity and popularity of Texas Holdem inspired publication of a large variety of books, sharing tips and tricks to playing Texas Holdem.

Variations of Texas Holdem Poker

There are three most common variations of Texas Holdem Poker namely; Limit Holdem, No Limit Holdem, and Pot Limit Holdem. The Holdem rules remain the same for all of them and there is just a little bit of variation involved.

Limit Texas Holdem –

The bets and raises in the Limit Texas Holdem game must remain the same as the big blind. In further rounds, the bets and raises must be twice the amount of the big blind, called the big bet.

No Limit Holdem –

In No Limit Holdem, players can bet and raise any amount over the minimum raise. The raising can continue until all the chips the player has are “all in” or fully bet. The minimum raise here is equal to the size of the previous raise.

Pot Limit Holdem –

The maximum raise in Pot Limit Holdem is the current size of the Pot, including the amount needed to call. The minimum bet is same as the size of the big blind.

Texas Holdem The Most Popular Poker Game on the Planet What is your lucky Suit? Diamonds, Clubs, Spades or Hearts? Photo Copyright: 123rf.com/profile_mictoon

Rules of Texas Holdem

Every player playing Texas Holdem is dealt two, face-down, cards these cards are called “hole cards”. Depending on a player’s hole cards, each player can play his or her hand by raising the big blind. The big blind is usually twice the size of the small blind, but, it can be larger depending on the stakes at hand. A player can typically perform five actions in Texas Holdem; check, call, bet, raise or fold; the exact options available to the players depends upon the action of the previous player.

The Texas Holdem Pre Flop

After receiving the ‘hole cards’ or starting hand, the players can either ‘check’, if no one has made a bet, or ‘bet’. To check means a player has declined to bet but he or she can keep his or her cards. In a round of betting, a player can call, raise or fold. To call is to match the bet amount of the previous player, to raise is to increase the bet amount of the previous player, on the other hand, to fold is to discard the cards and give up your interest in the pot. A round of betting continues until every player has folded, called or raised his poker hand.

The Texas Holdem Flop

After the Pre Flop round, if there is at least two players taking part in the hand, The Flop is dealt, three cards, face up on the board. The Flop is dealt when all the betting has been finished. In Texas Holdem, the three flop cards are community cards that are available to all the players in hand. The betting option in the flop is similar to that of Pre Flop.

Fourth and Fifth Street Poker Cards

After the Flop round, one more community card, called the Turn or Fourth Street is dealt. It is then followed by a third betting round. After the third betting round, the final community card, called the River of Fifth Street is dealt. This is followed by a fourth and the final betting round.

The Poker Hands Showdown

In case two or more players remain after the final betting round, a showdown occurs. Each player plays the best Poker Hand they can make from the seven cards they have on a showdown. A player can use both, one or none off his or her hole cards.

If the best poker hand is shared by more than one player, the pot is equally split among them. The best hand must be carefully determined from all the poker hands still remaining. In Texas Holdem, only the card’s numerical value is of sole importance.

Texas Holdem Poker Hands Order

In Texas Holdem poker, players competing against each other compare five card hands to determine the winner. For example a four of a kind is better than a full house and so on. We have made a list of the best to worst hands. If your hand is not on the list, probably you have been wiped out. But hey, try again!

• Royal Flush – An Ace high straight of any one suit.
• Straight Flush – Five cards straight in a sequence from any one suit.
• Four of a Kind – Four cards of the same rank.
• Full House – Three cards within the same rank and the other two cards within the same rank.
• Flush – Five cards of the same suit, not necessarily in order.
• Straight – Five cards in a sequential rank, belonging to any suit.
• Three of a Kind – Three cards of different suits but the same rank. Known as trips
• Two of a Kind – Two pair of cards from different suit with the same rank. Known as Two Pair

Fun Fact History About Texas Holdem Poker

The game dates back to 1900 and its birthplace is somewhere in Texas, obviously! It is definitely not easy to determine where exactly the first round of the Texas Holdem Poker was played.

The Texas State Legislature has passed a resolution declaring the city of Robstown as the birthplace of Texas Holdem Poker. This legislature was passed in May 2007.

Today, Texas Holdem Poker is one of the most widely played variant of poker, played extensively in casino and online by a wide number of enthusiastic audience.

History of Texas Holdem Poker

Poker is one of the oldest games that is still enjoyed widely today. In fact, it is one of the most popular non-computer games in the United States as well as abroad. Whether in a casino setting or at a friend’s house, poker has always been a crowd favorite due to the intense skill involved if a player is seeking to dominate his or her opponents.

This is most apparent in professional league poker, where players go beyond the simplicity of the card game and into complex strategies, sometimes even going so far as to attempt to psych out the other contenders at the table. When money is on the line, things can get QUITE intense.

Modern poker is speculated to have dated back at least 1,000 years and to have been played throughout many different cultures.

The game is believed to have descended from a domino-style card game which was enjoyed by the emperor of China in the 10th century AD. Some also believe that the Persian card game “As Nas” is responsible for bringing poker into the forefront of gaming evolution.

Either way, the game was played in many different variations until the European game of “Poque,” or “Pochen” in German, gained sweeping popularity throughout France and Germany, and slowly further and further abroad.

The game of poker first made its appearance in the North American continent in the early 18th century when French colonials imported the game westward to “New France,” otherwise known as modern-day Canada. It was referred to in early memoirs as the “cheating game,” being played by bored seamen aboard steamboats traveling the Mississippi River. As settlers moved further and further west, during the “Wild Western” period in the United States, poker became a crowd favorite at saloons.

In fact, almost every populated area had a gambling community which would meet at local pubs. This perpetually created an atmosphere where word spread of this game of skill. Now, nearly everyone has played poker at some point.

Poker in its various forms has been around for hundreds or thousands of years depending on how you would define poker. Five card draw, seven card stud, texas hold’em, omaha style, and more are all commonly played versions of this entertaining card game.

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Texas Holdem POKER GAMES and RULES

The aim of poker rules is to give an idea of how the poker game is played. Rules shall be given for the following games: Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Irish poker, Draw, Stud, Badugi, 8 game and Razz.

TEXAS HOLD’EM

It is probably the most populous and best game variation of poker. It uses a standard 52- card deck that is shuffled before every hand. The aim of the game is to win the hand and have the best hand at showdown.

Holdem Poker Hand Rules

In this game, a dealer button help determines the two players to post blinds. The two players, usually to the left of the dealer button, are forced to bet blind (small blind and big blind) before seeing their card.

The position immediately to the left of the dealer is called the small blind because he is to bet one-half of the minimum bet, and the position to the left of the small bind is called the big blind because he is to bet the normal minimum bet (full bet).

For an example, a game that is being played at a minimum of $4 will see the player at the small bind put out $2 while the big blind will put out $4. The blinds were introduced for money to be in each pot, thereby serving as an incentive for players to get involved.

After the blind bets, each player starting with the small blind, is dealt with two cards facedown. The round of betting begins and the player to the left of the big blind is to act first.

The players have the option of folding, calling the big blind or raising the bet. If the big blind is not raised by any player, the big blind may decide to raise the bet. After this first round of betting, the dealer then deals the flop(three community cards face up) before the second round of betting begins, but now it starts with the small blind and end with the button.

After the bet, the dealer deals the turn (fourth community card face up) and a third round of betting occurs and once all players have acted on the turn, the dealer then puts out the river (fifth community card face up) and thereafter the final round of betting.

In the showdown which determines the winner, the remaining players on the hand are to show their best five cards, with the best hand being the winner. However, if there is a tie, the pot will be split evenly for the process to start again.

The three variants of texas hold’em which is based on the betting rules are Limit hold ’em, Pot Limit and No-Limit hold ’em.

In Limit hold’em, the bet can only be raised by the amount of the big blind.

In Pot-Limit, the maximum bet can only be raised based on how much is in the current pot at the time of making the bet.

In No Limit hold ’em, the bet can be raised from the minimum amount up to the maximum amount of chips that the players have in front of them. It is the most popular of the three of them.

Omaha Holdem Poker and Rules

Omaha hold ’em, a family of community card game is the second most played game after Texas hold’em. The play and betting method of Omaha is quite similar to that of Texas hold’em, however, the glaring difference between them is that players of Omaha are dealt four cards each against two cards in Texas hold’em.

The rule similar to that of Texas hold’em is that after the players are dealt four cards each, there is a first round of betting and then a deal of flop (three community cards face up) by the dealer; a second round of betting before a deal of the turn (four community card face up); a third round of betting, followed by the deal of five community card face up (river) and then the final round of betting.

At showdown, each of the players must only use their two hole cards with three of their community cards to make their hand (best five-card).

It also has a popular variant called Omaha Hi-Lo/8. It is quite similar to Omaha only that the pot is shared similarly between two winners (one with highest and lowest hand respectively).

To be eligible to win the lowest hand, none of the players’ five cards can be greater than 8. If no player is qualified to win the lowest pot, the player with the highest wins the whole pot.

Irish Poker and Game Rules

Irish poker is a combination of Texas Hold’em and Omaha Poker. The players are dealt four cards as in the Omaha case, but must discard two cards after the flop betting round, thereby leaving the remainder of play similar to the standard Texas Hold’em.

The rule is thus: in the preflop similar to Omaha standard hand, the two players to the left of the dealer button must post blind bets (small blind and big blind) respectively before all the players are dealt with four cards each.

The first round betting begins with the player that is left to the big blind and continues round the table. The players are to fold, limp or raise as the bet moves round; if no action is taken before it gets to the big blind, he is entitled to check.

After the betting round, the dealer deals three community cards face up (flop) as in Texas Hold’em or Omaha. At the end of the second round of betting, the active players must discard two cards from their four. After this, the game is played similarly like Texas Hold’em hand through the “turn” and “river”.

In the showdown, the active players are to show their best hand, comprising of the two hole cards and three community cards. The player with the highest hand is awarded the pot.

There is also a variant of Irish Poker known as Irish Hold’em. Irish Hold’em, players play with three hole cards after one is discarded after the flop deal.

Draw Poker Game Rules

Also known as five Card Draw, it has been played for a long time and was known best until the rise of the Texas Hold’em. It can be played in two ways: ante(the traditional way) and blind(similar to Texas Hold’em). The aim of the game is to make the best hand of five cards at showdown.

After the deal where the players are dealt five hole cards, the first round of betting begins. If the game is played with antes, the betting starts with the player to the left of the dealer and if it blind, the betting will start with the player to the left of the big blind(similar to Hold’em). After the first round of betting, which the players have options to fold, call or raise the bet, there is a draw.

The draw allows each of the active players starting from the dealer’s left to freely discard the cards he so wishes to discard and then replace them from the undealt pack of cards. However, a player may decide to “stand pat”, that is desisting from discarding any of the five cards. A second betting interval follows suit before the showdown. Just like the previous games, the player with the best five-card hand wins the pot.

Stud Poker Games

There are two forms namely five card stud and seven card stud.

In the Game of Five Card Stud

Each of the players receive two cards, with one being face down (the hole card) and the other face up. The first round of betting begins with the player having the highest face-up card. If the game is played without an ante, the player with the highest face-up card opens with a minimum bet.

At the end of the betting round, the dealer deals one face-up card to the players before another round of betting. Two other rounds of dealing follows where each player receives one card face-up, with a betting interval at the end of the rounds.

In each of the betting intervals, the first bettor is the player who currently has the best hand. At the showdown, which is after the fourth deal and last betting interval, the active players show their cards and the best high hand wins.

In Seven Card Stud

The players are dealt with seven cards throughout the course of the game, however, the five best–card poker determines the winner.

After the deal where the players are dealt two hole cards and one face-up cards each, the betting begins with a compulsory bet called “bring in” by the player showing the lowest card.

After the first round of betting, each of the players receives a face-up card called “Fourth Street” and then followed by another round of betting. This time, the player to act first is the one with the highest poker value.

The same process is repeated for two other face-up card deals (Fifth Street and Sixth street) and at the final card called “Seventh Street”, each player is dealt one face-down card, so that each of the players now four exposed cards(face-up) and three hidden cards(face-down).

At the showdown which is after the final betting round, the player with the best poker hand of five cards claims the pot.

It also has a variant called Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo or Stud Eight or Stud/8. In this game, there are two winners in each hand, one for having the best high poker hand and the other for holding the best low poker, provided his hand is not higher than eight.

Badugi Poker Game

Badugi is a Japanese poker game that is similar lowball games in nature and in play and betting action, it is similar to triple draw.

It requires a small blind and big blind, four betting rounds and also a standard 52-card deck shuffled before every hand like other poker games. However, the hand ranking system which is made up of four pocket cards makes it different from others.

The rule of Badugi is thus: as a blind game, Badugi is played using mandatory bets, where the player to the left of the dealer button post a small blind, and the player sitting left to the small blind puts the big blind.

Each player starting from the left of the dealer is dealt four cards each and as well, the round of betting begins with the player to the left of the big blind acting first.

Once the betting is completed, there is a draw where the players have the option of discarding any number of his cards and replace with new ones.

However, a player may decide to “stand pat”, that is desisting from discarding any of the four cards. The second round of betting begins with the player to the dealer’s left, then another draw. A showdown where the player with the best hand wins the pot occurs after the third round of draw and final betting interval. The winner is the player with the lowest card.

8 Game A combination of Texas Holdem Poker Games

The 8 Game is called Thorseha and consist of eight individual games of three variants. The Holdem variants are Limit Omaha Hi-Lo, Pot Limit Omaha Hi, Limit Holdem, and No Limit Holdem; the Stud variants are 7 Card Stud Limit, Razz, and Stud Hi-Lo; while the Holdem Blocks variant is 2-7 Triple Draw.

Since the game is made of eight individual games, the rules of 8-Game Poker relies on the rules of each of the game that is being played. It therefore means that 8 Games Poker actually has eight sets of rules.

The game is normally played with six players at the table and each of the game is played for six hands. After the game is played from the first to the last, it resumes with 2-7 Triple Draw and so on.

One strong strategy in 8 Game is that since not every player is particularly good in all the poker games, you take the advantage of the games you are strong at.

For instance, if you have a great Limit Omaha Hi-Lo strategy, but usually don’t do so very well in other games, a great strategy is you playing more aggressively during your mastered games. Get used to playing all kinds of poker games before mastering this.

Razz

Texas Holdem Winning Hand Order

Razz is known as a “low” game, which means players are to make the lowest or worst hand in order to win the pot. The game is almost similar to 7 Card Stud but differs in the player to start the betting action, the player to start action on each street, and also in how to decide the winning hand at showdown.

After the deal where the players are dealt two hole cards and one face-up cards each, the “bring in” which is the compulsory bet is done by the player showing the highest card unlike 7 Card Stud, where the player with the lowest card does the “bring in”.

After the first round of betting, each of the players receives a face-up card called “Fourth Street” and then followed by another round of betting. This time, the player to act first is the one with the lowest poker value.

The same process is repeated for two other face-up card deals (Fifth Street and Sixth street) and at the final card called “Seventh Street”, each player is dealt one face-down card. At the showdown which is after the final betting round, the player with the best Razz hand or lowest cards claims the pot.

Texas Holdem Conclusion:

Will poker ever lose its worldwide popularity? Doubtful. Since its humble beginnings, the game of poker has increased in its range of influence exponentially. Even in this modern technological age, online poker games attract the attention of new generations of gamers worldwide willing to put money on the line.

Winning Hands In Texas Holdem Poker

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One of the best ways to become a successful Texas Hold’em player is to know which starting hands to play and which to fold. In this blog, we bring you the best starting hands in Texas Holdem poker to help you improve your game. It is to be noted that there is some disagreement over which hands are the best, but it all depends on your skill level and style of play. Also, it should be kept in mind that even a great texas holdem starting hand is likely to turn bad quickly after wrong community cards fall on the board.

Mentioned below are best starting hands in Texas holdem trusted by most poker players widely across the world:

1. Ace-Ace
This is the best starting hand in hold’em poker and can be played from any position-early, middle and late positions. Also known as “Pocket Rockets”, “Bullets” or sometimes “American Airlines”) is the best starting hand for Texas Holdem. Pocket aces are a strong pre-flop favourite over any other two cards, and they are 4:1 favourite over almost any hand in poker. You will be dealt pocket aces once every 221 hands. Though Aces win more than 80%, they are likely to lose against the better one sometimes.

2. King-King
This is the 2nd-best hold’em hand and will win you some big pots. Pocket kings, also known as “cowboys” or “King Kong” are a favourite against any hand except aces. Kings have roughly 70% equity versus any ace. You should be happy to get your money in preflop with pocket kings in poker.

3. Queen-Queen
Two queens, or “ladies” are a very good hand in poker. Yeah, kings and aces will beat you, but you will always have an upper hand over jacks, tens and below cards. While these hands are a great strength pre-flop but they are very difficult to play post-flop especially when some overcards hit the board.

4. Ace-King (suited)
Ace-King is again a premium hand in Texas Holdem. It is one of the strongest drawing hands though, the flop needs to work for you to give you a pair of aces or kings. Ace-King Suited is slightly stronger than unsuited, as you get a chance to hit the nut flush much more easily. It is the strongest unpaired holding and even against KK and holds 34% equity in Texas Holdem. Also known as “big slick,” or “Anna Kournikova”, it is a favourite as the fourth best-starting hand for Texas Hold ’em players and wins against all pocket pairs half of the time except for the pocket aces and pocket kings.

5. Jack-Jack
Also known as “hooks” or “fishhooks”, is again one of the best starting hands in poker. JJ versus AA-QQ and AK-AQs is about 38% underdog. Generally, you will win almost 20% of the time with this hand. If the flop shows a queen, king, or ace, be careful, but otherwise, it is a winning hand for you.

It is a coin-flip (50:50) against any unpaired hand and a strong pre-flop favourite over any lower pocket pair. It is good if the pot is unraised and you hold jacks in the late-position, though you should be a little more careful especially when an opponent has raised the pot from an early position.

6. 10-10
As favourite as pocket Jacks for some players, pocket tens (aka “dimes”) are a strong starting hand in Texas Holdem poker. You don’t need another 10 on the flop and you can still win with tens. However, if there has been lots of action before you, it is sometimes better to fold pocket tens before the flop. Some poker players believe that a suited king-jack is a much stronger starting hand than Jacks. Pocket tens are highly strong vs two random cards, yet it is very difficult to play just like pocket Jacks.

7. Ace-Queen (suited)
Also known as “big chick,” or “little slick,” it is again one of the best starting hands. For many players, it is better than Jacks and Tens and they always keep it above J-J and 10-10 in their rating list. For many, Ace-queen is the second best drawing hand, and when suited, it will win over 20% of the time. Although it is one of the best hands, sometimes you will need to fold even when you hit a pair on the flop. However, if you completely miss out the flop, it is always better to stay out of trouble with it.

8. Ace-Jack
Like ace-king or ace-queen, if it is suited, this hand can give you a royal flush. However, it is one that is worth playing more carefully, especially when your opponent has raised 3 bets from early position. Any ace-king or ace-queen combination will beat if you pair your Ace, so don’t fall in love with your ace-jack. Generally, it is a good hand and will win about 18% in combination with five up cards.

9. Ace-Ten
Ace-ten is still a good hand, as you have got the high card Ace. This can make a straight if the miracle J-Q-K falls on the board. But be careful while playing it too strong, especially if it is unsuited. Generally, it is a good hand with over 17% winning percentage in combination with five up cards.

10. King-Jack/ Queen-Jack

King-jack, especially in later positions, is a good starting hand to play but can be beaten by any of the bigger hands listed above. If somebody raises big before, it is better to fold. Equity-wise, King-Jack suited it will win more than 19% of the time, but the winning percentage for unsuited drops to 15%. So far Queen-Jacks, it will win over 17% in combination with five cards up on the board. While these are profitable starting hands, they need to be played with caution especially when you face big bets.

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