| Holdem poker is a great game to play once you understand how to play it; the objective of the game is to win the money in the pot by creating a high poker hand that will beat your opponents. To play poker successfully you must first understand the Holdem poker hands. In Texas Holdem a poker hand is made up of five cards, you may use any of the cards on the table (the community cards) and the cards dealt to you, you have seven cards to choose from in order to create a five card hand. In some cases the cards dealt out on to the table might make up the highest hand. In this case the pot is shared out amongst the remaining players. There are 9 possible different hands you can make. Before reading about the Texas Holdem poker hands you should understand the following terms:
Flush - A flush is when all of the cards are of the same suit.
Straight - This is when the cards are running in a straight numerical order. E.g. 3,4,5,6,7 or 8,9,10,J,Q Now for the Texas Holdem poker hands, they are listed in order from the best to worst. 1: A Royal Flush.
The Royal flush is the top ranking poker hand, this is the one dreams are made of and it is unbeatable. A royal flush must consist of a 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace, all of the same suit. It is both a straight and a flush. 2: A straight flush.
Just underneath the royal flush is a straight flush, once again the cards must all be of the same suit and in a running order, the highest straight flush you can get is a king straight, this consists of a 9, 10, Jack , Queen and King. 3: Four of a kind.
Four cards of the same face value and any other card make up this hand. If more than one player has the Four of a kind the winner is the one holding the highest value cards, as always aces are high cards. 4: Full house.
The full house uses all five cards and is made up of any three cards of the same face value plus another 2 cards of the same value. An example of this would be K,K,K,4,4 which would beat Q,Q,Q,A,A because the first three cards are higher. 5: A flush.
Any five cards that are not in a running order but of the same suit make up a flush hand. If one or more players have a flush the winner is the player holding the highest flush card. 6: A straight.
Five cards made up of a combination of different suits which are still in a running order, the player holding the highest straight would win in a tie situation. 7: Three of a kind.
Three cards of the same face value make up this hand, and the player with the highest cards wins. If two player are holding the same hand it is decided by the next highest card held 8: Two pairs.
Any two pairs of cards of the value, for example a pair of Queens and a pair of fives. The highest pair usually decides the winner but if two players are holding the same pairs the next highest card is called in to play. 9: One pair
A set of two cards of the same value make up a pair of cards. If two players are holding the same pairs the pot is either split or decided by who is holding the next highest card. 10: High card.
Finally if none of the other Holdem poker hands can be created the player holding the highest card wins the pot. Often when you are playing Texas Holdem your hole or pocket cards can give an indication of things to come, these cards can often influence your decisions, read more about the Holdem poker starting hands in the strategies and tips section. |
