Texas hold 'em

Texas hold 'em (or simply hold 'em or holdem) is the most popular of the community card poker games. It is the most popular poker variant played in casinos in the western United States, and its no-limit form is used in the main event of the World Series of Poker (abbreviated WSOP), widely recognized as the world championship of the game.

Although it can theoretically be played by up to 22 players (or 23 if burn cards are not used), it is generally played with between 2 and 10 people. It is one of the most positional of all poker variants, since the order of betting is fixed throughout all betting rounds. Holdem is commonly played in the rest of the world as well, but seven-card stud, Omaha hold 'em and other games may be more popular in some places.

Hold 'em as a spectator sport

Hold 'em first caught the public eye as a spectator sport in the United Kingdom with the Late Night Poker TV show in 1999. The popularity of the show led to Phil Hellmuth competing in season 3 of the program and helping to spread the idea of lipstick cameras to an American audience.

In 2003, hold 'em exploded in popularity as a spectator sport in the United States. This was due to several factors, including the introduction of lipstick cameras that allowed the television audience to see the players' hidden cards. ESPN's coverage of the WSOP featured the unexpected victory of Internet player Chris Moneymaker (his real name), an amateur player who gained admission to the tournament by winning a series of online tournaments. Two additional hold 'em series debuted in 2003, the "World Poker Tour" (abbreviated WPT) and "Celebrity Poker Showdown". All three of these shows are still currently (as of 2005) in production and garner a large and loyal viewership.

With the ability to edit a tournament that may last days into just a few hours, ESPN's World Series of Poker focuses on showing how various star players fared in each event. Key hands from throughout the many days of each event are shown, and similar, highly edited coverage of final tables is also provided.

The World Poker Tour does not offer general coverage of the multiday poker tournaments. Instead, WPT covers only the action at the final table of each event. With aggressive play and increasing blinds and antes, the important action from a single table can easily be edited into a two hour episode. Although the tournament fate of fewer stars are chronicled this way, it allows the drama to build more naturally toward the final heads up showdown.

Celebrity Poker Showdown coverage is a single table like World Poker Tour, however, the players are invited to participate instead of winning their way on. Because the players are much less skilled and aggressive, significant editing is often done to trim the action to fit the broadcast time.

Rules

The descriptions below assume a familiarity with the general game play of poker, and with poker hands. For a general introduction to these topics, see Poker, Poker hand, Poker probability, and Poker jargon.

Play of the hand

Play begins with each player being dealt two cards face down. These are the player's hole cards. These are the only cards each player will receive individually, and they will only (possibly) be revealed at the showdown, making Texas holdem a closed poker game. The hand begins with a "pre-flop" betting round, beginning with the player to the left of the big blind (or the player to the left of the dealer, if no blinds are used) and continuing clockwise. After the pre-flop betting round, the dealer deals a burn card, followed by three face-up community cards called the flop. The flop is followed by a second betting round. This and all subsequent betting rounds begin with the player to the dealer's left and continue clockwise. After the flop betting round ends, another card is burned, and a single community card called the turn (or fourth street) is dealt, followed by a third betting round. A final burn card is followed by a single community card called the river (or fifth street), followed by a fourth betting round and the showdown, if necessary.

See also: Texas hold 'em hands

Betting structures

In casino play, it is common to use a fixed limit and two blinds. The limit for the first two rounds of betting is called a small bet, while the limit for the third and fourth betting rounds is called a big bet and is generally double the small bet. The small blind is usually equal to half of a small bet, and the big blind is equal to a full small bet. (In some cases, the small blind is some other fraction of a small bet, e.g. $10 is a common small blind when the small bet is $15; this occurs mainly in brick and mortar rooms where higher-denomination chips are used. The double-blind structure described above is relatively recent; until the 1980s, a single-blind structure was most common.)

Occasionally, the fourth bet is larger still (a big river bet), and the big blind is sometimes less than the small bet, in which case it is treated the same way a sub-minimum bring-in is treated in stud poker. Antes may be used instead of, or in addition to, blinds; this is especially true in tournament play. The game also plays very well at the no-limit level, and many tournaments (including the above mentioned World Series championship event) are played with this structure.

The showdown

If a player bets and all other players fold, then the remaining player is awarded the pot and is not required to show his hole cards. If two or more players remain after the final betting round, a showdown occurs. On the showdown, each player plays the best five-card hand he can make from the seven cards comprising his two hole cards and the board (the five community cards). A player may use both of his own two hole cards, only one, or none at all, to form his final five-card hand. If the five community cards form the player's best hand, then the player is said to be playing the board.

If the best hand is shared by more than one player (e.g. if no player is able to beat the board), then the pot is split equally amongst all remaining players. However, it is common for players to have closely-valued, but not identically ranked hands. In particular, kickers are often needed to break ties. Nevertheless, one must be careful in determining the best hand, because often the board nullifies kickers. (See the second example below.) Straights often split the pot, and multiple flushes may occur. In the case of flushes, the flush is awarded to the player with the highest flush card which completes a flush and beats the board's flush cards. If there is a flush on board, (i.e. if all the board cards are the same suit), then undercards in that suit do not play, and if no one has a card in the flush suit beating the board, then the pot is split. The sole exception to this rule is the case of a straight-flush.

The best possible hand given the five community cards is referred to as the nuts. The lowest possible nuts is three queens (this occurs with, for example, 2 3 7 8 Q on the board, with no more than two cards of any one suit).

Examples

Sample showdown

Here's a sample showdown:

Each player plays the best 5 card hand they can make with the 7 cards available. They have:

In this case, Ted's full house wins.

Sample hand

Here's a sample deal. The players' individual hands will not be revealed until the showdown, to give a better sense of what happens during play:

Compulsory bets: Alice is the dealer. Bob, to Alice's left, posts a small blind of $1, and Carol posts a big blind of $2.

Pre-flop: Alice deals two hole cards face down to each player, beginning with Bob and ending with herself. Ted must act first because he is the first player after the big blind. He cannot check, since the $2 big blind plays as a bet, so he folds. Alice calls the $2. Bob adds an additional $1 to his $1 small blind to call the $2 total. Carol's blind is "live" (see blind), so she has the option to raise here, but she checks instead, ending the first betting round.

Flop: Alice now burns a card and deals the flop of three face-up community cards, 9♣ K♣ 3♥. On this round, as on all subsequent rounds, the player on the dealer's left begins the betting. In this case it is Bob, who checks. Carol opens for $2, and Alice raises another $2, making the total bet now facing Bob $4. He calls. Carol calls, putting in an additional $2.

Turn: Alice now burns and deals the turn card face up. It is the 5♠. Bob checks, Carol checks, and Alice checks; the turn has been checked around.

River: After burning, Alice deals the final river card, the 9♦, making the final board 9♣ K♣ 3♥ 5♠ 9♦. Bob bets $4, Carol calls, and Alice folds (Alice's holding was A♣ 7♣; she was hoping the river card would be a club to make her a flush).

Showdown: Bob shows his hand of Q♠ 9♥, so the best five-card hand he can make is 9♣ 9♦ 9♥ K♣ Q♠, for three 9's, with K and Q kickers. Carol shows her cards of K♠ J♥, making her final hand K♣ K♠ 9♣ 9♦ J♥ for two pair, K's and 9's, with J kicker. Bob wins the showdown and the pot.

Kickers and ranks

Here's another situation that illustrates the importance of breaking ties with kickers and card ranks, as well as the use of the five-card rule. After the turn, the board and players' hole cards are as follows (though none of the players know another player's hole cards):

At the moment, Bob is in the lead with a hand of Q♠ Q♣ 8♠ 8♥ K♥, making two pair, Q's and 8's, with K kicker. This just beats Carol's hand of Q♥ Q♣ 8♠ 8♥ 10♦ by virtue of his kicker. Both Alice and Ted are hoping the final card is a club, which will make them both a flush, but in that case, Ted would have the higher flush and win the showdown. For example, if the final card was the 7♣, Ted's flush would be Q-J-7-4-2, while Alice's would be Q-10-9-7-4. Alice could still win, though, if the final card were the J♦, as that would give her a Q-high straight. On this deal, however, the final card was the A♠, which didn't help either of them. Bob and Carol still each have two pair, but notice what happened: both of them are now entitled to play the final A as their fifth card, making their hands both two pair, Q's and 8's, with A kicker. Bob's K no longer plays, because the A on the board plays as the fifth card in both hands, and a hand is only composed of five cards. They therefore split the pot.

Starting hand terminology and notation

There are (52 × 51)/2 = 1,326 distinct possible combinations of two hole cards from a standard 52-card deck. However, since suits have no relative value in poker, many of these hands are indistinguishable from the point of view of pre-flop strategy. In fact, ignoring suits, there are precisely 169 distinct possible starting hands in holdem. [1]

As an example, although J♥ J♣ and J♦ J♠ are distinct combinations of hole cards, they are indistinguishable as starting hands. Any starting hand comprising two jacks is called pocket jacks and is denoted JJ. Similarly, any starting hand comprised of two aces is called pocket aces and is denoted AA, and any starting hand comprised of two sevens is called pocket sevens and is denoted 77. Each of these starting hands is called a pocket pair.

The starting hands which are not pocket pairs fall into two classes – the suited hands and the unsuited hands. An example of a suited hand is 8♠ 7♠. Any starting hand comprised of an 8 and a 7 of the same suit is called 8-7 suited and is denoted 87s, where "s" is an abbreviation for "suited". An example of an unsuited hands is Q♣ 9♦. Any starting hand comprised of a Q and a 9 of different suits is called queen-nine offsuit and is denoted Q9 (or sometimes Q9o, where "o" is an abbreviation for "offsuit"). Remember, an "s" always denoted a suited starting hand, while the absence of an "s" always denotes an offsuit starting hand.

In almost all poker writing, the rank of "10" is abbreviated with the letter "T", so that all the ranks can be written with a single character, unless cards are featured pictorially when "10" is often used.

Basic strategy

Poker strategy is highly complex — an aspiring player would be wise to buy a book on poker strategy before playing in a casino. Nevertheless, some of the basic factors that influence good play can easily be explained. One of the most significant considerations is the number of players at the table: in a large game with 8 or 9 other opponents, you need to have a strong hand to win the pot, so you should fold most hands before seeing the flop. In a smaller, "short-handed" game you can afford to play more hands, since you are facing fewer opponents. (In fact, if you fold too often, you will be penalized because you are paying the blinds so often.) Other important factors include:

• The style of play of your opponents: how often they raise, how inclined they are to call, and so on. This falls into two general categories: "loose/tight" and "passive/aggressive". Each player (and each game) can be characterised based on these two dimensions.
  • A loose player often limps in (calls before the flop without raising) and cold-calls (calling a raise without raising) more often than is correct (plays many hands); conversely, a tight player plays premium hands, and has high standards for calling raises (plays few hands).
  • A passive player frequently checks and calls or checks and folds after the flop and does not push the betting with an advantage; conversely, an aggressive player often bets or raises for a variety of reasons after the flop. In general, tight/aggressive players have developed the best style of play and should be avoided, while loose/passive players have developed a weak style of play and should be attacked when vulnerable, though not bluffed at.
• Your position in the hand. The player in the "dealer" position (or "button") is always the last player to act in every betting round. (The sole exception to this is the first pre-flop round, in which the big blind has the last "option".) Therefore, that player has the most information about the other players and is in the best position. The earlier the position you are in, the greater your disadvantage. (The sole exception to this rule is with regard to bluffing.) Therefore, you should be inclined to play more hands in late position, and fewer hands in early position.
• Your "table image": how other players at the table perceive your play alters the way they play. If they think are you a tight player, they will be less inclined to call your raises; if they think you are an overly-aggressive player who frequently raises with marginal hands, they will be more inclined to call. Good poker players are able to vary their style in play to take advantage of the present situation and to make their play less predictable.

Perhaps the single best bit of advice to give a relatively new hold'em (or indeed Poker) player is each bet is a new bet. In other words, regardless of what has come before, when betting one must always consider the cards/oppurtunities they have at that moment. One of the biggest mistakes new players make is to think along the lines of "Pre-flop I had an OK hand, so I put money in. Now, post-flop I have not improved. However, seeing as I have already invested money into this hand, I should carry on". This attitude is a version of the sunk cost fallacy, and is sure to lead in the long-term to only one result: no chips.

Pre-flop

• High Pocket Pairs: Pairs from Aces (AA) to Tens (TT) are always a good starting hand. They often begin as the best hand and win unimproved. They also show a large profit when they "flop a set" (hit a third card of the same rank on the flop, to make three-of-a-kind).
• Middle/Low Pocket Pairs: Without improvement, a middle or small pocket pair is a weak hand in a full game. As the number of players in the pot increases, the value of the pair as a made hand decreases, but the value of flopping a set increases. The usual strategy is to try to see the flop cheaply with a hand like this: if you flop a set, you now have a very strong hand. If you miss the flop, you should usually fold. Since the odds of flopping a set are about 7.5:1 (or 12%), try to avoid calling too many bets pre-flop, since you will be folding most of the time on the flop.
• High Cards: Two suited high cards (Ten or higher) are strong and usually playable, especially in late position. They have the combination of all three attributes of high card value, and high straight and flush possibility. The value of two unsuited high cards is considerably less. Unsuited high cards, unless they are strong hands like AK or KQ, should generally only be played in late position for a single bet. Calling with KT or even AT in early position in a full table is a common beginner error.
• Suited connectors: If your two cards are suited, don't overrate them. Suited connectors, such as 9♥ 8♥, are good drawing hands: they have a chance to make both a straight and a flush. These types of hands play well against many opponents. Also, suited aces and kings play well against many opponents, but require caution because they are easily dominated. However, random suited hands, such as J♣4♣ or 9♠6♠ rarely show a profit.
• Other: If a hand is not listed in one of the above types, it is almost never correct to play it voluntarily. The most common mistake beginning players make is to pay to see the flop too many times with bad hands, which costs them plenty of money over hundreds of hands. Yes, any hand such as 72 (which is the worst possible hand) can get lucky, but much more often than not, these hands will miss the flop and require a fold. Marginal hands are possibly even worse, as they are easily dominated (e.g., A7 against AQ) and will often go all the way to the river paying off the best hand.

For more information on the strategy of starting hands, see Starting hands strategy.

After the flop

• Drawing hands, such as 4-card flush or straight draws, are some of the most difficult hands to play. There really is no simple accurate advice. You must always take into account your position, the previous action, the texture of the board, the style of play of your opponents, and the size of the pot.
• If you don't have at least a drawing hand or a pair after the flop, it is almost always correct to fold. The sole exception to this might occur if you find yourself heads-up (2 players) or with 2 opponents and you have an opportunity to bluff. Even in this case, some kind of draw is good, because then you can semi-bluff.
• If the flop goes against your high pairs, and if there is a coordinated board, i.e. possible flush or straight draws, it is often correct to fold, especially if there is heavy betting. Marginal hands with little drawing potential do not play well if there is a lot of action.
• When you hit a flush or straight, be aware of the possibilities of other players having the same type of hand but higher. If there is heavy betting, it is probable that someone else has you dominated. Also, if there is a pair on board, consider the possibility that another player may have a full house.
• The strongest possible hand given the currently shown cards is known as the "nuts" and is clearly the most desirable position to be in. In this case, the objective of betting strategy is to maximise return from the hand, which can include subtle play designed to misrepresent the strength of the player's cards.
• If you have a strong hand (e.g., top pair, excellent kicker; two pair; or three of a kind after the flop), it is often good to try to protect your hand. However, there is no simple accurate advice for how to achieve this. Sometimes, a bet is warranted, while at other times, it is correct to go for a check-raise. A very good hand may even warrant a slow play. Again, decisions such as these are very complicated and involve taking into account a number of factors, such as the number of remaining players, previous action, your position, and knowledge of players' tendencies.

The importance of position

• One of the most important aspects of hold'em is position. It is to a player's advantage to be able to act as late as possible. This allows the player to make decisions based on the knowledge of the actions of his opponents who have acted before him in the hand. For example marginal starting hands should be avoided in early position, but sometimes can be played in a late position. (An example of a marginal starting hand with which a player would want to pay only one bet to see the flop would be 7-8 suited.) This is due to the fact that a player cannot predict the actions following his action. If a player elects to play a marginal starting hand in early position, and a player behind him raises, and then another player re-raises, when the action returns to him, it will cost him another two bets for a total of three bets to see the flop. If profit in the long-run is to be maximised, he cannot call two more bets with his marginal hand, so he must fold, thus wasting his original call. On the other hand, if he is in late position, and there have been no pre-flop raises, he can now safely call, knowing the pot will probably not be raised.

Novice mistakes to avoid

While the following list is neither authoritative nor complete, it provides some examples of errors commonly made by inexperienced players. Learning to recognize these errors, and to avoid making them, will increase one's profitability in the game of hold 'em.

• Slow-playing high pocket pairs (AA, KK, QQ, JJ). These hands tend to play best against fewer opponents, and therefore a novice should always raise preflop with them. While the deception of slowplaying these hands before the flop can sometimes lead to very profitable, high action pots, novices usually would do well to avoid this strategy as it takes skill to read more complicated situations. Ideally, raising with these hands isolates the raiser against lower pairs or unpaired high cards (e.g., AK or KQ).

• Overplaying low or medium pocket pairs preflop. Loose-aggressive players frequently raise preflop with low pocket pairs (22 through 66) or medium pairs (77 though 99). Except in shorthanded situations, this strategy can be foolish, as smaller pairs are easily dominated after the flop unless a player immediately flops a set (the odds of which are 7.5:1 against). Most often a flop will include one or two overcards, and when this happens it is often difficult to gauge the correct action if an opponent bets. Small pairs tend to win either small pots where a bet on the flop wins the pot, or very big pots when a set is flopped. Too often novices will find themselves in medium-sized pots, like with 77 on a Q-8-2 flop where more advanced skills are called for in reading the situation and the correct odds on actions. Generally, the novice should try to see the flop for the minimum price with low or medium pocket pairs.

• Overplaying "bad" high cards. Inexperienced players tend to think that any high card (A through J) is a good holding, without paying attention to its kicker. K7, for instance, is a poor hand, as it typically will win only if a king appears on the board and no other player has a king. The first rule of hold 'em is to never play two cards that don't work together, except when strictly attempting to steal the blinds. Novices should be leery of making plays where the potential profit is merely the two blinds.

• Overplaying a flopped "garbage" two pair. A player may check the big blind with 62o, and to his astonishment see a flop of K-2-6. Or, a player in late position might limp in with Q9o, and see a flop of A-Q-9. While these flopped two-pairs are potentially devastating to an opponent holding a high pair, top kicker, they are vulnerable to losing to a higher two pair if there are several opponents, as is common in unraised pots.

• Overplaying a flopped two pair or set against a straight or flush board. Because the odds of flopping a set with a pocket pair are 7.5:1, and the chances of flopping two pair only slightly better, a player with these hands will sometimes refuse to abandon them, even when it's obvious that he's beaten (say, on a board of 4-5-6-7-K, or a board with three or more suited cards.

• Overplaying the "idiot end" of a straight. On a board of 6-7-8-9-x, a player holding a five has a straight, but loses to anyone holding a ten.

• Overplaying a low flush. A player holding 97 of spades, on a board with three spades, has a premium holding. On a board of four or five spades, he has a very vulnerable hand, as anyone holding a higher spade will beat him.

• Overplaying a straight or flush on a paired board. A paired board (meaning a board showing one pair, e.g., A-K-8-8-10), should send a red flag to anyone holding a straight or flush, as an opponent holding a set--say, KK--has a full house of kings full of eights, which beats a straight or flush.

• Failing to understand position. As discussed above, position is critical when determining whether to play a hand. A "weak" ace like A5 offsuit is not a good hand to call in early position. However, in late position, with no players yet in the pot, playing this hand to steal the blinds might be correct. A novice should never call a bet outside the blinds with this poor a hand.

• Playing too many hands. The casino player may feel that he is there "to play," and thus call preflop with any two cards. If this is his attitude, then so be it, but it is a sure fire way to lose money. Sit down at a casino poker room and you'll quickly observe certain players who are there to gamble, and therefore to call with everything they get, hoping to catch a rush of terrific luck. These players, unless extremely lucky, tend to be the quickest to bust out, or (hopefully for you) to rebuy.

Bibliography

• Phil Gordon and Jonathon Grotenstein (2004). Poker: The Real Deal. Simon Spotlight Entertainment. ISBN 0689875908. The poker lifestyle, strategies, and great anecdotes from the tables.
• Lee Jones (1994). Winning Low-Limit Hold-em. Conjelco. ISBN 1886070156. An introduction to lower limit game play.
• David Sklansky (1996). Hold 'em Poker. Two Plus Two Publications. ISBN 1880685086.
• Ed Miller, David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth (2004). Small Stakes Hold'em. Two Plus Two Publications. ISBN 1880685329. A book discussing all facets of "small stakes games", i.e. games in which many players play too many hands, and too many bad hands, too far.
• David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth (1999). Hold 'em Poker for Advanced Players. Two Plus Two Publications. ISBN 1880685221. This book contains a thorough discussion of strategies which apply to middle- and high-limit games involving players who generally play soundly.
• Bob Ciaffone and Jim Brier (2002). Middle Limit Holdem. Bob Ciaffone. ISBN 0966100743.
• David Sklansky (1989). The Theory of Poker. Two Plus Two Publications. ISBN 1880685000.