Five cards of the same suit, in order, such as 2-3-4-5-6 all of diamonds. If an ace is used in a low straight flush (A-2-3-4-5), it is a five high straight flush, not an ace high one. A round of Texas Hold’em consists of a minimum of one and a maximum of four betting rounds. A hand ends when all players but one have folded. Or the fourth (final) Texas Holdem betting round completes with multiple players still in the hand – whichever comes first.

Holdem: important to be Suited

In these loose games, if your hand is suited then it is a great advantage. One good thing about raising with suited cards before the flop (particularly an ace suited) is that when you flop a flush, or a four-flush, you invite all the lower pairs calling. They may be correct to call but it doesn't hurt you. They may be making money by calling on the flop because there are also other players playing. But they are not taking the money from you. They in fact are making money for you.

The Fundamental Theoy of Poker expresses that if someone is gaining money they are taking the money from you. (Refer The Theory of Poker for more in detail.) That's true in heads-up pot, but there are exceptions in multi-way. Suppose in a four handed pot it could be possible that the fourth player in is gaining $1 from the second player in, $1.50 from the third player, but giving you $0.75 of it back to you.

Thus if you flop a four-flush, especially an ace-high four-flush, and a player calls getting 12-to-1 with low pair, he may be costing whoever holds high pair money because of the odds that he is getting and maybe costing someone who holds middle pair a little money but he is not costing you anything. He is instead making money for you.

One good reason to raise with flussh cards is because if you flop the draw, by making the pot bigger, people now play hands that can't win against your hand if you hit it. (That is, if there are many players in, it is right to raise with small pairs on the button.)
For example you hold

And there are five or more people in front of you. If they call, you should raise in a game where the players are weak. However, if they are tough, you should just call, and if they are worse, you should still call.
When the other players are worse, there is no reason to make this raise so as to attract their call on the flop because they will stay in anyway. If they are tough then the play is not tough because they won't play that badly on the flop and they will have better hand.

When several players have limped in (before the flop) a raise with an A8 would be tough decision if you were all in that point. If you gave yourself an A8 and play against their hands, you would possibly break even whether you raised or just called. However, the reason you should raise is because of how it affects future play. If the raise will get people involved so that if you do flp a four-flush and then complete it you win the huge pot then there is a valid reason to do it. But if it doesn't achieve the expected effect or if you don't build up the pot to get extra calls, then you shouldn't do it.

Playing AQ

We will see how to play AQ (and other similar hands). If you hold hands like AQ in an erly position, you should not raise if you are in a game where your raise will not eliminate the players. In fact, if you are in a good, loose game, you are under the gun and you decide to raise with hands like big suited connectors that play well in a large multi-way pots, there is nothing wrong with it.

To know why it is correct you need to ask yourself a question when you are in a game like this 'What am I trying to achieve by raising?'

To make AQ raise correct, you should be able to limit the pot to only a small number of players. If you cannot do this, then you should hit the flop to win. You will need to flop an ace or a queen (or some other decent hands) to continue. The play would be different if you could limit the field and thereby sometime hope to win with just ace high. But when the game is loose this will not be the case.
For example, you raise with

Other players call but your raise makes one player with a hand like

to fold.

Are you happy with his folding?

If you were heads-up then you would be happy of folding his hand with 87. But once several players are in, you have to flop an ace or a queen, and he is going to hurt you if he catches two his cards while you also catch. Hence he has to hit two out of four cards rather than one out of five so you so longer really want him out.
Hence if you knew that your raise will force fld but a call will not, so that's the main reason for you to raise.
(Of course the case would be different if your AQ was suited. Now you should raise with the reasons which were discussed earlier. The main aim is only win the large multi-way pot.)

continue here:An Adjustment based on player's skill

Hand Rank > FAQ : Quiz

Learning the rank of hands in Texas Hold'em is just as important as learning the rules themselves. Be sure to know what beats what, so you won't be surprised the next time that flush beats your straight. Check out the hand rank FAQ to help answer questions you might have about the ranking of hands in Texas Hold'em.

The hands are in order from top to bottom, decreasing in value as you move down.

Rank of hands.

#1 Royal flush.

An ace-high straight flush. It's just a straight flush really, but it's made with the 5 highest value cards.

A royal flush is the absolute best possible hand in the game of Texas Hold'em. You will rarely (if ever) see this hand.

#2 Straight flush.

5 cards of the same suit in sequential order. This is essentially the best hand in the game, only coming second to it's bigger brother; the royal flush.

#3 Four of a kind.

Four cards of the same value. Virtually a guaranteed winner.

Unfortunately you rarely really win as much money with it as you would like, as it's unlikely that other players in the pot will make a hand that they're happy to call lots of bets and raises with. Still, better than nothing!

#4 Full house.

Texas Holdem Poker Card Rankings

Three of one and two of another. Or you could think of it as 3-of-a-kind + 2-pair. Also known as a 'boat'.

This is the most common out of the 'big hands' you will see in Texas Hold'em. You can win a nice chunk of money if another player ends up making a weaker hand like a flush or a straight.

Suit Order In Texas Holdem

If you think your opponent has a weaker full house than you, take advantage of Zeebo's theorem.

#5 Flush

Five cards of the same suit.

As long as there are no pairs on the board (e.g. 448JK or 27TAA), this will be the strongest type of hand anyone can make.

Beginner players love to chase flushes, and it usually results in losing money. Make sure you learn about pot odds before you chase your next flush.

Tip: If you're playing online, use the four colour deck feature. This turns the club cards green () and the diamonds blue (). So less chance of mistaking 4 diamonds and 1 heart as a flush.

#6 Straight.

Five cards in sequence.

This hand is beaten by a flush, so don't make the rookie mistake of over-valuing the straight when there are a number of cards of the same suit on the board. It is actually harder to make a flush than a straight.

#7 Three of a kind.

3 cards of the same value.

A 'set' is when you have 3 of a kind whilst holding a pocket pair. A set tends to be one of the most profitable hands in Texas Hold'em. It's handy to know the difference between sets and trips.

#8 Two pair.

Two pairs of course.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that this hand is stronger than 3 of a kind. It's actually easier to pick up two-pair than it is to get 3 of a kind.

#9 Pair.

Suit Order In Texas Holdem Tournaments

Two cards of the same value. Almost like 'two of a kind' really.

A very common hand that can actually win a fair number of pots for you. Just be careful not to go overboard with this hand. The higher the pair the better.

#10 High card.

Just the highest value card.

If two players have the same value high card, you look at the next highest card (and so on) to find the winner.

Texas Holdem Hand Order

This is not really much of a hand, but occasionally the winner of the hand will be decided on who holds the card of highest value. Don't expect to win any big pots with this one. It's usually there to determine the winner as a last resort.

Go back to the interesting Texas Hold'em articles.