Getting Familiar with the Texas Holdem Hands
- High Card Texas Hold Em
- Texas Holdem Card Chart
- Same High Card Texas Holdem
- Texas Holdem High Card Rules
- High Card Draw In Texas Holdem
- Texas Holdem High Card Rules
Texas Hold’em is a community card poker game with game play focused as much on the betting as on the cards being played. Although the rules and game play are the same the end goal is slightly different depending on if you’re playing a Texas Holdem cash game or a Texas Holdem tournament. Also known as the High Card hand, this is the lowest-ranking poker hand that you can form in Texas Hold’em. It’s so low, that you don’t even have a pair to work with. Croco casino. With this poker hand, your high card is an Ace and that beats a King high, or a Queen high. More recently, a high-stakes Texas hold 'em game was central to the plot of the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale, in place of baccarat, the casino game central to the novel on which the film was based. In 2008, an acclaimed short film called Shark Out of Water was released on DVD.
One of the most important parts of learning Texas Holdem is getting familiar with the different winning hands. This is a major but simple step in learning poker since the hands are fairly easy to learn and memorize. Let us learn all the winning card combinations by reading the sections found below.
The Royal Flush
High Card is the worst possible hand on the poker hand rankings list. It consists of no pair or any other hand type – just a high card. The words “High Card” should have you thinking straight away about a hand with the highest card.
The Royal Flush, as the name suggests, is the best possible hand in Texas Holdem. This hand combination is made up of the five highest cards in a deck – the Ace, King, Queen, Jack and the number 10. The royal flush must have all these characters of the same suit. This means that if the Ace card bears the heart suit, all the other cards should hold the same suit on them.
Straight Flush
Next to the Royal Flush, the Straight Flush is another winning card combination. It is made of cards in a sequenced order such as 7-8-9-10-J. You can also make other Straight Flush combinations such as Ace-2-3-4-5.
Four of a Kind
Four of a Kind are a group of cards with the same rank but may have different suits. You can have a group of four Kings or four Aces with this combination. The hand with the higher four-card combination wins.
Full House
A Full House is three cards of the same kind plus a pair. For example, 3 Aces can be used plus another two cards which are a pair. The hand with the higher three-card combination wins. If for some reason the three pairs cannot be determined, use the two pairs to decide who wins.
Flush
A Flush is a hand where all of the five cards are in the same suit. For example, cards which are not sequenced in the proper order can form a winning hand if all of them bear the same suit. When the Flush ties with another player, then follow the rules for High Card.
Straight
A Straight is a five-card combination which is ranked in order but does not hold the same suit. An example of this winning combination is 3-4-5-6-7. The Ace can be taken as either a high or low card. For example, it can be used as one in an A-1-2-3-4 combination or it can also be used as the highest card in a 10-J-Q-K-A combination.
Three of a Kind
Three of a Kind is a combination of three cards of the same rank with another two cards not being a pair. A player can use J-J-J-2-3 and form this kind of hand. The hand with a higher 3-card combination is declared the winner of the game.
Two Pair
A two pair is a combination of 'two pairs of cards' with the 5th card being anything. The highest pair wins the game. However, if the hands have the same high pair, the second pair wins.
Pair
A pair is a combination of two same cards and three dissimilar cards. The hand with the highest pair wins.
High Card
The high card – despite its name – is the losing combination in a Texas Holdem game. If your cards do not match the combinations listed above, then the winning hand comes down to the one who holds the highest ranking card. If there is a tie on the first card, the second and the succeeding cards will be the basis of whoever wins the Texas Holdem game. Good luck!
- Pineapple - Crazy Pineapple - Crazy Pineapple Hi-Lo
Introduction
Next to the Royal Flush, the Straight Flush is another winning card combination. It is made of cards in a sequenced order such as 7-8-9-10-J. You can also make other Straight Flush combinations such as Ace-2-3-4-5.
Four of a Kind
Four of a Kind are a group of cards with the same rank but may have different suits. You can have a group of four Kings or four Aces with this combination. The hand with the higher four-card combination wins.
Full House
A Full House is three cards of the same kind plus a pair. For example, 3 Aces can be used plus another two cards which are a pair. The hand with the higher three-card combination wins. If for some reason the three pairs cannot be determined, use the two pairs to decide who wins.
Flush
A Flush is a hand where all of the five cards are in the same suit. For example, cards which are not sequenced in the proper order can form a winning hand if all of them bear the same suit. When the Flush ties with another player, then follow the rules for High Card.
Straight
A Straight is a five-card combination which is ranked in order but does not hold the same suit. An example of this winning combination is 3-4-5-6-7. The Ace can be taken as either a high or low card. For example, it can be used as one in an A-1-2-3-4 combination or it can also be used as the highest card in a 10-J-Q-K-A combination.
Three of a Kind
Three of a Kind is a combination of three cards of the same rank with another two cards not being a pair. A player can use J-J-J-2-3 and form this kind of hand. The hand with a higher 3-card combination is declared the winner of the game.
Two Pair
A two pair is a combination of 'two pairs of cards' with the 5th card being anything. The highest pair wins the game. However, if the hands have the same high pair, the second pair wins.
Pair
A pair is a combination of two same cards and three dissimilar cards. The hand with the highest pair wins.
High Card
The high card – despite its name – is the losing combination in a Texas Holdem game. If your cards do not match the combinations listed above, then the winning hand comes down to the one who holds the highest ranking card. If there is a tie on the first card, the second and the succeeding cards will be the basis of whoever wins the Texas Holdem game. Good luck!
- Pineapple - Crazy Pineapple - Crazy Pineapple Hi-Lo
Introduction
Texas Hold'em is a shared card poker game. Each player is dealt two private cards and there are five face up shared (or 'community') cards on the table that can be used by anyone. In the showdown the winner is the player who can make the best five-card poker hand from the seven cards available.
Since the 1990's, Texas Hold'em has become one of the most popular poker games worldwide. Its spread has been helped firstly by a number of well publicised televised tournaments such as the World Series of Poker and secondly by its success as an online game. For many people nowadays, poker has become synonymous with Texas Hold'em.
This page assumes some familiarity with the general rules and terminology of poker. See the poker rules page for an introduction to these, and the poker betting and poker hand ranking pages for further details.
Players and Cards
High Card Texas Hold Em
From two to ten players can take part. In theory more could play, but the game would become unwieldy.
A standard international 52-card pack is used.
The Deal and Betting
Texas Hold'em is usually played with no ante, but with blinds. When there are more than two players, the player to dealer's left places a small blind, and the next player to the left a big blind. The big blind is equal to the minimum bet and the small blind is typically half that amount. When there are only two players (a 'heads-up' game), the dealer places the small blind and the non-dealer the big blind.
The cards are shuffled and cut, the dealer 'burns' one card and then deals the cards one at a time face down until each player has two cards. These are known as the player's hole cards or pocket cards. Players may look at their two hole cards and must not show them to any other player.
The first betting round is begun by the player to the left of the big blind. The blinds count as bets, so the small blind need only pay the difference between the blinds to call. The big blind player acts last and is allowed to raise, even if the other active players have all called.
After the first betting round the dealer burns one card and deals three cards face up to the table. These three cards are known as the flop. There is then a second betting round begun by the first active player to the left of the dealer seat.
When the second betting round is complete, the dealer burns a card and then deals one card face up to the table. This card is known as the turn or fourth street. There is then a third betting round, again begun by the first active player to the left of the dealer seat.
After the third betting round the dealer burns another card and deals one more card face up - the river or fifth street. There is fourth and final round of betting before the showdown, again begun by the first active player to the left of the dealer seat.
In a fixed-limit or spread-limit game, any betting round that has more than two active players at the start is normally limited to one bet plus three (sometimes four) raises. In the first (pre-flop) betting round the big blind counts for this purpose as the first bet. If a betting round begins with only two active players, there is no limit on the number of raises.
In limit poker, the betting limits are usually doubled before the third betting round. So for example a $10-$20 game would typically have blinds of $5 and $10, bets of $10 in the first two rounds and bets of $20 in the last two.
Texas Holdem Card Chart
The Showdown
Active players show their hands in clockwise order, beginning with the player who was the last to bet or raise in the final betting round. If everyone checked in the final betting round, the first active player to the left of the dealer seat is the first to show. See the betting and showdown page for further details.
Each player makes the best possible five-card poker hand from the seven available cards: the player's two hole cards and the five face-up table cards, which are known as the board. This can be in any combination: both hole cards with three from the board, one hole card with four from the board, or just the board cards without using the hole cards at all, which is known as playing the board.
Note that:
- For a hand to be considered for winning the pot, the player must show both hole cards, even if only one or neither of them is used to make the best hand.
- The cards speak for themselves: the best hand is entitled to win the pot if shown, even if the owner does not realise that it is the best hand.
- As always, poker hands consist of just five cards. The two unused cards have no bearing on whether one hand is better than another.
Example. On the board is A-Q-Q-9-6. Player A has K-9; player B has 9-6; player C has 9-3. This is a three-way tie, since all three players have Q-Q-9-9-A as their best hand. The pot is split equally between A, B and C.
Strategy
Because of its great popularity as a tournament and online game, much has been written about the strategy of Texas Hold'em.
The Poker Strategy page provides a list of sites with useful Texas Hold'em Strategy articles.
The Poker Books page reviews a couple of good books about how to play Texas Hold'em.
Variations
Same High Card Texas Holdem
The game described above is Texas Hold'em as played formally in public card rooms. When it is played at home, the same procedure can be used, but in some informal games the burning of cards is omitted, and the five community cards are dealt face down to the table at the start. Three of these cards are turned face up after the first betting round, one after the second and one after the third. The result is similar to the formal game, but there is an increased risk that a player might, by accident or by cheating, learn the identity of some of the table cards before they are officially exposed.
The practice of dealing the community cards to the table at the start and turning them face up later is commonly found in community card poker games with more complex layouts, such as Iron Cross and Tic-Tac-Toe. Several of these are listed on the Poker Variants page.
Pineapple
This is played the same way as Texas Hold'em, except that each player is initially dealt three hole cards and must discard one of them before the first round of betting.
Crazy Pineapple
As in Pineapple, each player is dealt three cards, but in Crazy Pineapple they are kept until after the second betting round. Each active player must discard one card immediately before the fourth board card (the turn) is dealt.
Crazy Pineapple Hi-Lo 8 or Better
Texas Holdem High Card Rules
Crazy Pineapple is often played in such a way that the pot is shared between the players with the highest and lowest hands. The deal and betting are exactly as in Crazy Pineapple. At the showdown, as well as making their best hand, each active player makes the lowest possible hand from their seven cards. When making a low hand, the five cards must all be of different ranks, the aces count as low, straights and flushes do not count, and no card can be higher than an 8. So the best low hand is A-2-3-4-5 and the worst is 8-7-6-5-4. Cards are compared from the top down, so 7-5-4-3-2 is better than 7-6-3-2-A because the 5 is lower than the 6. Players can use a different selection of cards for their high hand and their low hand.
High Card Draw In Texas Holdem
The pot is split equally between the highest hand and the lowest hand. If none of the active players qualifies for low (which will automatically be the case if there are three cards higher than 8 on the board), then the player with the highest hand wins the whole pot.
Texas Holdem High Card Rules
Irish
This Texas Hold'em variant is similar to Crazy Pineapple, but each player is initially dealt four hole cards. These can all be kept until the end of the second round of betting. Before the fourth board card (the turn) is dealt, each active player must discard two of their hole cards, keeping just two for the turn and river.