Poker has many game variants, but most use the same ranking system. In most popular
games like Texas Hold’em poker, 😄 a standard poker hand order chart is used to determine
who wins at showdowns. Often referred to as a poker 😄 cheat sheet, in reality it simply
outlines the game's rules for determining a winning hand. Knowing poker rankings won't
give 😄 you an edge, but lacking a fundamental knowledge about hand strength will put you
at a substantial disadvantage.
Poker Hands Rankings 😄 These poker hand rankings are based
upon the probability of each occurring, with the rarest holdings having the highest
value. 😄 In a few games the probabilities and rankings differ, but for most variants,
including Texas Hold’em, winning poker hands are 😄 determined in this order: 1. Royal
Flush: The best hand in poker, although it doesn’t occur very often. Still one 😄 of the
most iconic
in the game, it’s the highest possible straight flush consisting of
A, K, Q, J 😄 and 10 of the same suit. 2. Straight Flush: Technically a Royal Flush is
just the best possible straight flush, 😄 which is a hand that is both a straight and a
flush. 3. Four-of-a Kind: Also known as ‘quads’, this 😄 is a hand made up of four cards
of the same value, plus one extra card. 4. Full House: Often 😄 referred to as a ‘boat’, a
full house poker hand consists of three-of-a-kind plus a pair. 5. Flush: A flush 😄 is a
hand where all five cards are the same suit. 6. Straight: A straight is made up of five
😄 cards of consecutive value, but not the same suit. 7. Three-of-a-kind: Three cards of
the same value plus two non-matching 😄 extra cards. This hand is known as ‘trips’ if the
board is paired, or a ‘set’ if the the player 😄 holds a pocket pair. 8. Two-pair: A hand
that includes two pairs plus one extra card. 9. One-pair: A hand 😄 that includes two
cards of the same value, plus three other non-matching extra cards. 10. High Card: When
you have 😄 five non-matching cards that do not make a flush or a straight, the hand with
the highest-valued single card wins.
What 😄 is a Poker Hand? A poker hand is made up of
five cards. Once all the board cards have been 😄 dealt, Texas Hold’em players construct
their best hand using any combination of the five board cards and their own two 😄 hole
cards. The two remaining unused cards are disregarded.
Playing the Board Some poker
variants, such as Omaha, obligate players to 😄 use (some of) their hole cards to build
their five-card poker hand, but with Texas Hold’em hands there is no 😄 such requirement.
It is therefore possible for the best five cards in a hand to be the board cards, in
😄 which case any players still left in the pot after the final round of betting would tie
and split the 😄 pot equally amongst themselves. What if more than one player has the same
strength hand? In poker, it's possible for 😄 multiple players to hold hands of equal
strength. When such a situation arises with a hand that uses all five 😄 cards, like a
flush, straight, or full house, and the card values are identical for these players,
the pot is 😄 split equally among them. However, certain poker hands do not utilise all
five cards, such as pairs, two pairs, three-of-a-kind, 😄 and four-of-a-kind. In these
cases, when players in the hand have the same value pair, two pairs, three-of-a-kind,
or four-of-a-kind, 😄 the winner is determined by the player with the highest value extra
card, commonly known as the 'kicker'. For instance, 😄 if two players have the same two
pairs, the player with the highest fifth card wins the pot. If they 😄 happen to have the
same value kicker, they would 'split the pot', sharing the winnings equally. The kicker
plays a 😄 crucial role in breaking ties and determining the ultimate winner when players
have hands of equal rank.
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Suits The only purpose
of suits in 😄 poker is to make flushes. There is no hierarchy among the suits; they all
hold equal rank, and in the 😄 case of a tie, they are not considered in determining the
winning poker hand. Which starting hands to play and 😄 when? So, what is the best hand in
poker to start with? That’s easy, probably everyone already knows that AA 😄 is the best
Texas Hold’em starting hand, but what are the other good poker hands to be dealt?
Starting Hand 😄 Example Nickname Pocket Aces AcAs Pocket Rockets Pocket Kings KhKs
Cowboys Pocket Queens QcQd Ladies Pocket Jacks JhJd Fishhooks Ace-King 😄 Suited AsKs Big
Slick Pocket Tens TcTd Train Tracks Ace-King Offsuit AsKd Anna Kournikova Ace-Queen
Suited AhQh Big Chick Pocket 😄 Nines 9c9h Red Balloons Ace-Jack Suited AsJs Ajax All of
the hands in this list of the best poker hands 😄 are premium starters and are often
winning poker hands that can be opened with (make a bet) from almost any 😄 position. But
there is much more to learn about which other hands to play and when. There is no
simple 😄 method or Texas Hold’em cheat sheet to avoid the hard study and effort that the
world’s best players employ to 😄 become champions and masters of the game. Like any sport
or pastime, you get out of poker what you put 😄 into it. Only a very small number of
players are naturally gifted, the majority need to study to understand and 😄 improve at
playing poker. To ensure a smoother introduction to the game and when to open with good
poker hands, 😄 here are a few crucial things you should be aware of. Position This refers
to the position of players at 😄 the poker table relative to the dealer (button). Poker is
a turn-based game, with the action moving in a clockwise 😄 direction around the table
after each hand. Each player takes it in turn to be 'the dealer' and at most 😄 home games
this means they actually have to deal out the cards around the table, but online and in
most 😄 poker rooms this is done by the house. In a nine-handed game, the names of the
positions on the poker 😄 table are: Button (BTN): the player in the dealer position is
referred to as being 'on the button' and gets 😄 to act last on all betting rounds
the
player in the dealer position is referred to as being 'on the button' 😄 and gets to act
last on all betting rounds Cut Off (CO): the player seated to the right of the 😄 player
on the BTN
the player seated to the right of the player on the BTN Hijack (HJ): the
player seated 😄 to the right of the CO, two seats to the right of the BTN
the player
seated to the right of 😄 the CO, two seats to the right of the BTN Lojack (LJ) : the
player seated to the right of 😄 the HJ, three seats to the right of the BTN
: the player
seated to the right of the HJ, three 😄 seats to the right of the BTN Under The Gun+2
(UTG+2): the player seated to the right of the LJ 😄 and three seats to the left of the
BB
the player seated to the right of the LJ and three seats 😄 to the left of the BB Under
The Gun+1 (UTG+1): the player seated two seats to the left of the 😄 BB
the player seated
two seats to the left of the BB Under The Gun (UTG): the player seated to the 😄 left of
the BB and the first to make a betting decision pre-flop
the player seated to the left
of the 😄 BB and the first to make a betting decision pre-flop Big Blind (BB): the player
seated two to the left 😄 of the BTN and the first to make a betting decision
post-flop
the player seated two to the left of the 😄 BTN and the first to make a betting
decision post-flop Small Blind (SB): the player seated to the left of 😄 the BTN and the
second to make a betting decision post-flop The small and big blinds are forced bets
that 😄 players must make before each hand starts, creating the initial pot that players
will be competing for in the hand. 😄 The small blind amount is half the size of the big
blind. After the small blind and big blind are 😄 posted, the other players at the table
(starting with UTG) must then decide whether to call (match) the big blind, 😄 raise
(increase) the bet, or fold (discard their hand). The action proceeds clockwise around
the table until all players have 😄 made their decisions. In any poker hand, a player is
said to be in position on another player if they 😄 act after that player.
Blinds and
Antes The two players to the left of the dealer have to post obligatory bets 😄 before any
cards have been dealt. These are called blinds, with the player to the immediate left
of the dealer 😄 posting what is known as the 'small blind' while the next player to the
left posting the 'big blind', which 😄 is double the size of the small blind. Some games
also have antes, which are posted by all players and 😄 are much smaller than the blinds.
The blinds and antes ensure there is already something in the pot to play 😄 for as soon
as the hand begins. Importance of Position Position at the poker table plays an
important role in 😄 decision-making. If you are in early position and are first to make a
betting decision, you have to be mindful 😄 of the fact that everyone else at the table
gets to decide after you, which makes you vulnerable to raises. 😄 The later your position
on the table relative to the button, the fewer players there are to act after you 😄 to
make a betting decision, meaning fewer opportunities for your opponents to make a
raise. In earlier positions, when you 😄 are one of the first players to act, you have to
be more selective about which hands to open the 😄 pot with than you do when you are in
one of the later positions. For example, while raising with A2 😄 suited in late position
might be a good idea, it’s not such a great decision to make if you are 😄 one of the
first players to act, as it’s a marginal hand that should often fold to a re-raise...
and 😄 there’s lots of players left to act who can decide to do just that.
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1997 £500 Play Through Bonus + 😄 £20 Extra on Deposit VISIT SITE #ad. 18+. Gamble
Responsibly. Begambleaware. New Customers Only. £20 extra = one cash game 😄 ticket of €8
and 4 x UK Tour tournament tickets of €4. £500 Playthrough bonus = €600. Both bonuses
are 😄 activated upon first deposit from the poker client. Tickets expire after 35 days
and the playthrough bonus after 60. £1 😄 GBP = €1.1875. Selected games only.
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Stack Sizes Stack sizes are also an important
consideration when 😄 it comes to making your opening move. Unless it’s the first hand of
a session, players will likely have varying 😄 chip stack sizes, which are best described
in terms of how many big blinds (bb) worth they have. It is 😄 important to be aware of
the sizes of the stacks of all other players at the table, as it will 😄 guide your
betting decisions. For example, you might want to open in late position in order to see
a flop 😄 with a speculative hand like 98 suited. However, if there is a very
short-stacked player still to act behind you, 😄 it may not be a good spot for seeing a
flop, as there is a high chance the short stack 😄 player will make an all-in bet (jam) in
response to your initial raise. This would force you to either call 😄 or fold, which
might not be the best choices for your particular hand. When you have a small stack,
your 😄 options become limited and you’re often looking for spots to shove all your
remaining chips into the middle. Small pocket 😄 pairs might be good hands to jam with on
a short stack, but position is still important. Pocket threes for 😄 example, might be a
great hand to shove with on a 15bb stack on the button, but from early position 😄 not so
much, as you are more likely to run into a higher pocket pair when so many players are
😄 still to act. Range The range of starting hands you should decide to open a pot with is
based on 😄 your position at the table and your stack size. In early positions these
ranges are quite tight, consisting mainly of 😄 the best suited starting hands on the grid
and pairs, but as your position moves around the table, opening ranges 😄 become much
wider. Hands that would be automatic folds in early position can be good candidates to
raise with from 😄 the later spots on the table. Note also that starting hands with two
cards of the same suit have greater 😄 equity than those with unsuited cards. Some suited
hands will be good to play from certain positions, while their unsuited 😄 counterparts
might not. Bet Sizing While bet sizing post-flop can be extremely varied, pre-flop is
much more straightforward. You should 😄 probably just use one pre-flop opening bet size,
as you may be giving away info about the strength of your 😄 hand if you choose varying
sizes. However, if you have a shorter stack (under 20bb) you may wish to deviate 😄 and
simply open with the minimum size permitted, to preserve your remaining chips in
situations when you may have to 😄 fold to a re-raise.
