Texas Holdem
Texas Holdem is a game of both chance and skill. The object of the game is to eliminate all opponents at the table by taking their money. Beat Holdem by betting on hands that you feel are good, and folding when you don't feel confident.
That said, there are a number of different strategies to adopt while playing this poker game. Some times, you can win a round by betting as if your hand is much better than it actually is. This is called "bluffing", and the best poker players know when to bet while bluffing as often as when they have a good hand.
Winning Holdem Hands
There are hundreds of thousands of combinations of winning holdem hands, but they all follow the basic format below (ascending order of value):
- pair: any two cards with the same number or face
- 2 pair: any two sets of a single pair (for example, 2 queens and 2 aces)
- 3 of a kind: any 3 poker cards with the same number or face
- straight: any 5 cards in consecutive order (i.e., 2,3,4,5,6). In holdem an ace can be either high or low.
- flush: any 5 cards that share the same suit
- full house: a pair and a 3 of a kind (for example, 2 aces and 3 queens)
- straight flush: a straight where all 5 cards are the same suit
- royal flush: the best possible hand in texas holdem, and also he highest valued straight flush. It is a 10, jack, queen, king and ace of the same suit!