Know when to Hold 'Em , Know when to Fold 'Em

No , I'm not talking about the Kenny Rogers song ! I'm talking about the the first basic principle in knowing when to hold or fold in Texas Hold 'Em . Without knowing this basic priciple , the game itself will not be any fun to a beginner and they will lose interest fast. Most newbies to the game , don't take into consideration the percentages when first playing and throw away their best chances to win from the start!

The game is played by dealing out two cards per player called your POCKET cards. When all cards are dealt , the dealer will then throw out the Five Community cards which all players will try to make a poker hand from , including their POCKET cards. The first of the Community cards thrown out will be three cards ( all at once ) know as the FLOP. The fouth community card is a single card called the TURN card. The last community card thrown out is a single card called the RIVER card. Between each of these cards being dealt are when bets are made , but for the sake of this article I am only concerned in showing when to hold or fold before any community cards are dealt , before the FLOP , to decrease the chances of losing money unecessarily and increasing the chances to make winning hands.

The first mistake made by beginners who are familiar with the game but don't understand the odds , is thinking they can win with any pair. While tournament play does have some major hands being won on pairs , this is not always the case in limit or cash games where more than two players will find themselves at the final round of betting. Some hands can be won with any pair but the chances are so slim , that playing with this in mind ruins your chances drastically , leading to many lost hands and discouraging a new player. Winning with a pair should only be considered when holding high pairs and after other good cards fall out of favor after the community cards are starting to be thrown on the table. When a player can get in mind that the five card hands called flushes and straights will most likely show up in play in cash games , by at least one player, than your chances of taking pots are greatly increased. The way you increase your percentages of hitting these are knowing when to play the POCKET cards dealt to you.

To hit straights and flushes you must be sitting on good cards from the start and here's how to understand the numbers in hitting those hands from the get go! First off , knowing that it takes 5 cards to hit the straights and flushes ,your starting cards ( POCKET cards ) must always be within 3 of each other, ( or 3 in between ) to increase your starting odds. EX: ( 9,10,J,Q,K ) Here's why : If your two POCKET cards are more than 3 cards apart ( 8, K - let's say ) than your now left having to get four other cards to make a five card staright out of five community cards . Thats four cards in five chances or 4/5 . If however your cards ARE within 3 of each other , you already have 2 of the five cards neded to make a straight and only need to get three other cards out of five chances with the community cards. Thats three cards in five chances or 3/5. That's a 20% better chance of hitting a straight off the bat. The same holds true for a flush. If your SUITED ,with both your POCKET cards from the start ,your chances of hitting a flush are increased the same as above ,rather than randomly trying to hit the other four needed. If both of these above conditions are met in your POCKET cards then your chances are even more greatly increased to hit either the straight or the flush and the possibility to hit the STRAIGHT FLUSH are now enhanced .( EX: 9 Hearts, K Hearts) The cards are within 3 of each other AND are both SUITED the same , giving you even greater odds to hit either one. When your POCKET cards do not fit either criteria ( SUITED or within 3 of each other ) you should be more willing to FOLD OUT unless you're sitting with a high pair to play with. The jury's out on whether a pair is considered to be within 3 of each other because although it diminishes your chance of hitting the straights and flushes , it does increase the chance of hitting a SET ( Three of a Kind ) which can be used to steal the pot on a badly dealt round in a small cash game /or free online session ! (Tournament and/or NO LIMIT games hold higher stakes on Pairs since less people will be likely to be still playing in the Showdown/Final betting)

Now that you understand that basic premise , I'll show you the worst hand in Hold 'Em. Its (2,7) better known as the BEER hand ,because if you play this hand ,you've either had too many to drink or you're gonna owe a round of beers to the table after they see what you've played !!! Here's why it's the worst hand : The cards are more than three apart decreasing your chances to hit the straight as explained above and if they're not suited the same ,then you might as well fold , because unless you get lucky and hit a full house you'll most likely be left with a pair of 7's ( at best ) , and that ain't great ! If however , your holding ( 2 hearts , 7 hearts ) hoping for a good chance to hit a flush , you might still play but will probably get beat by a higher flush as yours would most likely be the lowest HIGH CARD on the table. Even the ( 2,6 ) has a better chance than a beer hand because with the cards being within three of each other , the odds to hit the straight are better , with the same 3 out of 5 chances stated above! EX: ( 2,3,4,5,6 ) Always make sure your POCKET cards meet at least one of these criteria ,if not both ( SUITED or within 3 ) before deciding to play the hand and you'll increase your chance to win pots automatically ! Of course , it helps to have these cards be high FACE cards or a High Pair to increase your chance of holding OVERCARDS when deciding to play the hand. This is only the basic premise of Hold 'Em and if you want to learn all the advanced techniques after the FLOP then you may want to pick up some advanced books on the subject. Good Luck ! ( and better yet, GOOD STRATEGY ! )

 If you found this article to be Informitive, helpful or entertaining ,please rate it up !