Texas Hold Em Strategy
In texas holdem, much depends upon the first three cards. Unless you have something to start with, you're not apt to have anything worthwhile at the finish. There are some optimistic players who argue against this texas holdem strategy, but the law of averages is against them. They look at it this way. If you take three aces, shuffle them in with four odd cards and deal them out, you will still have three aces, regardless of the order in which they turn up.That is very true, but the texas holdem strategy doesn't hold with seven cards taken at random, since there is no guarantee that three aces will be among them. Surprises do pop up in the final cards of a seven card deal, but not as often as people think. They are inclined to remember such hands and overlook those that turned out to be a total bust. So a hand that starts out with good cards is really the only type of hand to play and a good texas holdem strategy to follow.That raises this texas holdem strategy question: just how good should the first three cards be? The answer to that texas holdem strategy question depends to some degree on whether the game has a high or low limit, as well as the type of players involved. Keep this in mind -- if you play a tight game when everybody else is taking chances, some of your best hands may lose out, because of the chance of surprise hands cropping up.
Since we have mentioned three aces, we may as well mark it as the ideal holding to start off a hand of texas holdem. With two aces as hole cards and a third as an up card, you are likely to have the pot won then and there, since the average winning hand in texas holdem is probably around three nines. The presence of an ace as an up card does not give away the fact that you have two others in the hole; in fact, it may create the impression that your other cards are not too good and that you are counting on a lone ace to bolster them. However, but the time five or six cards have been dealt, with no other aces appearing among them, other players may suspect that your hand is better than they thought.
Taking three aces as the best possible starter, it follows that three kings will come next, then three queens and so on down the scale.OK,the higher the trio the better, not only because it may win over another set of triplets, but because high cards are logical to hold. When you get down to a five or lower as you initial up card, people may wonder why you are staying with it, unless later up cards make them think that you are going for a straight or flush. Unless you find yourself practically beaten on the board, stay with those trips to the bitter end. Remember when you have triplets to start any pair will give you a full house; and chances of making one are usually good right up to the seventh card.
Three to a Straight Flush
This type of hand is loaded with prospects that should never be ignored. You don't get it very often, but when you do, you have up to a 40 percent chance of hitting a straight or flush for a very likely win; and such hands are hard to make without strong help to start. The ideal setup consists of three high cards of the same suit in sequence, with a combination like the queen, jack and ten of hearts rating as the best. This gives you a chance of filling with the following combinations: any ace-king; any king-nine; or any nine-eight for a straight. Also, any two hearts out of a possible ten make a flush. If your two cards toward a straight both happen to be hearts, you'll have a straight flush for a clincher, but don't expect that very often.
Other sequences of three cards in a single suit offer the same hopes of a straight or flush, down to a hand such as 5, 4 and three of spades. But the higher brackets offer you better insurance if you happen to pair up a couple of your original cards. With Q-J-10, if you miss on your straight or flush, but happen to get another queen and ten, you'll have a high two pair, which has a fair chance of winning, or perhaps get two queens, jacks or tens for three of a kind.
Starters like A, K, and Q of diamonds are not as good, as they limit your chances for a straight to a ten and nine. Starters like K, Q and J of clubs are limited to ace and ten, or ten and nine, to make a straight. Spaced starters, such as Q, 10, and 8 of hearts, or 9, 7, 6 of diamonds are also somewhat limited, but all are worth staying with.
Thus, if your fourth card fits with either your prospective straight or flush, stay right through to the finish, since you have three chances at filling on the fifth, sixth and seventh cards. If you miss on the fourth card, stay for the fifth; if it hooks up with your original three, stay for the sixth and seventh, which will give you two chances for your straight or flush. But if you haven't improved by the fifth card, it's not worth the risk to stay any longer.
There is an exception to this texas holdem strategy. If you happen to make a high pair on your fourth or fifth card, you can stay for the sixth or even seventh card, hoping to make a high two pair or three of a kind. This sometimes puts you back in the running toward a straight or a flush. For example:
Your Hand: king of hearts (down), jack of hearts (down), queen of hearts (up), five of clubs (up), king of diamonds (up), nine of hearts (up)
With the king, queen and jack of hearts for starters, you are dealt the useless five of clubs, but you stay hoping for a fifth card that will help toward a straight or flush. When you are dealt the king of diamonds, it just about ruins your hopes, but instead of folding, you stay on the chance of making two pair or three of a kind since there are eleven cards that will do it (3 fives, 3 jacks, 3 queens, and 2 kings) and you have two more to come. Then for your sixth card, up pops the nine of hearts, which gives you a dozen chances to fill a straight or flush on the seventh card.
In short, you wouldn't have stayed for that possible payoff, except for the prospects offered by the king of hearts which are still good. However, there are times when you would pass up such chances with this texas holdem strategy; and that's when other players have something better showing on the board, like three of a kind, four cards to a flush, or two pair that could mean a full house. In this case, the texas holdem strategy we suggest is to fold.
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