The best way to learn poker is to play, but before you start betting let’s take a look at a single hand of Hold’em so you can see how it progresses, and how the relative value of each player’s hand can change.
We’ll not bother considering the dealer position, blinds or bets for the purposes of this example. We have 4 players, and here’s how the hold cards are dealt…
Bear in mind that of course in reality these cards would be dealt face down, and each player would only be able to see their own cards!
Player 1 has been dealt a pair of jacks so has a pair right off the bat. Player 2 has 7 8 off suit (meaning they are not of the same suit) which, player 3 has a pair of aces which is the highest possible hand at this point – known as the nuts! Finally player 4 has Ace 4.
So for this first round of betting player 3 has the strongest hand, and would probably bet fairly heavily. Player 2 has a weak hand and would quite possibly fold, but we’ll keep all the players in for the whole hand to see how it progresses. Players 1 and 4 are in between, so let’s see what the flop brings…
Wow, so player 1 flopped trips (another Jack to match the pair they have in the hole) and now has a stronger hand than player 3. Player 2 hasn’t actually improved their hand, but they do now have a gutshot straight draw (if a 9 comes on either the turn or the river they will have a straight, which would beat three jacks!). Player 4 also has a good draw – any spade will now give them an ace-high flush!
Again there would be a round of betting at this point and then comes the turn…
Would you know? Player 2 hit their straight with the 9 meaning they now have a stronger hand than the jacks, and at this point have the winning hand. None of the other players were affected by this card, so again there would be another round of betting before the final card – the river…
Five of spades – that makes a flush for player 4! Since there is no possible combination of cards any player could have which would beat player 4’s ace-high flush, they can now bet with impunity knowing they can’t be beaten – they have the stone cold nuts!
Players 1 and 2 with trip jacks, and a straight will probably give player 4 some action as they both probably feel they have a good chance at winning the pot, and depending on how many raises there have been in earlier rounds player 3 might well think they are in with a chance with their pair of aces!
Betting would now continue until all players have bet an equal amount (all called) or folded, and in this instance player 4 would win the pot. But notice how, until after the river, player 4 had a losing hand. This is important since in the first round player 3 would have probably bet, after the flop player 1 would have probably bet, and after the turn card player 2 would have probably bet, not to mention that there may have been re-raises in any of those rounds.
So to get to that winning position, player 4 would have needed to call at least 3 bets with nothing but ace high… in fact there’s a good chance that player 4 would have folded before even seeing the final card (and then probably wished they hadn’t!)
And that’s the beauty of the game. As the old Kenny Rogers song goes "every hand’s a winner, and every hand’s a loser." If this were a real hand of poker, I suspect that after player 1 hit the trio jacks on the flop they may have bet rather high – possibly forcing players 2 and 4 to fold since at that point they had rather weak hands. Player 3 might well have called, thinking that player 1 had a single jack (making top pair) which his aces beat. If that were the case, player 1 would have won the pot – not player 4.
That’s why poker is not a simple game of luck. Of course you have to play the hands you’re dealt, but you also play your opponents – make them believe you have the best hand and you’ll probably win the pot, whether you have them beat or not!
