A Straight In Texas Holdem
Straight draws are strong draws in Limit Texas Hold'em.
When you flop a straight draw it's either going to be an open-ended using both your hole cards, open-ended using one of your hole cards or a gut-shot straight draw. The way you play your straight draw will depend on this.
With an open ended-straight draw you have eight outs to improve to a straight. When you flop an open-ended straight draw you have approximately 2.2-1 (31.5%) against improving on the turn and river combined.
Your hand is stronger if it has additional value like a pair and/or overcards, back-door flush potential and so forth. For example, you hold the A♠ 4♠ on a flop with the 6♦ 5♠ 3♥ giving an open-ended straight draw (8 outs), an overcard (3 outs) and a back-door flush draw (1 out).
Whereas a pair floats by often enough, getting a straight or royal flush is less likely. 7 out of 52 means, that although you build your hand using 5 cards, you still have 7 cards from which to choose these 5. In the case of Texas Hold'em, there's the 2 pocket cards and 5 on the board. Texas Hold’em Betting: Spread Limit Texas Hold’em. While it’s a less common variant, you may sometimes find Spread Limit Texas Hold’em games available. These games allow players to bet or raise anywhere in a given range of allowable bets. For instance, a $1-$5 Spread Limit Texas Hold’em game would allow bets anywhere from $1 to $5. The odds of this happening though are very rare and almost impossible in texas holdem because the board requires three cards of one suit for anyone to have a flush in that suit. STRAIGHT FLUSH: Top Card: NA: Straight flushes come in varying strengths from five high to a king high. A King High Straight Flush loses only to a Royal. These Texas Holdem hands are compared using a hand ranking system that is standard across all variants of poker. For example, the hand rankings for No-Limit Texas Holdem hands are the same as Limit Texas Holdem hands and Pot-Limit Texas Holdem hands. The player with the highest-ranking hand wins that particular deal in most poker games.
This flop gives you 12 outs in total (45%) for improving to at least a pair. Or you hold the J♠ T♠ on a flop with the 9♣ 8♠ 3♦, giving you and an open-ended straight draw (8 outs), two overcards (6 outs) and a back-door flush draw (1 out).
This flop gives you 15 outs in total (54.1% on the turn and river combined), but you'd only feel really comfortable with the hand in case you make the straight. Nonetheless, it has additional value.
I am studying probability at the moment, and find myself often having to deal with calculating the probability of poker hands, and thus have to be crystal clear on the definition of poker hands. A straight is supposed to be any sequence of 5 cards. However, the following hands are excluded from being considered straights: K, A, 2, 3, 4.
To Draw or Not to Draw in Limit Holdem?
When you flop a straight draw you want the flop to come down rainbow. Whenever the flop is two-suited you'll have to discard two outs for the flush cards.
If the flop is two-suited and there is heavy action on the flop you should fold your straight-draw, because of the likelihood your opponents are holding sets, two pairs and flush draws.
Most of the times when you flop an open-ended straight draw on a rainbow flop you'll have correct pot odds to draw. But there are a few exceptions to consider:
- The flop comes with a pair and there is heavy action on the flop. When the board pairs it much easier for your opponents to make full houses.
- You are heads-up and don't have a pair or two overcards to the flop. The pot won't be giving you sufficient odds to call. It might be worth to try for a semi-bluff in this situation, but don't check and call all the way to the river.
Whenever you draw to an open-ended straight make sure that you are not drawing to the low end of the straight. For example, you're holding 5♠ 4♠ and the flop is J♠ 7♥ 6♣, giving you an open-ended straight draw.
This straight draw should be played like a gut-shot straight draw (4 outs) since you would only feel comfortable with the hand in case a three hits.
Open-Ended Straight Draw Using Only One Card from Your Hand
These types of flops are not as strong as the ones where you use both your hole cards. The reason for this is that the straight possibility is so obvious to you opponents and someone might already have flopped a straight.
There is also a much higher probability that you'll end up splitting the pot if you make the straight. The action also dries up when the fourth straight card hits and it might be difficult to get paid off even though you might hold the best hand.
Gut-Shot Straight Draw
This type of draw has only one card that gives you a straight, making 4 outs in total. This is approximately 11-1 against improving on the turn.
This is a hand that is pretty strong when it has additional values like two overcards. Holding K♠ Q♠ on a flop of T♠ 9♣ 6♦ is a pretty strong draw - the gut-shot straight draw to the nuts (4 outs), two overcards (6 outs, but beware of a possible straight in case a queen hits) and back door flush potential (1 out).
Heads-up this hand should be played aggressively.
Generally you are not getting sufficient pot odds to draw with only a gut-shot straight draw unless the pot has been raised before the flop. But if there are many callers before the flop, on the flop it is usually correct to draw but only do this if you are drawing to the nut straight.
For example you raise with an AQs and get four callers, the flop comes down K-T-3 (10 small bets in the pot).
You check, the opponent sitting behind you bets and there are a few callers in between you and the bettor. In this case the pot odds warrant a call in the hopes of hitting a jack that would give you the nut-straight.
You are approximately 11-1 against on improving on the turn (8.7%), but the pot is big enough to make this call correct. When you are drawing to gut-shot straights you should almost always fold if there is a risk of someone raising behind you.
One of the more confusing aspects of Texas Hold’em for beginners is how betting works during the game. Depending on the structure of the game you’re playing in, the rules for betting can be very different, and sometimes rather confusing. Here’s a quick guide to Texas Hold’em Betting that should help you understand exactly what’s going on.
Texas Hold’em Betting: General Rules
In Texas Hold’em, betting begins to the left of the dealer button and moves around the table clockwise. At the beginning of a hand, two players must make forced bets, called blinds, in the two seats directly to the left of the button. At any time, players have the option to call the current bet, raise the current bet, or fold their hand. If no bets have been made yet in a round, players also have the option of passing their turn by checking.
Each Texas Hold’em betting structure also has its own betting rules.
Texas Hold’em Betting: Limit Texas Hold’em
In Limit Texas Hold’em, betting is structured so that all bets on a given round are of the same size. In the vast majority of cases, a smaller bet is required in the first two rounds of betting, with a larger bet required on the turn and river.
Generally, a Limit Texas Hold’em game will be named based on the size of these bets. For instance, a $2/$4 Limit Texas Hold’em game will have $2 bets and raises early in the hand, and $4 bets and raises later in the hand. The large blind is usually the size of the smaller bet (in this case, $2), and the small blind will be about half the size of the large blind (again, in this case, $1).
Texas Hold’em Betting: No Limit Texas Hold’em
In No Limit Texas Hold’em, betting limits are mostly eliminated. When players bet or raise, they now have the option of betting as much of the money they have in front of them as they like. The only restriction is that any bet must be at least the size of the big blind, and any raise must be at least as large as the raise that proceeded it.
Most No Limit Texas Hold’em games will be named after the size of the blinds being used. A $1/$2 No Limit game will have a $2 big blind, and a $1 small blind. Each bet will need to be at least $2. If a player raises that bet to $6, that is a raise of $4; if another player wishes to raise again, they will need to make the bet at least $10 ($6 plus the $4 size of the previous raise).
Texas Hold’em Betting: Pot Limit Texas Hold’em
Pot Limit Texas Hold’em betting is slightly more complex than in the above examples. While players may raise more than they can in Limit games, they do not have complete freedom as in No Limit games. Instead, players are limited by raising the amount of the current pot size.
Calculating the pot size for these games can sometimes seem complicated. The pot is considered to be the total of the chips already in the pot on previous rounds, bets made on the current round of betting, and the amount the current player would need to call before making a raise.
For instance, imagine a pot that already has $50 in it. A player then opens the betting on a new round with a $20 bet. If the next player wishes to raise, the pot size is:
$50 for the previous rounds’ bets
$20 for the current round’s bet
$20 for what the next player would have to call to stay in the hand.
This means that the current pot is considered $90, and the player may raise an additional $90 beyond that. Thus, the player may put up to $110 into the pot — $20 to call, and another $90 to raise.
As with No Limit Hold’em games, the games are usually named based on the size of the blinds; a $1/$2 Pot Limit Hold’em game will have a small blind of $1 and a large blind of $2.
Texas Hold’em Betting: Spread Limit Texas Hold’em
While it’s a less common variant, you may sometimes find Spread Limit Texas Hold’em games available. These games allow players to bet or raise anywhere in a given range of allowable bets. For instance, a $1-$5 Spread Limit Texas Hold’em game would allow bets anywhere from $1 to $5. As with other games, normal betting rules still exist; specifically, a raise must be at least the size of the previous bet or raise (in other words, if one player raises $5, the next cannot raise $1).
Texas Holdem Betting Strategy
Betting is the crux of poker. The game of Texas Hold’em consists of a series of bets based on the perceived strength of your cards – without betting, it would simply be a game of who got dealt the best hand and players would just wait to have the best possible hand before wagering money.
Many players totally misunderstand the art of betting – too often on forums, I’ve heard players say they bet “to see where I’m at” or “because he checked”. Let’s be clear: your bet should be one of two things; a value bet or a bluff.
Value Bet
A value bet is, quite simply, betting your hand for value. This means you believe your opponent will call with a worse hand. When you raise AK before the flop, it’s a value bet. If you bet 88 on a 824 board, it’s a value bet. It’s quite simple – if you think that your opponent’s range of hands is worse than your holding, bet for value and hope for a call.
Bluff
A bluff is the opposite of a value bet – you think your opponent’s range of hands is stronger than your hand, however you don’t think it is strong enough to call a bet. So, you bet.
If, for example, you have Ah-Qh on a low board with two hearts, you have a strong hand and bet for value. The turn and river blank and your opponent checks to you. If you think he has a middle pair that won’t call a third bet, bet and take down the pot.
Semi-Bluff
A semi-bluff is a bet that right now is likely to be behind your opponents range, but has the chance to improve on later streets. The 2 most common types of semi bluffs are with large draws such as a flush draw that has 9 outs and an open ended straight draw that has 8 outs (learn how to count outs here).
Texas Holdem Card List
Take the example above of having Ah-Qh on a board of 9h-4h-2c. You have only ace high but your nut flush draw and two overcards give you a good chance to win the pot – in fact, against JJ on that board you are a 55/45 favourite!
Therefore a semi-bluff is a bet made as a bluff, such as with ace high and a flush draw, that aims to fold out a better hand but has numerous outs if called. This way even if a better hand does call your bluff, you can still take the pot with a good turn or river card.
What Makes A Straight In Texas Holdem
When to Value Bet; When to Bluff?
This question simply boils down to how to read your opponents’ hand. A detailed article on this would far exceed a reasonable word count, so I’ll attempt to surmise succinctly as I have done in the previous beginner articles.
Firstly, you don’t put your opponent on a hand – you put him on a range of hands. If someone raises before the flop then bets the flop and turn of a 9-8-2 board they don’t automatically have KK or 22 or 98. To narrow down an opponent’s range, let’s use an example hand. A decent, tight-aggressive player raises under the gun. You call on the button; your cards are irrelevant but say you have 77. Both blinds fold. Now, before the flop is dealt, ask what is his range? Knowing what you know about this player (that’s he’s a pretty good TAG) you can confidently give him an estimated range of AA-22 and AK-AJ.
The flop is something unconnected and dry, such as 9c-5d-2d. Your opponent bets and you call, knowing he will continuation bet his entire range. The turn is the 5c and your opponent bets again – now his range has narrowed.
He is unlikely to have 99, 55 or 22 as many players will check this hand and allow you to bluff off your chips into their monster.
Odds Of A Straight In Texas Holdem
He also probably doesn’t have any pair less than 99, nor is he likely to have AK-AJ unless he holds the nut flush draw. His range therefore has narrowed to TT+, AdKd, AdQd and AdJd.
Texas Holdem Practice For Beginners
This is a very simple example about how you can narrow down someone’s range of hands over a few rounds of betting.