Sat, May 25, 3:42am by Mia Chapman

A straight is 5 cards in order, such as 4-5-6-7-8. An ace may either be high (A-K-Q-J-T) or low (5-4-3-2-1). However, a straight may not 'wraparound'. (Such as Q-K-A-2-3, which is not a straight). One element used in most poker variants is the system of hand rankings. The highest ranked hand is a Royal Flush (five cards of the same suit, ranked ace through ten), followed by a Straight Flush.

Last Updated Tue, Oct 8, 12:24am

Royal Flush

The best possible hand is a royal flush, which is a straight and a flush with the top five cards: ace, king, queen, jack, and ten. When you get these five cards all of one suit, you can’t lose in poker. Most games don’t make distinctions in suit rankings. A royal flush happens once in every 649,739 hands, so it’s a rare happening. Bet with conviction when playing these cards.

Straight Flush

A straight flush is any combination of five cards in sequence with the same suit. Getting the 2-3-4-5-6 of clubs is a straight flush, while getting the K-Q-J-10-9 of spades is a straight flush. If two happened in the same pot, the high card would win. This is also rare, about 1 in 72,192 hands or, at a 9 player table, about once every 8,000 pots.

Four of a Kind

The four of a kind is just that: four of any one card rank. You might have 4 aces, 4 sevens, or 4 twos, but each is a great hand. If two go head-to-head, the high card wins. The odds of getting this combination is one in every 4,164.

Full House

This is 3 of one card and 2 of another. If you had the 3 kings and 2 queens, it’s a full house. If you held 3 twos and 2 threes, it’s a full house. The odds of holding this hand is 1 in 694, so somebody at your table is likely to see a full house once every 75 hands or so.

Flush

The flush is simply 5 cards of any one suit, but not in sequential order. This excludes the royal flush and straight flush. A typical flush might be the king, jack, eight, five, and three of hearts.

The odds of this happening are 1:508, so a little less likely than the full house. Players should be aware in Texas holdem of the “nut flush”. Holding the nuts simply means holding the strongest possible hand from the cards showing.

Small Straight In Poker

The community cards show Q-J-10 and you hold the 9-8, you should be aware that you’re holding a flush which could be beat. If someone else holds a K-9, you lose. If someone holds an ace-king, they have a straight flush and you are really dominated. Since it’s a lot more likely someone holding A-K is likely to be in the pot than someone holding K-9, you must consider the possibility.

Straight

The straight is 5 cards in a row, regardless of suit. The straight might be an A-Q-J-10-9 or it might be the A-2-3-4-6, or some combination in between. Remember that the ace can fill out a straight as a high or low card. The odds you’ll get a straight are 1:254, or twice the probability you’ll draw a flush.

Three of a Kind

The three of a kind is a simply 3 of any one card rank. You might hold 3 aces or 777 or 3 twos. In any cases, triples is a strong hand in Texas holdem. This happens once in every 46.3 hands, meaning some is going to hold three of a kind once every 5 hands at a 9-player table.

Two Pair

Two pair is a two of one card and two of another. You might think this would be rarer than a 3 of a kind, but hold 2 pairs is a 1 in 20 proposition. This happens almost every other hand at a big table. Players with two pairs are urged to bet enough to push out gamblers on a draw, because the longer the hand goes, the more likely someone is going to outdraw your two pair.

One Pair

Holding one single pair. This is considered a strong starting hand, but a player needs to consider that a higher pair might be on the table. One in every 1.36 hands dealt are going to contain a pair. If you hold a pair of 2’s, that’s not nearly as good as holding a pair of A’s. Even a pair of aces is in a dangerous position if you don’t improve on the hand by getting trips, two pair, or a full house.

High Card – No Pair

The weakest hand in poker is no pair, which is called “high card”. Whatever your highest card is where your hand is ranked. If you have an ace, you would hold aces high. If you held a 7-5-4-3-2, you would have seven high, which is the weakest possible hand in most games of poker. If you were playing either the Omaha or seven-card stud hi/lo game variant, this would be a strong hand.

Otherwise, you’re going to be beaten, which is why holding a 7-2 offsuit is considered the weakest starting hand in Texas holdem. You simply hold no way to improve with flush or straight, so you’re hoping to pair 7s and 2s.

Mastering the Hand Ranks

Knowing the hand ranks gives a player a quick signpost for their strength when betting into a pot. A successful poker player needs a detailed knowledge of the hand rankings. When I say you need to know the poker hands, I’m not talking about whether a pair of aces beats a pair of kings.

I’m talking about that mass of card combinations between the best and worst hands. Whenever you hold any set of cards, a gambler needs to know its strength relative to the rest of the possibilities. To do this, card players should study hand ranking charts not much different than what you would study in blackjack.

Several experts have made tables which detail the playable hands in Texas hold’em, Omaha holdem, seven-card stud, razz, and the various hi/lo 8-or-better variants of the games already mentioned. Study these for the game or variant you want to master. That way, you know which hands to play and which to fold.

Even if you decide to play a hunch or make a bluff, you do so with the knowledge that you’re diverging from classic poker strategy. Predicate all you do in poker on a firm understanding of the hand ranks.

See also:

A poker player is drawing if they have a hand that is incomplete and needs further cards to become valuable. The hand itself is called a draw or drawing hand. For example, in seven-card stud, if four of a player's first five cards are all spades, but the hand is otherwise weak, they are drawing to a flush. In contrast, a made hand already has value and does not necessarily need to draw to win. A made starting hand with no help can lose to an inferior starting hand with a favorable draw. If an opponent has a made hand that will beat the player's draw, then the player is drawing dead; even if they make their desired hand, they will lose. Not only draws benefit from additional cards; many made hands can be improved by catching an out — and may have to in order to win.

• 2Types of draws

Outs[edit]

An unseen card that would improve a drawing hand to a likely winner is an out. Playing a drawing hand has a positive expectation if the probability of catching an out is greater than the pot odds offered by the pot.

The probability ${\displaystyle P_1}$ of catching an out with one card to come is:

${\displaystyle P_1=\frac{\mathrm{o}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{s}}{\mathrm{u}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{s}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{c}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{d}\mathrm{s}}}$

The probability ${\displaystyle P_2}$ of catching at least one out with two cards to come is:

${\displaystyle P_2=1-\frac{\mathrm{n}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{s}}{\mathrm{u}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{s}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{c}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{d}\mathrm{s}}\times \frac{\mathrm{n}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{s}-1}{\mathrm{u}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{s}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{c}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{d}\mathrm{s}-1}}$

${\displaystyle \mathrm{n}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{s}=\mathrm{u}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{s}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{c}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{d}\mathrm{s}-\mathrm{o}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{s}}$

A dead out is a card that would normally be considered an out for a particular drawing hand, but should be excluded when calculating the probability of catching an out. Outs can be dead for two reasons:

• A dead out may work to improve an opponent's hand to a superior hand. For example, if Ted has a spade flush draw and Alice has an outside straight draw, any spades that complete Alice's straight are dead outs because they would also give Ted a flush.
• A dead out may have already been seen. In some game variations such as stud poker, some of the cards held by each player are seen by all players.

Types of draws[edit]

Flush draw[edit]

A flush draw, or four flush, is a hand with four cards of the same suit that may improve to a flush. For example, K♣ 9♣ 8♣ 5♣ x. A flush draw has nine outs (thirteen cards of the suit less the four already in the hand). If you have a flush draw in Hold'em, the probability to flush the hand in the end is 34.97 percent if there are two more cards to come, and 19.56 percent (9 live cards divided by 46 unseen cards) if there is only one more card to come.

Outside straight draw[edit]

An outside straight draw, also called up and down, double-ended straight draw or open-end(ed) straight draw, is a hand with four of the five needed cards in sequence (and could be completed on either end) that may improve to a straight. For example, x-9-8-7-6-x. An outside straight draw has eight outs (four cards to complete the top of the straight and four cards to complete the bottom of the straight). Straight draws including an ace are not outside straight draws, because the straight can only be completed on one end (has four outs).

Inside straight draw[edit]

An inside straight draw, or gutshot draw or belly buster draw, is a hand with four of the five cards needed for a straight, but missing one in the middle. For example, 9-x-7-6-5. An inside straight draw has four outs (four cards to fill the missing internal rank). Because straight draws including an ace only have four outs, they are also considered inside straight draws. For example, A-K-Q-J-x or A-2-3-4-x. The probability of catching an out for an inside straight draw is half that of catching an out for an outside straight draw.

Double inside straight draw[edit]

A double inside straight draw, or double gutshot draw or double belly buster draw can occur when either of two ranks will make a straight, but both are 'inside' draws. For example in 11-card games, 9-x-7-6-5-x-3, or 9-8-x-6-5-x-3-2, or in Texas Hold'em when holding 9-J hole cards on a 7-10-K flop. The probability of catching an out for a double inside straight draw is the same as for an outside straight draw.

Other draws[edit]

Sometimes a made hand needs to draw to a better hand. For example, if a player has two pair or three of a kind, but an opponent has a straight or flush, to win the player must draw an out to improve to a full house (or four of a kind). There are a multitude of potential situations where one hand needs to improve to beat another, but the expected value of most drawing plays can be calculated by counting outs, computing the probability of winning, and comparing the probability of winning to the pot odds.

Backdoor draw[edit]

A backdoor draw, or runner-runner draw, is a drawing hand that needs to catch two outs to win. For example, a hand with three cards of the same suit has a backdoor flush draw because it needs two more cards of the suit. The probability ${\displaystyle P_{rr}}$ of catching two outs with two cards to come is:

${\displaystyle P_{rr}=\frac{\mathrm{o}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{s}}{\mathrm{u}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{s}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{c}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{d}\mathrm{s}}\times \frac{\mathrm{o}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{s}-1}{\mathrm{u}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{s}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{c}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{d}\mathrm{s}-1}}$

For example, if after the flop in Texas hold 'em, a player has a backdoor flush draw (e.g., three spades), the probability of catching two outs on the turn and river is (10 ÷ 47) × (9 ÷ 46) = 4.16 percent. Backdoor draws are generally unlikely; with 43 unseen cards, it is equally likely to catch two out of seven outs as to catch one out of one. A backdoor outside straight draw (such as J-10-9) is equally likely as a backdoor flush, but any other 3-card straight combination isn't worth even one out.

Drawing dead[edit]

A player is said to be drawing dead when the hand he hopes to complete will nonetheless lose to a player who already has a better one. For example, drawing to a straight or flush when the opponent already has a full house. In games with community cards, the term can also refer to a situation where no possible additional community card draws results in a win for a player. (This may be because another player has folded the cards that would complete his hand, his opponent's hand is already stronger than any hand he can possibly draw to or that the card that completes his hand also augments his opponent's.)

See also[edit]

• Poker strategy

References[edit]

1. ^Odds Chart. 'How to play texas holdem poker'. Howtoplaytexasholdempoker.org. Archived from the original on 13 January 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2010.

External links[edit]

Five Straight Rules