Reading the Board

We’ve already talked about the starting hands in hold’em, but remember that hold’em poker is a game of more than just two cards and everything can change after the flop, turn, or the river card. It’s a game of information availability – which means you get to see some cards (the community cards) but not all of them (your opponent’s cards) – and based on this information we can determine the relative strength of our hands, and the threats they could face. In order to be properly prepared for playing poker, it’s essential that you can read the board and work out what type of hand you have – and that’s what we’re going to focus on in this lesson.

Common Flop Textures

The flop is a key part of hold’em poker, and it will either give you a made hand or a drawing hand – and it’s up to you to spot the potential opportunities or dangers that lay ahead. The flop can be made up of many different card combinations, far too many to list in this lesson. But we can talk about general flop characteristics or as some would say – the "texture of the flop". Here are a few examples of common flops you will see when playing hold’em:

The Rainbow Flop

A rainbow flop means all three cards are of different suits. A rainbow flop means nobody can hold a flush without drawing on both the turn and the river, as the maximum number of suited cards a player could have at this point is three (two in the hole plus one on the board). If the turn is a card of the fourth suit (in our example this would be a spade), a flush will not be possible at all.

The Flush Draw Flop

This flop has two cards of the same suit (spades), which means the maximum number of suited cards a player could have at this point is four. If a player has four suited cards then he’s said to be "on a flush draw", and could have two opportunities for hitting a flush – on the turn or the river.

The Suited Flop

If the flop contains three suited cards then someone could already have a made flush, with the two cards in their hand. These types of flops are very dangerous if you have hit part of it, but not the flush. For example, if you have K-K in the hole, you have a set of Kings, and this would ordinarily be a great flop. But the suited flop means your hand could already be beaten. Your hand is also under threat by players who might have just one spade in their hand, and are looking for a fourth on the board. These types of flops should be played very carefully indeed.

The Paired Flop

Whenever the board shows a pair, the possible hands available increases to include full houses and four of a kinds. These two major hands would not be possible without a paired board. So when the board pairs you should always be aware of what the possible hands could be.

There are many more types of flops, such as trip flops, straight flops, and so on. The important thing to remember is that you analyze the texture of the flop at all times.

Knowing Your Best Hand

As you know, in hold’em you get seven cards in total but only five cards make a poker hand. It’s important that you know your best five cards by properly reading the board. It’s quite simple to do, but even experienced players can make mistakes and mis-read the board, so it’s important we get off to a solid start. Let’s look at some simple board readings.

Example #1

Your hole cards:	The board (flop, turn, and river):

Your best 5 cards:

This example shows you have a full house, thanks to the 2 on the river, and the pair of tens on the flop. The Jack and the 3 play no part in your hand.

Example #2

Your hole cards:	The board (flop, turn, and river):

Your best 5 cards:

In this example you have a flush courtesy of the T in the hole. What makes it interesting is that you also had a pair of Aces. But remember, you use your best five cards, and the Aces have no room in your hand.

Example #3

Your hole cards:	The board (flop, turn, and river):

Your best 5 cards:

In this example you are "playing the board", which shows a straight. Your hole cards, which actually made a set of 4’s on the flop, have no value in this hand. Of course you could also use one of your 4’s instead of the 4 on the board, but it makes no difference.

What’s the Nuts?

The term "the nuts" means you have an unbeatable hand based on the board. It’s important that you can read the board properly to work out what the nuts might be. Let’s use a few example boards of the flop, turn, and river, and show which starting hand would give the nuts.