Be the last remaining playel: During the play of a hand, players will fold and forfeit their interest in the pot. You win if you are the last remaining player.
Have the highest ranking hand. If more than one player remains after the last round of betting, there is a showdown. All remaining players show the contents of their hands. If you have the highestranking
hand, you win the pot.
A Hand in Hold'em
At the beginning of a hand, each player is dealt two cards face down-their pocket cards. During play of the hand, a total of five additional cards are exposed in the center of the table in three stages, creating the board. Each stage of dealing has a different name, and before each stage is a round of betting. There is a fourth and final round of betting after the last card.
Theflop-the first three exposed cards.
The turn-the fourth card.
The river-the fifth and last card.
In Hold'em, cards on the board are community cards-they are used by all the players in forming their hands. Your hand is the best five-card combination possible, using your two pocket cards and any
of the five community cards. If the best five-card hand consists of the five cards on the board, that is your hand. Your pocket cards only matter if one or both of them improve what is on the board.
Hand Rankings
The recognized five-card combinations are summarized next in order of rank (the highest-ranked hand, wf ich is the least likely to occur, is listed first). To reinforce the concept of pocket cards and community cards, a sample hand is shown for each hand ranking. Pocket cards are on the left, and the complementing community cards follow each description. Learn to spot patterns in the formation of hands.
The use of community cards creates possibilities for hands in Hold'em that players of Seven-Card Stud don't think about. For example, in contrast to Stud, it is possible for two Hold'em players each to have three cards of the same rank. However, it is impossible for two Hold'em players to have flushes in different suits. These new possibilities and new limitations are discussed.
They would have 10s full with Aces. That person could lose to someone with a pair of Jacks who would have
Jacks full with 10s. When multiple players have full houses, the person with the highest three of a kind wins. The pair only comes into play when players have the same three of a kind. Given this board, a person holding A, 10 beats a player hold 10, J. Each player has 10s full, so the pairs play and the Aces beat the Jacks. A less common way to have a full house is when three of kind appears on the board and you hold a pair in the pocket. Again, if two or more people hold a pair in the pocket, the highest pair wins.
Suppose for the same pocket cards, the board showed, K, K, 3,7, A. Both of you have Ks and 3s with an Ace kicker. Your J does not get to play and the pot is split. When comparing hands with two pair, the top pair determines who wins. Which brings us to another important concept in Hold'em-the overcard. Suppose you have K,Q in the pocket and the board comes up K, 3,3, Q, A. The Ace on the board is an overcard to your King. Your hand is 'two pair, Kings and Queens but you lose to anyone holding a single Ace in the pocket, since they also have two pair (Aces and threes).
