If you’re new to online poker, the first thing you need to learn is how to read the board or five community cards to determine the winning hand in Texas Hold’em. One of the most crucial things to remember is that when you’re making a hand, you need to use the best 5 cards available among the seven total cards.
In this game, you can opt for any five cards out of the seven to make your hand. In fact you don’t even have to use the two hole cards that have been dealt. For example, if you are dealt pocket aces and the board is 5 of spades, 6 of hearts, 7 of clovers, 8 of diamonds and 9 of clovers, your best hand would be the nine-high straight. Your aces don’t even have to play.
Problems in online poker Texas Hold’em
Another thing to keep in mind is that even with your one-pair hands, where most new players pay attention only to the pair, you need to be aware of the value of your total 5-card hand.
Another most common area of confusion for new online poker players is to determine who has the winning hand when both players have two-pair hands. Imagine that on the board there’s a 10 of clovers, 9 of hearts, 4 of clovers, 4 of diamonds and 5 of spades and one player turns over a 6 of diamonds and a 6 of clovers while another shows a 10 and a 3 of diamonds.
The best five-card hand for the player with the 6 of diamonds and 6 of clovers, is sixes and fours with a 10. Meanwhile the player holding the 10 and 3 of diamonds has tens and fours with a nine or a higher two-pair hand. This can be very tilting for the player with the poker pair.