Reading the board

One of the more important things a Texas Holdem beginner should get the hang of is to be able to read the community cards properly. This is important because a player should have an idea how strong his own hand is comparison to the hands of the other players.

Some examples

The flop is dealt

The best possible hand ("the nuts") has a player with a straight ranging from J to K.

Then we have not considered possibilities improving the hand (outs). Ks and Js would for example create a hand with great potential (royal straight flush, straight flush, flush plus high pairs for the next card) but let us leave that for now. Instead we should focus on the current hands.

The second strongest hand is a straight with:

The third strongest hand is three of a kind or set with:

The fourth strongest hand is three of a kind with:

The fifth strongest hand is three of a kind with:

The turn-card is dealt

Now the strongest hand is a straight flush with the cards:

The second strongest hand is a straight flush with a lower value:

The third strongest hand is four of a kind:

The fourth strongest hand is a full house:

The fifth strongest hand is a flush with As as high card

Etc …

The river card is dealt

The strongest hand is now a Royal Flush with:

The second strongest hand is a Straight Flush with:

The third strongest hand is four of a kind:

The fourth strongest hand is a full house:

Etc…