A brief preliminary remark: According to the poker Texas Hold’em rules, hands always consist of five cards. Even with the high card (= highest card), we look at all five cards. This means that if two players have the same high card, we look at the next highest card until one player can present the higher high card. In the event of a tie, the pot is split. That is the rule everywhere also at the newest Bizzo Casino Canada.
The rules of poker say: At the beginning, all players are dealt two cards face down (= hole cards). In the middle are up to five community cards. You therefore have seven cards to choose from, which you use to create the best possible five-card hand. You may use one hole card, none or both face-down cards. However, there are exceptions. In Omaha Poker, you must always use two of your four hole cards. In Texas Hold’em, however, the choice is yours according to the Texas Holdem rules.
Which five-card hand you form is ultimately down to luck, of course. “If you play online poker, the hand you have made is often displayed in small letters in the corner. This is extremely useful when you are just starting out. However, there are situations in which it is worth continuing to play. We have come up with a few examples.
♠️ Flush draw On the flop (=third community card), three cards are dealt face up. Two spade cards are laid out in the middle. Two more spade cards lie face down (= hole cards) in front of you. You would make a flush with another spade card. How likely is it that you will complete the unfinished hand (= draw)? Well: The deck consists of 52 cards and four suits. Ergo, there are 13 spade cards in the deck. We can cross out four cards (= the cards we know). That leaves nine spades cards. A rule of thumb says that you can multiply the cards that help you (= outs) by a factor of 2. This determines the probability of hitting the draw with the next card you turn over. With nine outs, we arrive at 18%. If you see the turn and river (= two community cards), the probability doubles to around 36%.
♠️ Straight draw With straight draws, a distinction is made between gutshots (= belly shots) and open-ended straight draws. A gutshot is missing a card in the middle. For example, a seven is missing from 5-6-8-9. Open-ended straight draws, on the other hand, are open in both directions. This is the case with 6-7-8-9, for example. You can complete the straight with a five or ten. It follows from this: With open-ended straight draws, you have twice as many outs at your disposal. This also doubles the probability of hitting one of the outs.
♠️ Combo draws Even more dangerous than a flush or straight draw is the combo draw. The term is used when you play with a flush and straight draw at the same time, for example. This gives you a total of 15 outs to help you along. Even if your opponent takes the lead with a pair of aces and you have nothing more than the draw, your chance of winning on the flop (= two community cards still to come) is around 60%. In other words, combo draws can be stronger than hands that are already finished.