Back to Basic: Poker Hand Rankings
We’ve discussed several poker tips before – some of them are more advanced than the rest – but this time we are going to take a simpler approach and discuss about the most basic thing in poker: hand rankings. Yes, different hands have different relative strength compared to others; understanding them, knowing how to spot them quickly in plays, and of course understanding the relative strength of each hand are essentially important if you want to be a successful poker player.
At the bottom of the food chain – I mean, the poker hand rankings – we have High Card. If you have nothing constructed with your hand, it is categorized as High Card based on the highest card you have. Next, we have Pair; of course, it is constructed by a pair of certain cards. Two Pair is even stronger than Pair because now you have two pairs in your hand.
If you are holding Two Pairs, don’t get overconfident just yet because your hand can easy be topped with a Three of a Kind, followed by a Straight; Straight is achieved when you have different suited cards in order, such as 5-6-7-8-9. To beat a Straight, you will need at least a Flush – same-suited 5-card combination – or a Four of a Kind.
The second strongest hands in poker are of course Straight Flush – same-suited cards in order – and the best of them all is a Royal Flush – same-suited 10-J-Q-K-A. If you have a Royal Flush, lure your opponents into betting more of their money and take down the pot with your unbeatable hand.
Managing Your Confidence Level
Poker is a very interesting casino game to play. It is played against other opponents and not against the house, and it is mainly based on skills instead of just pure luck. That is why you need to make sure you have what it takes to win in poker. One of the most important things to prepare whenever you are playing poker is proper control of your confidence level.
Not many people realize this, but too much confidence can literally kill you in poker. Let’s say you are starting with a hand of A-K, and the flow shows K-2-2; most inexperienced poker players will certainly raise under this circumstance, thinking that their Two Pairs are strong enough. However, the same Two Pairs can easily get beaten by Three of a Kind should anyone on the table has an additional 2.
Another common circumstance when it comes to online poker is to go all-in before seeing the flop. Most people do this when they have high pocket pair, although others are just plain gamblers with ordinary starting hand. Although you may be tempted to call the all-in attempt, be sure to consider your decision thoroughly before you actually make the call.
Having too much confidence can seriously damage your poker bankroll. You need to make sure you have a winning hand before you decide to bet a large portion of your poker bankroll. You may get lucky once or twice, but in poker you can’t always count on luck to stay profitable.