Ultimate Texas Hold'em Strategy: Rules, Hands and Optimal Play

The format of Ultimate Texas Hold’em is similar to the other types of casino poker played in most casinos and offered in online casinos. The player and the dealer both receive two cards; the flop, turn and river are dealt later. The player may decide to raise once per hand. At the showdown, the dealer's cards are revealed. If the player's hand is better than the dealer’s, the player wins. If the player's hand is worse than the dealer's, the player loses his bet. One big difference between this and regular poker is that the hand is automatically declared a tie if the dealer doesn't have at least one pair. Players with particularly good hands get an additional payout, and players can also bet that they’ll get a three of a kind or better.

A game of Texas Hold’em consists of two cards in each player's hand and up to five community cards dealt in the middle of the table, which are revealed successively. First, three community cards are revealed. This is called the flop. Then another card is added, which is called the turn. One last card is added, the so-called river.

Before the flop is revealed, you can decide if you want to raise your hand or check. You'll also be able to act when the turn and the river cards are revealed. We’ll explain the options for each scenario in the following strategy guide. In addition, you should know the poker hand rankings so you can quickly improve your game:

You can raise to three or four times the ante amount before the flop. However, if we’re looking at the theory behind the game, it’s never a good idea to raise to three times the amount. It is always better to either raise to four times the amount or check. These are the best hands to raise with pre-flop:

• Any Ace
• Any King combined with a 5 or higher (K5)
• Any Queen combined with a 5 or higher (Q5)
• Jack combined with a 10 (JT)
• King and 2, King and 3, King and 4, Queen and 6, Queen and 7, Jack and 8, or Jack and 9, if they are of the same suit

If you didn't raise before the flop, you should raise with the following hands on the flop:

• Two pairs or better
• Any pair equal to or better than a pair of threes (3 3) that is not already on the board
• Any flush draw in which you can already match four cards of the suit.

If you didn't raise pre-flop or on the flop, you have to decide when the river is dealt whether to play your hand or just give up. When the river is dealt, it costs you an ante to stay and go on to the showdown. Remember, you already have two antes in play (ante bet plus blind bet). That said, if you win the showdown in one out of three cases, it's worth betting on the river. The advantage is that you already know your hand when the river is dealt. So you have a good idea where you’re standing. There’s a simple trick for determining whether the dealer might beat your hand. You should play the following hands:

• Any pair that is not on the board
• Any hand with a maximum of 20 individual cards that beat your hand

The last point may sound complicated to most players, but it’s actually quite simple once you get the hang of it. Consider the following example: Let’s say you have a pocket pair of deuces.

2+2

The board (the five community cards dealt to the middle of the table) consists of Ace, King, 7, 3 and 9 in rainbow (this means different suits so that no flush is possible).

A+K+7+3+9

Now you can assess what kinds of hands would beat yours. There’s no danger of a straight or a flush on the board. But all of the community cards are higher than your pocket pair of deuces. This means if the dealer has any Ace, any King, any 7, any 3, or any 9, the dealer’s hand would beat yours. There are three cards of each of the five possible pairs that he might be holding in his hand that would beat you.

And, if we do the math:

3 x 5 = 15

Great! This means the odds are in your favor, since the 15 cards are fewer than the previously established rule of 20 individual cards that beat your hand. Also keep in mind that there might be a flush or a straight other than the one in our hand out there on boards. So you’d also have to count the cards that would complete a flush or a straight if this were the case.