We often receive emails at 4TexasHoldem asking questions about the rules of Texas Holdem, Texas Holdem strategy, or simply asking to help resolve a dispute between poker playing friends. Here is a email we recently received:
I have a simple holdem question. What constitutes a player folding his hand? Since your cards are already on the table, do you have to say "fold"? What if you throw your cards towards the dealer without saying anything?
The situation came up during a game last night. One player threw his cards toward the dealer after another declared "all-in." The person who went "all-in" thought the other player had folded and threw his cards up. The other player seeing his cards said he had not folded and proceeded to win. What constitutes folding? Thanks!
You are sitting at the table and you look down at your holecards to find a suited connector. Have you ever wondered what are the odds of flopping a straight, or maybe just catching 2 more cards of the same suit on the flop.
Many players enjoy the stability of limit Texas Holdem. In limit Holdem, bets are set at specific increments that double on the Turn and River. For example, if you are playing $2/$4 limit, the small blind would be $1 and the big blind would be $2. Each bet and raise preflop and immediately after the flop must be $2. Each bet and raise after the turn and river must be $4. Playing this style of Texas Holdem can reduce the large chip stack swings that a player may see when playing the more aggressive no-limit Texas Holdem. At the same time, it limits a players chances to win a huge hand when they flop the "nuts" and can only bet a specified amount. For many players, limit Holdem is too structured. In lower limit games, you will often find a large number of players in the hand until the final card is shown. This can become frustrating when your top hands lose repeatedly to players chasing flushes and inside straights.
Remember back to the day in Probability and Statistics class when you yelled at your teacher saying, "when will knowing the odds of picking a red ball out of a bucket be useful to my life!!" Looks like today is the day. Those equations you dreaded back then are the same ones we can use today when playing Texas Holdem.
In Part 1, we talked about the percentages of making a drawing hand in Texas Holdem. Knowing the percentage is one thing, but knowing the odds is the piece of information that will help you decide if it's wise to put your money in the pot. Like the percentage, calculating the odds is just a simple mathematical formula.
