OK, you know what the idea of Texas Hold ‘Em is. Now we reach the tough part to explain: reading the cards you can see on board.

Slip back to the piece I wrote on deciding which cards to stay with. Some strong players stay with 9, 8 suited but I’m gone unless I’m sitting way deep in position and have only to call the blind. For that small call, I get to see the flop.

If two of those cards give me a four flush, I’ll consider going for fourth street, depending on the amount of the bets leading up to my call. Don’t forget, other players could have also gotten four suited and probably higher than my 9, 8. But basically I won’t stay in a hand unless my first two cards give me a decent shot.

That's the smart way to play poker.

Then comes the flop and you now have five of the seven cards you’re gonna get so you have a strong read on where you are headed. At this point you zero in on your possibilities and those of your opponents. In another article, the example given with that flush eliminated any possible chance of a full house. For a boat to rear its head, there must be at least one pair on board, so if you’re sitting with a flush, you know a full house can’t beat you if no pair shows. Same is true if you have a straight and only two of a suit showing. No one can have a flush, so you need only sweat out a higher straight.

Reading your hand after the flop is the first line of play, so analyze your chances of improving. I dislike giving you odds of such and such a thing happening because they change according to the next card dealt and the power of the hands you cant see. So I ain’t gonna give you the odds of winning a hand when you go in with a pair and the flop gives you trips. Look at the other cards!

You’re dealt IOC, 10H and call the first bet. The flop shows 10S, JS, 5S. You have trips but face three spades. There are six other players left in the hand and two of them bang in raises before it gets to you. No one could have a boat or straight so only trip jacks, trip 5s, or a flush is causing the raise.

Without trips I fold my 10s, but sitting in a deep position I’ll call with my trips since I have two more shots for my boat. If I was on fourth street in this position and a 5C was the turn card, I’d be gone. I’d fear both the full house and the flush, so I fold with trip 10s. That’s hard to do but it’s fairly obvious you’re up against at least two strong hands.

Go back to the call I made after the turn card. Suppose a pair shows with the 5 or jack. This chases me, along with another spade. Let’s say a 9D shows and still two raises surface before it comes to me. I’ve got to respect those three spades, the raises, and now a possible straight with 9, 10, J. Many players stay with a K, Q, so another possible strong hand may have materialized. Reluctantly but definitely, I fold. This could be an expensive hand and the opposition may already have a flush or straight. I’m still on the come.

I ain’t gonna give you six hundred possible hands, but you gotta learn to read those cards on the flop and how their possibilities relate to your hand. Also give credence to the raisers who start banging away after the flop when there are two suited cards or a pair on board.

Getting the drift?