Your two cards
What it costs
Pre-flop chart: raise 4× or check
Raise 4× Check · Suited hands above the diagonal, offsuit below, pairs on it. Tap a square to check it.
Ultimate Texas Hold’em strategy comes down to three decisions: raise 4× before the flop, bet 2× on the flop, or bet 1× at the river. Get them right and the house edge is about 2.19% of the ante. The free calculator above has the full pre-flop chart, checks any two cards, and shows what the game costs per hour: £6.57 at £10 an ante and 30 hands.
Ultimate Texas Hold’em strategy: the three decisions
Before the flop, raise 4× with:
- Any pair of 3s or better
- Any ace
- King with any suited card, or K-5 offsuit and better
- Queen-6 suited or better, Queen-8 offsuit or better
- Jack-8 suited or better, Jack-10 offsuit
That’s about 38% of all starting hands. Everything else checks.
On the flop, bet 2× with two pair or better, a hidden pair (one that uses a hole card, except pocket deuces), or four to a flush with a hidden 10 or better in that suit. Otherwise check.
At the river, bet 1× with a hidden pair or better, or when fewer than 21 of the dealer’s possible cards beat you. Otherwise fold.
This simple version is a few hundredths of a percent worse than a computer-perfect strategy, which is close enough for any real table.
How the bets work
You start with equal Ante and Blind bets. The dealer needs a pair or better to qualify; if not, the Ante pushes. The Blind only pays when you win with a straight or better, on a table like this:
| Your winning hand | Blind pays |
|---|---|
| Royal flush | 500 to 1 |
| Straight flush | 50 to 1 |
| Four of a kind | 10 to 1 |
| Full house | 3 to 1 |
| Flush | 3 to 2 |
| Straight | 1 to 1 |
| Anything else | push |
Casinos vary the pay table, so check the felt. The optional Trips side bet has a much bigger edge than the main game and isn’t part of this strategy.
More Hold’em-style table games: the Three Card Poker calculator. For ranking hands, see the poker hand rankings, and to compare the edge with other games, the best odds in casino games.
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