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e > Poker Strategy Section > Texas Holdem Beginners

eginners Equity Guide to "Standar d" Situations in No-Limit

old’em

November 2015 By Dirk Oetzmann

you're just getting started in No-Limit

d'em you'll soon find out that there are

ny "standard" situations you’ll keep

ding yourself in.

y happen all the time so it’s important for

to know where you stand and how to play

mally in each of these situations.

ou can regularly make the correct decisions

hese spots you’ll be a winner in the long run

you’ll be a superior player to those who get

m wrong.

se are the most common standard situations you'll encounter in No-

it Texas Hold’em pre-flop, post-flop and on the turn with the key math

lained along with the best approach for dealing with them.

HE Standard Situations Pre-Flop

The Coin Flip: One Pair vs Two Overcards

amples: Q♠ Q♣ vs A♣ K ♦; 8♦ 8♥ vs K♣ Q♥

This is probably the best known situation in

NLHE. It’s generally called a coin flip with

each player basically having a 50-50 chance

of winning, although it really isn't quite so

clear.

In reality the pocket pair is significantly

ahead most of the time. The winning

percentage of QQ vs AKo is 57:43, for

example.

But there are also instances when the pair is

behind (for example any low pair against

JTs).

Hint: Coin flips are the bread and butter of 

tournament poker. Put your chips in the

middle and don’t think about them too

much. Numbers will even out in the long

run.

2) Ouch: Higher Pair vs Lower Pair

mples: Q♠ Q♣ vs 7♦ 7♠; 8♦ 8♥ vs 5♣ 5♥

s is a really bad spot if you have the lower pair. The higher pair is always an 82% favorite.

re's nothing for you to do but pray.

t: The lower your pair, the higher the chances of being dominated. Eights are the pair that

arates the small pairs from the big pairs.

Kicker issues: Not as Bad as You Think

mples: A♦ K♣ vs A♣ Q♥; K♥ Q♦ vs K♠ T♥

ing dominated," which means having a weaker kicker to your high card than your opponent, is

as bad a situation as many players think.

better hand has about 70% equity, which means that the weaker hand actually wins almostry third time.

lower your kicker is, the lower also are the chances of it having any effect on the outcome as

re will be more split pots.

t: With a bad kicker you always have to be aware that you might be dominated. However it’s a

worse to run a pair into a higher pair.

Not Good at All: Pocket Pair vs One Overcard

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mples: Q♠ Q♣ vs A♦ T♠; 8♥ 8♦ vs A♣ 5♥

ther situation where the player with the overcard is in a really

spot with just 27-32% equity.

good thing is that’s still more than every fourth time.

t: Be careful if you have a weak kicker. Chances are you’re not

ping but playing with only one live card.

andard Situations in No-Limit Hold’em – Post-Flop

Top Pair vs Flush Draw or Straight Draw

mples: A♥ 2♥ vs K♣ Q♠ on a flop of K♥ T♣ 8♥; K♣ Q♠ vs 8♦ 7♥

a flop of K ♦ 9♣ 6♥

s is comparable to the so-called "coin flip" pre-flop. It’s important

otice that there are still two cards to come so the draw has two

nces of coming in.

flush draw in the example above has a 45% chance to win while the straight draw in the

ond example only has 33%.

reason is because there are still nine hearts to complete the flush draw while there are only

cards that complete the straight draw.

t: The chances for your draws are determined by the pot odds. If you’re getting the right pot

s you can continue profitably.

2) A Big Advantage: Top Pair vs Lower Pair

Example: K♣ Q♠ vs J♥ T♦ on a flop of K♥ J♠ 2♣

A situation like this is about as one-sided as a higher vs a lower pair

on the flop. The better hand is going to win 80% of the time.

Hint: Play pairs lower than top pairs very carefully. They don’t have

a lot of chances to improve and are often dominated.

3) Top Pair vs Top Pair – Kicker Issues

Example: K♣ Q♠ vs K♥ T♥ on a flop of K ♦ 7♦ 6♣

Having a lower kicker is even worse than having a lower pair. This

shows how important the kicker card is.

The dominating hand has an 83% chance of winning so it's a clear

favorite.

Hint: Be careful with a top pair, bad kicker hand. The lower yourkicker the more often you’re behind.

Set vs Top Pair – Way Ahead

mple: 4♣ 4♠ vs A♥ K♥ on a flop of A♣ T♠ 4♦

can’t be much more of a favorite. A set wins 96% of hands against top pair on the flop. It’s an

ost unbeatable hand.

higher the top pair is the harder it is to get rid of it. Many players “get married” to their top

r, which makes sets so incredibly profitable.

t: If you flop a set you’re pretty certain to be a winner. But watch out for possible draws!

Set vs Flush Draw or Straight Draw – a 3:1 Favorite

amples: 4♣ 4♠ vs A♥ K♥ on a flop of 4 ♥ 9♥ 7♣; 4♣ 4♥ vs

on a flop of T ♦ J ♦ 7♣

s is one of the situations that pretty much plays out automatically.

set is a 3-1 favorite but the pot odds and implied odds are often

good that the draw can call profitably.

remember: The set is always ahead on the flop.

t: You’re always a favorite with a set on a rainbow board. Note

t you always have re-draws to a paired board even if the draw

mes in first.

Set vs Monster Draw (Combined Flush and Straight Draw)

till Ahead

ample: 4♣ 4♠ vs J♥ T♥ on a flop of 9♥ 8♥ 4♦

ough the drawing hand is now drawing to both a flush and a

ight the set is still a 58-42 favorite – quite remarkable, isn’t it?

both hands have a good reason to bet in this situation as the pot odds will almost always be

d enough.

t: With a flopped set you’re going to be a favorite on the flop even against the best possible

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w.

andard Situations in No Limit Hold’em – The Turn

flop may have given you a pretty hand but if the turn is not what you’re looking for it can

rally turn things around.

1) Top pair vs Flush Draw or Straight Draw

Examples: Flush draw A♥ 2♥ vs K♣ Q♠ on a board of K♥ T♣ 8♥ ---

3♦

Straight draw: K♣ Q♠ vs 8♦ 7♥ on a board K ♦ 9♣ 6♥ 3♦

The flush draw with one overcard now is down to 28% equity (aka

chance of winning). The straight has even less than 20%.

It follows that you usually have to fold the draws in case your

opponent bets big.

Hint: Generally speaking you’ll always want to see the river with a

draw but sometimes the pot odds won’t be good enough. That means

the amount of chips you have to pay to call might be too high to be

 justified by the slim chances of hitting.

2) Top Pair vs Lower Pair – Almost Done

Example: K♣ Q♠ vs J♥ T♦ on a board of K♥ J♠ 2♣ --- 3♦

If the lower pair doesn’t find help on the turn you should rarely

tinue. In our example the pair of jacks has an 11% chance to win which doesn’t give you

son to bet.

t: Playing second pair is tricky as there are only a few ways for it to improve. They becomen fewer on the turn.

Top Pair vs Top Pair – Domination Nation

ample: K♣ Q♠ vs K♥ T♥ on a board of K ♦ 7♦ 6♥ --- 2♠

ker issues often get worse on every street, i.e. with every new community card. The situation

cribed above leaves the weaker hand only a 7% shot at winning – so little that it doesn’t justify

call.

t: If your pair is dominated, meaning your opponent has a higher

ond card (=kicker), you’re in dire straits. If you’re behind you’re

y going to win one out of 10 times.

Set vs Top Pair – Decided

ample: 4♣ 4♠ vs A♥ K♥ on a board of A♣ T♠ 4♦ --- 2♠

he turn hasn’t helped your top pair hand the hand is already over.

re is no way to overtake the set on the river.

e that in the example above another ace on the board would give

player with pocket fours a full house.

t: With a set you’re dominating the hand on the turn. On the

er side of the table, against a set you’re lost.

Set vs Flush Draw or Straight Draw – Almost Unstoppable

ample: 4♠ 4♣ vs A♥ K♥ on a board of 4♥ 9♥ 7♣ 2♠

ou’re playing a draw and you don’t hit the turn your chances are

wn to 16%.

wever you might not notice it as your overcards look like outs, too.

t: Overcards can be deceptive as you lose even if you hit one of them. These can't be

sidered “full” outs.

Set vs Combo Draw – Call

ample: 4♣ 4♠ vs J♥ T♥ on a board of 9♥ 8♥ 4♦ --- 2♣

ou’re playing a draw that's both a flush and a straight draw, and it doesn’t fill up on the turn,

’re down to 30%.

wever this is usually enough to call as you can win even more money on the river if you still hit.

his example there is also a straight flush draw added.

t: With such a strong draw as this you should always try to get to the river. This kind of hand

too many outs to be folded.

e Rule of Four and Two – How to Calculate Your Equity

ity, as mentioned before, is your winning chance in percent. The rule of four and two is a

ple way to calculate the equity of your hand.

not exact, but it’s close enough.

It’s one of the first rules players learn and if you’re not familiar with

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it yet you should memorize it quickly.

Rule of Four 

Applies on the flop. If you have a flush draw that means there are

nine cards in the deck that give you the winning hand.

Multiply the number of your outs by 4 and the result is your

approximate equity – 36%.

Rule of Two

Applies on the turn. If the turn card hasn’t helped your flush draw

you can now calculate your equity by multiplying the number of your

outs by 2 and add 2.

Your chances to win are now approximately 20%.

One final note: These numbers vary slightly depending on what cards

the opponent has.

he opponent has a set, for example, some of the flush outs will give him a full house.

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