Poker · Stage 3: Reading and betting

New to poker? Play your first hands, with a coach at every decision. Practice points only.

Reading the board

The shared cards say what anyone could hold. Reading them is seeing the hidden hands the board allows.

The shared cards belong to everyone. Before you value your own hand, ask what the board makes possible for the others. Three cards of one suit make a flush possible; three cards within five ranks of each other, such as nine, jack and king, a straight; a pair on the board, a full house or four of a kind. The best hand anyone could hold is called the nuts.