A full house is a five-card hand consisting of three of a kind and a pair. It ranks above a flush, but below four of a kind.
Full houses, or ‘boats’ as they’re also known, are one of the most powerful hands you can make in poker, only bettered by quads or straight flushes. They’re ranked first by the three of a kind part, and then by the pair that completes them. So, for instance, Threes full of Twos (3-3-3-2-2) beats Twos full of Aces (2-2-2-A-A).
Flopping a full house is very rare so most of the time you get one it’ll be because you make a set, trips or two-pair on the flop, and then turn or river the boat to drown your opponent.
There are many different ways to make a full house but all emanate from two different beginnings. You either have a pocket pair or two unpaired cards. If you have a pocket pair there are a couple of ways you can make a full house. If you hold a pair such as 8-8 you can flop one on a board like 6-6-8 or 5-5-5. But beware that in the second example any pair higher than Eights has you crushed.
Another way to make a full house with a pair in the hole is to flop a set – 9-9 on a board like 9-5-3 – and then the turn or river bringing a Three or Five. A variation on this theme is to hit running cards of the same denomination, such as on a board of 9-5-3-4-4, which would also fill up your hand.
Other options
Should you start with a hand such as J-10 there are myriad ways to make a full house. You can see a dream flop of J-J-10 or 10-10-J, or the board could run out so that one of your hole cards is not needed, e.g. on a board of 7-7-7-J-2. Alternatively, you could flop two-pair with, say, Q-8 on an A-8-Q board, and then hit one of your four outs (another Queen or Eight) on the turn or river. And you could even flop trips and fill up on the turn or river if, for example you hold A-5 and the board reads 5-5-K-J-A.
Despite there being plenty of ways to make full houses, they don’t come around too often. Your primary aim when you make one, then, is to make sure you win a big pot. And you can do this in a number of ways…
Getting paid
The equation of how to get paid with a full house boils down to maximizing value versus worse ‘made’ hands. The main decision rests on whether you should play your hand fast or slow…
When deciding this there are many factors to consider, such as how many players are in the pot and how strong you think your opponent(s) are. If you limp into a pot with 4-4 and five players see a flop of 4-A-A it’s a safe bet that someone has an Ace and you can go about building a pot by betting and hoping to get raised.
If the pot is heads-up on a flop of 8-3-3 and you are the pre-flop aggressor with 8-8, then you have options. The default option here is to slow-play on such a dry board, but to keep a balanced strategy you can’t always play your monsters the same way. Leading out is a good option against aggressive players who will think you’re making a standard continuation bet and raise you. Against passive opponents, though, you might choose to check and allow them to catch up. All options are open, but remember the two main things to consider when giving an opponent a free card and a chance to catch up are: will you actually get any more chips out of your opponent(s) by feigning weakness if they miss on subsequent streets? And of all the possible cards to come, how many are blanks, how many will help your opponent and induce a bet, and how many will kill your action, both by scaring your opponent and yourself?
One time when you should definitely make sure you maximize your value is when you’re pretty certain someone holds an overpair to the board. If you have 6-6 on a 9-9-6 flop, and you put your opponent on Aces or Kings, the perfect play is to bet out, say, half-pot and hope your opponent comes over the top with their ‘monster’. Most of the time in this spot all the chips are going in the middle and your opponent is drawing to two outs.
The all-in overbet
If your opponent is still around at the river after some big betting, he’s probably got a very strong hand. The urge to value-bet and guarantee a call is strong, but a great option is to make an all-in overbet. If you have 4,000 chips left and the pot is 3,000, betting 1,000 will almost always get a call, but moving all-in for 4,000 may offer greater expectation in the long-term. The bet only has to get called about 25% of the time for it to be more profitable than the small value bet.
The stats
What is the chance of flopping a full house? 0.09%
You have a hand such as 10-9 – how often will you flop two-pair? 2.02%
The chance of making a full house or better when you flop a set? 33.4%
How often will you improve to a full house if you make two-pair on the flop? 16.74%
A flush is a five-card hand all of the same suit. It ranks higher than a straight but lower than a full house. In numerical sequence it becomes the all-conquering straight flush.
Flushes are powerful, pretty and one of the best ways to get paid in no-limit hold’em. Hit one and you’ll get sets, two-pairs and straights begrudgingly giving you chips as they making crying calls against your monster.
You can make a flush using either one or both of your hole cards, but naturally it’s much more likely you’ll make a flush if you hold two cards of the same suit. Flushes are ranked in order of the highest suited card that you can bring to bear. If the board is , the player holding would beat the player holding – although the Queen-high flush would have been winning on the turn.
It’s very infrequent that you’ll flop the flush, so usually you’ll find yourself chasing it in one of three situations. First, you might have raised with a premium hand that also happens to be suited like or . Second, you may have called with suited connectors like or , and finally you may be holding a big pair like and the flop comes down containing either all spades or all clubs. Chances are you’ll have arrived at each set-up in a different way at some point and each needs to be played with different considerations in mind.
Strength in numbers
As a rule of thumb you should raise or re-raise with big suited Aces pre-flop and aim to get in cheaply with suited connectors. Why? The big suited cards have strength independent of being suited and needn’t necessarily rely on their flush potential to make a winning hand. Suited connectors are much more fragile and can’t stand much action before the flop, so you should only see the flop if you can get in cheaply and in late position. Your position is vital because it means that you can see what everyone else is doing on the flop before you have to make a decision.
Hitting a flush
If you’re lucky enough to flop the flush you have two main considerations: how to get paid, and how to make sure you protect your hand. It’s a delicate balancing act. If you have a low flush it’s important to give players drawing to the Ace or King the wrong price to call but not enough to scare them off. Play it faster in a multi-way pot but consider slow-playing against an aggressive pre-flop raiser.
There are two ways to play a flopped flush draw – slow or fast. Play it slow by checking and calling small bets on the flop and turn. Make sure you’re not paying over the odds. The express odds (chances of hitting it on the next card) are about 4/1 against, while the chance of you making your flush from flop to river is about 35%, so make sure you’re not contributing much more. You can factor in the fact that you’ve got great implied odds (you stand to get even more chips if you do hit your hand). Unfortunately players often shut down when the board completes a flush draw. Check-calling is best when your flush is your only way to win and you’re against players that can’t lay a hand down.
If you flop a flush draw with overcards or an overpair you can be a bit more ballsy. Bet the flop or check-raise – particularly against an aggressive player. By pushing big combo draws you might take the pot down straight away, and even if called you still have plenty of outs.
Of course, you will often miss your draw and at this point you need to assess whether you can take your opponent(s) off the pot. If you’ve been check-calling the whole way your bluff will be less believable. Work out what type of foe you’re up against as sometimes it can be best to cut your losses, while other times an all-in shove-bluff will see you take down a hefty pot. Judgement is everything.
The stats
What are the chances of completing an open-ended straight flush draw? 8.42%
How often will you hit your flush draw after the flop? 34.97%
How often will you flop a flush with two suited cards in your hand? 0.84%
If you have two suited cards, how often will two more of that suit come on the flop? 11.79%
A straight is a run of five consecutive unsuited cards, where Aces can be high or low (A-5 or 10-A). If the five consecutive cards are suited then you’ve got the rare and beautiful straight flush.
If you think of a straight as the silent assassin at the poker table, you won’t go too far wrong. It can appear out of nowhere and strike without fear, but when left out in the open can suddenly become vulnerable and significantly less fearsome. It can be viewed as the poor relation of the flush in ‘big hand’ stakes, but a well-played straight can still be a devastatingly effective way for you to win a lot of chips.
You will occasionally flop a straight but more often than not you’ll make a straight after drawing to two or three of the flop cards. You might have just one card in your hand that is active in the draw, such as 7-7 or A-7 on a 4-5-6 board, or more often two connected cards on a favourable flop, like J-10 on a board of 2-9-Q.
Your first concern should be whether your draw is open-ended, meaning you can hit either end of the straight (eight outs), or a gutshot (four outs), where there is just one way to make your hand, e.g. you need an Eight when you hold 9-10 on a 6-7-J board. The odds of hitting a gutshot are naturally going to be more restrictive (8.51% on the turn and 16.47% by the river) than an open-ended straight, which gives you a lot more scope to make your hand (17.02% on the turn and 31.45% by the river).
Straighten them out
Your next consideration is whether you think you will have the best hand if you actually hit one of your straight outs. Is there a flush draw on board? If there is and you think your opponent might be chasing it then you should probably discount the straight outs that would also bring a flush. For instance, if you have on a board you have to be cautious about the and . They both complete your straight but can also complete someone else’s flush draw. In these cases it’s often best to think of each out as a ‘half out’ and work out your pot odds on that basis. And if the action really hots up you shouldn’t hesitate to muck your straight if you believe someone to have made their flush. Don’t make stubborn calls!
Playing your draw
Your next consideration is whether to play your made or drawing hand fast or slow. Because while nut flush draws often represent a +EV shove, moving in with straight draws can be a different matter…
The reason, of course, is that a flush draw will hit more often than a straight and a shove will usually be with overcards to the board giving as many as 15 outs sometimes. In contrast when you have straight draws you also tend to have weaker hole cards. For this reason you need to be a bit more conservative, but when you sense weakness a push can still be a good semi-bluff.
When play is deep-stacked, ideally you’ll be last to act as you’ll get to see what price is being set for your draw. In most cases, especially if you only called pre-flop, you should check if you’re lucky enough to be offered a free card. In the more likely case of facing a bet you need to understand pot and implied odds.
Put simply, don’t put more money into the pot than the chance you have of winning the hand. If you think the only way you’ll win is to hit your open-ended straight and a guy makes a pot-sized shove for 3,000 you can’t call profitably because you’ll be putting in 33% (3,000 into a 6,000 pot) but will hit only 31.5% of the time. If the stacks are deeper and you think you can felt your opponent when you make your hand, then paying over the odds to see the next card can sometimes be justified, as you’re speculating in the knowledge that they will pay you off when you make your hand. Just don’t justify every donkey call this way!
If you were the pre-flop aggressor you need to choose between making a continuation bet and running the risk of being check-raised, or checking, then missing your draw and letting go of the momentum you created with your earlier raise. A raise from position with a strong open-ended draw can often be preferable, as it might win you the pot right away. And if you’re called and hit your draw you’ve built the pot and have disguised your hand well.
Flopping a monster
You call a raise in late position with 7-8 and pick up both an open-ended straight draw and a pair on a 6-7-9 rainbow flop. Against someone holding A-K you’re now an 80% favourite, and even against pocket Aces you’re close to 45% to win. These monster flops can be played slow or fast according to the situation, but by getting your chips in the middle and putting other players to the test with your aggression you can’t go too far wrong.
Don’t be an idiot
Just because there’s no flush or full house on board, you shouldn’t assume that your straight is the winning hand… If you hold on a board you hold the lowest possible straight – otherwise known as the idiot end of the straight. Do you think your opponent could have K-Q or Q-8? If so, be prepared to wind your neck in or you could find it on the chopping block all too easily. Naturally, you shouldn’t be afraid to value-bet if your opponent hasn’t shown strength, but don’t snap-call a big river bet or raise without thinking back through the hand. It could be a costly error.
The stats
How often will you flop a straight with 9-10? 1.31%
What are the chances of making a backdoor straight? 4.2%
What are the chances of hitting an open-ended straight draw from the flop to river? 31.5%
How often will you be dealt connecting cards? 15.7%
What are the chances of hitting a gutshot on the turn? 8.5%
A set is the name used for three-of-a-kind, when your pocket pair connects with a third card of its kind on the communal board.
Flopping a set puts you in one of the best situations that you can be in at a poker table. A set is a very strong, disguised hand that has the ability to crush players holding big over-pairs to the board or two pair hands. It doesn’t rank as high as a flush or straight, but it’s very infrequent that anyone ever flops either of those big hands and, unless you’re unlucky enough to get in the dreaded set-over-set situation, you’ll always have plenty of outs to hit a full house. It’s often a good idea to fast-play this hand if someone shows strength or it’s a draw-heavy board (you don’t want to give someone the right price to draw to a straight or flush). The only time you might want to think about slow playing is if perhaps you’re heads-up on an uncoordinated board and are extremely unlikely to be outdrawn. Slow playing here gives someone a chance to catch up and pay you off.
The magic number
But how do you get the set in the first place? First, you need to be dealt a pocket pair, which will happen about once every 17 hands. Second, you have to flop your third card, which will only happen about 12% of the time (although you’ll make a set around 20% of the time if you see all five community cards).
The main point to keep in mind is that if your pocket pair needs to improve to win the hand you need to make sure playing the hand is not going to cost you too many of your chips. In a lot of situations you don’t need your pocket Aces, Kings, Queens or Jacks to hit a set to have the best hand, but with smaller pairs, there is an increasingly smaller chance of your hand being able to stand up to action without improving. For this reason, make sure that if you’re calling a raise to make a set, you’re not putting more than 10% of your chips in at any one point.
Postflop play
There are a lot of questions to ask when you flop a set but the first, and most important one, should always be, ‘How can I get all my opponent’s chips into the middle?’
If the blinds are small compared to the chip stacks (i.e. you’re playing a cash game or it’s the early stages of a tournament) and you’re first to act, it’s often a good idea to check-raise on the flop or turn, trapping money in the pot when they take a stab at the pot with nothing. Check to the raiser with the expectation that they will continuation bet and then raise them to around 2.5 times their bet. If they have absolutely nothing they will fold, but don’t think of this as an opportunity wasted. You’re making the play for the times that they do have a hand and you can get a lot of chips.
Try to judge how aggressive your opponent is. The angrier they play the faster you should play your hand, as snap-calls and rash all-ins are more likely. If the board looks dangerous with high cards and a flushdraw you’re best betting out straight away. Leading out on the flop will not only build the pot, allowing for increasingly bigger bets on the turn and river, but will elbow weak draws out of the way and almost certainly still get action from a player with top pair or two-pair, who will be in huge trouble against your hand.
If the pot is already fat compared to your opponent’s chip stack, and you’re acting before them, a check will give them the chance to bluff-shove all their chips into your monster. In this case trapping is the best option because if you bet first your opponent must have a good hand to play on, as they’ll know that they’re committed for the rest of their chips. Give them the rope to hang themselves.
Hitting a set in a multi-way pot
Playing a set slowly against one opponent can be worthwhile, but doing so against multiple opponents is a recipe for disaster. Only the very driest of boards, such as , will bring a turn card that isn’t going to have you worrying about a straight or flush, so don’t give free cards. Bet anywhere between half to full pot and hope to get action from drawing hands, flopped two-pairs and, if you’re really lucky, fish that can’t get away from top pair.
Set-over-set
Being on the wrong end of flopping a smaller set to a bigger set is one of the most unfortunate situations in no-limit hold’em. The odds against it happening are slight though, and you can’t read too much into it – it just happens sometimes. When someone makes a standard raise with J-J and you call with 6-6 and are ‘gifted’ a 5-6-J flop you’re very unlikely to get away from the hand. If all the chips go in, which is very likely given the situation, you’ll be drawing to just one out to win the hand. Not good. But don’t let it put you off – if you can get your chips in every time you flop a set you will be a big winner in the long run.
The stats
How often will you flop a set with a pocket pair? 11.76%
What’s the chance of being dealt a pair AND flopping a set on any given hand? 0.69%
When you flop a set how often will you fill up to a full house or better? 33.4%
Roughly how often will a set beat an over-pair on a rainbow flop? 88-91%
If you flop a lower set than your opponent how often will you hit quads? 4.34%
Few experiences in poker rival the excitement of looking down at pocket aces. Anyone can look smart by winning a big pot with aces, but the skill in playing them well comes from knowing how to maximize your value, disguise the strength of your hand, and minimize your losses if someone draws out.
The video between Sorel Mizzi and Freddie Deeb is a good demonstration of that first point, maximizing value. The pre-flop and flop action in the hand are rather obvious; Sorel raises, Freddy calls with , and then calls a bet on the flop. Some would check when the lands on the turn, but Sorel knows there’s plenty of hands in Freddy’s range that are still behind, so he makes another bet. That also bloats the pot, so in the event a safe card lands on the river, Sorel can get paid on a large bet (and check behind when more threatening cards land).
Disguising the strength of your hand is particularly important with aces because so many players have trouble doing it; they make calls or raises that they would never make with any other holding. Some players only limp late in a tournament with one hand: aces. Or they 3-bet tiny with aces, but make large raises with every other holding. Or they flat-call a raise with 10 big blinds when they’d shove or fold everything else. Plays like these are a great way to tell anyone paying attention exactly what you have. And since there’s so much upside to cracking aces, people will find opportunities if you communicate your hand.
The last key element to playing aces well, is minimizing your losses when you sense that you’re cracked. Because aces are the best starting hand, many players acquire a certain ‘attachment’ to them, or feel that they ‘deserve’ to win with aces. Those sentiments will get expensive if your hand has been cracked and you can’t find a fold. Take the hand between Freddy and Sorel; although Sorel bet the turn for value, I think he was intending to fold had Freddy check-raised (which he likely would’ve done with better hands, such as a straight or two pair). If you’re paying attention to hand ranges, then you should know which turn and river cards help you and which hurt…and if the river hurts enough, check if you have the opportunity, and fold if you’re facing a huge bet.
, the player holding 
would beat the player holding 
– although the Queen-high flush would have been winning on the turn.
. Second, you may have called with suited connectors like 
or 
, and finally you may be holding a big pair like 
and the flop comes down containing either all spades or all clubs. Chances are you’ll have arrived at each set-up in a different way at some point and each needs to be played with different considerations in mind.
board you hold the lowest possible straight – otherwise known as the idiot end of the straight. Do you think your opponent could have K-Q or Q-8? If so, be prepared to wind your neck in or you could find it on the chopping block all too easily. Naturally, you shouldn’t be afraid to value-bet if your opponent hasn’t shown strength, but don’t snap-call a big river bet or raise without thinking back through the hand. It could be a costly error.
flop. Some would check when the