Poker is any of a large number of card games where players bet over what hand is most likely to win according to the rules of that game. As with most card games, there are basic “tells” and “tells not” which are common in poker tells. Knowing these poker tells, can often mean the difference between winning at a poker table and losing.

In Texas Hold’em, one of the tells that often confounds inexperienced players is the straight flush. A straight flush occurs when all of the cards in a pair come out of the pot (including the King) in the same suit, color and amount. Straight flushes occur quite regularly in the lower stakes tables when players are building up chip stacks and want to build their hand size before the flop. The best possible hand here is usually a top hand or an offset if there are no raisers in the pot.

Brad’s lucky seven of nine is another often confused poker tells. This is a reference to the number nine on the hand that Brad is betting with, namely forty-nine cents. In order for a Brad to have this kind of flush, he must either raise the flop or bet the pot for exactly forty-nine cents. Most novice poker players do not realize that it is acceptable to bet the flop and then raise the hand, since they consider that the flop always has good odds of being straight or a flush. This is a mistake that many novice players make.

In No Limit Texas Hold’em, it is acceptable for a player to fold their hand and then get an all-in when the flop reveals a premium hand. This all-in is called a “bob” in most circles. A high quality all-in in Texas Hold’em is one that will produce a very large pay off if it is successful. If a player executes an all-in superbly, then they have almost guaranteed themselves a massive payday when the other players in the pot fold.

Two important Texas Hold’em terms blinds and raises. Blind is simply the amount of money that a player has to play with before the dealer reveals his cards. Raises is where the dealer will counter a weak hand with a good hand. The two most common types of raises in No Limit Texas Hold’em are the continuation raise and the continuation bet. In most tournaments, the judges will require a blindraise if the player does not show their opponent their cards before the end of the round.

Brad’s lucky five cards to get his winning hand in the flop was called the flop. A flop occurs when a player in the table bets the same amount of chips that he has in the pot before the flop. If the opponent calls, then the player has to either raise the bet or put more chips into the pot. The flop in Texas Hold’em is considered a very aggressive strategy, and it is usually employed by players who think they have an excellent hand.