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Beginners Equity Guide to "Standard" Situations in No-Limit

Holdem

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If you're just getting started in No-Limit

Hold'em you'll soon find out that there are
many "standard" situations youll keep
finding yourself in.

They happen all the time so its important for

you to know where you stand and how to play
optimally in each of these situations.

17 November 2015 By Dirk Oetzmann

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If you can regularly make the correct decisions

in these spots youll be a winner in the long run
and youll be a superior player to those who get
them wrong.
These are the most common standard situations you'll encounter in NoLimit Texas Holdem pre-flop, post-flop and on the turn with the key math
explained along with the best approach for dealing with them.

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1) The Coin Flip: One Pair vs Two Overcards

Examples: Q Q vs A K ; 8 8 vs K Q
This is probably the best known situation in
NLHE. Its 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 dont think about them too
much. Numbers will even out in the long
run.
2) Ouch: Higher Pair vs Lower Pair

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Examples: Q Q vs 7 7 ; 8 8 vs 5 5
This is a really bad spot if you have the lower pair. The higher pair is always an 82% favorite.
There's nothing for you to do but pray.
Hint: The lower your pair, the higher the chances of being dominated. Eights are the pair that
separates the small pairs from the big pairs.

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3) Kicker issues: Not as Bad as You Think

Examples: A K vs A Q ; K Q vs K T
Being dominated," which means having a weaker kicker to your high card than your opponent, is
not as bad a situation as many players think.
The better hand has about 70% equity, which means that the weaker hand actually wins almost
every third time.
The lower your kicker is, the lower also are the chances of it having any effect on the outcome as
there will be more split pots.
Hint: With a bad kicker you always have to be aware that you might be dominated. However its a
lot worse to run a pair into a higher pair.
4) Not Good at All: Pocket Pair vs One Overcard

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Examples: Q Q vs A T ; 8 8 vs A 5
Another situation where the player with the overcard is in a really
bad spot with just 27-32% equity.
The good thing is thats still more than every fourth time.
Hint: Be careful if you have a weak kicker. Chances are youre not
flipping but playing with only one live card.

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Standard Situations in No-Limit Holdem Post-Flop

1) Top Pair vs Flush Draw or Straight Draw
Examples: A 2 vs K Q on a flop of K T 8 ; K Q vs 8 7
on a flop of K 9 6

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This is comparable to the so-called "coin flip" pre-flop. Its important

to notice that there are still two cards to come so the draw has two
chances of coming in.

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The flush draw in the example above has a 45% chance to win while the straight draw in the
second example only has 33%.
The reason is because there are still nine hearts to complete the flush draw while there are only
six cards that complete the straight draw.
Hint: The chances for your draws are determined by the pot odds. If youre getting the right pot
odds 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 dont 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 your
kicker the more often youre behind.
4) Set vs Top Pair Way Ahead
Example: 4 4 vs A K on a flop of A T 4
You cant be much more of a favorite. A set wins 96% of hands against top pair on the flop. Its an
almost unbeatable hand.
The higher the top pair is the harder it is to get rid of it. Many players get married to their top
pair, which makes sets so incredibly profitable.
Hint: If you flop a set youre pretty certain to be a winner. But watch out for possible draws!
5) Set vs Flush Draw or Straight Draw a 3:1 Favorite
Examples: 4 4 vs A K on a flop of 4 9 7 ; 4 4 vs
Q on a flop of T J 7
This is one of the situations that pretty much plays out automatically.
The set is a 3-1 favorite but the pot odds and implied odds are often
so good that the draw can call profitably.
But remember: The set is always ahead on the flop.
Hint: Youre always a favorite with a set on a rainbow board. Note
that you always have re-draws to a paired board even if the draw
comes in first.
6) Set vs Monster Draw (Combined Flush and Straight Draw)
Still Ahead
Example: 4 4 vs J T on a flop of 9 8 4
Although the drawing hand is now drawing to both a flush and a
straight the set is still a 58-42 favorite quite remarkable, isnt it?
Yet both hands have a good reason to bet in this situation as the pot odds will almost always be
good enough.
Hint: With a flopped set youre going to be a favorite on the flop even against the best possible

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draw.

Standard Situations in No Limit Holdem The Turn

The flop may have given you a pretty hand but if the turn is not what youre looking for it can
literally 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 youll always want to see the river with a
draw but sometimes the pot odds wont 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 doesnt find help on the turn you should rarely
continue. In our example the pair of jacks has an 11% chance to win which doesnt give you
reason to bet.
Hint: Playing second pair is tricky as there are only a few ways for it to improve. They become
even fewer on the turn.
3) Top Pair vs Top Pair Domination Nation
Example: K Q vs K T on a board of K 7 6 --- 2
Kicker issues often get worse on every street, i.e. with every new community card. The situation
described above leaves the weaker hand only a 7% shot at winning so little that it doesnt justify
any call.
Hint: If your pair is dominated, meaning your opponent has a higher
second card (=kicker), youre in dire straits. If youre behind youre
only going to win one out of 10 times.
4) Set vs Top Pair Decided
Example: 4 4 vs A K on a board of A T 4 --- 2
If the turn hasnt helped your top pair hand the hand is already over.
There is no way to overtake the set on the river.
Note that in the example above another ace on the board would give
the player with pocket fours a full house.
Hint: With a set youre dominating the hand on the turn. On the
other side of the table, against a set youre lost.
5) Set vs Flush Draw or Straight Draw Almost Unstoppable
Example: 4 4 vs A K on a board of 4 9 7 2
If youre playing a draw and you dont hit the turn your chances are
down to 16%.
However you might not notice it as your overcards look like outs, too.
Hint: Overcards can be deceptive as you lose even if you hit one of them. These can't be
considered full outs.
6) Set vs Combo Draw Call
Example: 4 4 vs J T on a board of 9 8 4 --- 2
If youre playing a draw that's both a flush and a straight draw, and it doesnt fill up on the turn,
youre down to 30%.
However this is usually enough to call as you can win even more money on the river if you still hit.
In this example there is also a straight flush draw added.
Hint: With such a strong draw as this you should always try to get to the river. This kind of hand
has too many outs to be folded.

The Rule of Four and Two How to Calculate Your Equity

Equity, as mentioned before, is your winning chance in percent. The rule of four and two is a
simple way to calculate the equity of your hand.
Its not exact, but its close enough.
Its one of the first rules players learn and if youre not familiar with

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