Playing Online Poker with Zero Boards

If you are new to Texas Holdem poker you may be surprised to find out that there are times after the river that there will be no straight, flush, or full house that is possible. There will be boards with no three cards within five ranks of each other, nor three or more cards of the same suit and, in addition to all of that, there will be no pairs on the board. Such boards are known as zero boards in online poker.

The first read you should make is that the highest possible hand in a zero board situation would be a “set” (three of a kind). It may also surprise you that zero boards are actually easy to read and you can often quickly figure out what your opponents are holding.

Let’s take a look at a zero board read of king of clubs, queen of hearts, 8 of hearts, 5 of spades, and 4 of clubs in Texas Holdem poker. The nut hand here would be pocket “cowboys” (kings), followed by pocket queens, pocket 8’s, pocket 5’s and pocket 4’s. If you are the player holding the set of 4’s after the river keep in mind that there are four other better possibilities before you get too carried away on your bets.

Let’s read a zero board of queen of spades, 10 of clubs, 7 of diamonds, 4 of diamonds, and 2 of spades. Like the above example the best hand is three of a kind starting with pocket queens, and then working your way down in rank. If you have the set of queens, you need not fear the aces or kings, since the best anyone can do with those is have a single pair of them, which your set of queens will beat. And again, if you are holding your set of deuces, don’t get too cocky as you should quickly realize that there are four hands that can beat you.

In a zero board situation, you have the luxury of not having to worry about the possibility of a straight, flush, or a full house and really just have to think in terms of sets and who has the best one. It would be wise to not bluff too hard from a zero board situation, since it is so easy for everyone to read, and thus making it unlikely that you can steal the pot from the player holding the nuts.

If there was a situation in which a player raised before the flop and continued to raise after it, it’s a safe estimation that he has a high pocket hand before the flop and likely made a set afterwards. Another factor to consider is if you are holding a lower set such as deuces. If you notice a tightly played hand with a lot of limping and little raising, you are likely holding the best hand. Zero boards may not be flashy but they do happen in Texas Holdem and you want to be aware of how to bet and how to react when you see them.