Board Cards in Poker

Board cards is a term used in community card games; that is, games that use shared (or community or window) cards. Texas Hold'em is probably the best known of all community card games. Players use a mix of their 'hole cards' (private to each player) and board cards (shared by all) to make the best 5 card hand. It means that in any one hand, players will be trying to work out the private cards held by each player.

In the example (pictured), you can see player one has 10-J and player two has A-K. These hole cards are dealt before any shared cards. In Hold'em, after a round of betting, the first three community cards are dealt (also known as the flop). There's then a round of betting and players would be basing their hand using any combination of the two in hand and three on the board. Two more community cards are dealt, each with their own betting rounds (also known as 'the Turn' and 'River'. The objective is to use the 5 available community cards and the two in hand to make the best possible 5 card hand.

The area where these shared cards are dealt is known as 'the board' and board cards simply refer to the community cards that are dealt to it. It's normal for these cards to be dealt in a straight line however there are variants that use more complex methods of dealing the cards - a good example is Elevator Poker.

In any community card game, the first decision you will face will be whether to get involved in the hand. It is important to know you starting hand range. As the community cards are dealt you will start to be able to work out the strength of your hand and your chances for improving, which will help you determine how to play the hand.

Understanding Poker as a Language

If you sat down at a poker table without any prior knowledge of the game, it's very likely you'd be overwhelmed with all the lingo in use at the table. And one thing poker players like to do is talk shop. And they do it using all the different poker terms that are out there. That was the reason we put together a directory of as many of the poker terms and expressions we could think of. We have over 100 of the most popular poker terms and their meaning so you don't have to be lost when playing a game of poker.

There are terms for pretty much everything that can happen in poker. Every situation. Every hand. Every eventuality. They all have poker terminology to explain what is happening. It's massively important that before you start to play that you grasp the basics. The game play and the basic terminology. if you don't you'll get lost, quickly. Not only do we have a ton of guides explaining terms and their meaning, but we also have a load of guides to help you learn how to be a better player. If you are just starting out, Texas Hold'em is probably the best starting point however some people choose other games to start. Here are the top 3 games.