If you are going to participate in Texas Hold ‘em poker tournaments in a casino, poker room, or online, one of the most critical roles that you can play during the game is to evaluate your hand or the deal properly.  Strategies involved in each individual hand will vary based on how strong a hand you have been dealt.  One common strategy is that you appear to have a weaker hand when in reality you have been dealt a strong or possibly winning hand.  This is done in order to keep players betting and making the pot larger in the process.

Conversely, a player holding a weak hand may try and bluff their way to winning the pot.  The strategies will vary from player to player.  However, there are two key ways for evaluating the strength or weakness of your hand which are often viewed as the most common types of evaluation strategy:

Calculators – these are poker tools which enable you to calculate the odds with the cards showing face-up in the centre of the table by combining those with the ones you are holding face-down.  Obviously, you are not allowed to use such a device when you play poker, but they do provide the player with precise odds.

Counting Outs – the basis of this strategy is the counting of cards which are still remaining in the deck.  When you combine these with your face-down cards it enables you to increase your odds of winning the hand.