Monster Hand
A monster hand is a very strong hand that is likely to be the best at that moment. Before the flop, pocket aces and kings are monsters, and after the flop hands like sets, flushes and full houses are monsters.
The simple explanation
A monster hand is one you hope will win a big pot. When you have one, you want to get as many chips as possible into the pot. The question is how to bet so that weaker hands pay you.
A closer look
Monster hands are rare, so players should avoid giving them away. Whether to bet or slowplay depends on the board and the opponent: on a wet board, betting protects you from draws, and against passive players, a check may induce a bluff. The main errors are to bet too small, so that you do not earn what you could, or too big, so that all weaker hands fold. A monster hand can still lose if the board changes, such as on a paired board.
A practical example
You hold K♦ K♣ and the flop is K♥ 9♠ 4♦. You have a set of kings, a monster hand.
Full explanation
A monster hand is a very strong hand that is likely to be the best at that moment. Before the flop, pocket aces and kings are monsters, and after the flop hands like sets, flushes and full houses are monsters.
A monster hand is a very strong hand that is likely the best.
Examples are aces or kings before the flop, and sets, straights and flushes after it.
You want to win as many chips as possible with it.
Even a monster can lose to a bigger one.
A full house
No-limit Hold’em · Blinds 1/2 chips · No rake
The blinds are 1 and 2 chips. Heads-up, the dealer (D) also posts the small blind.
Read the example transcript
Player A has the button (BTN) and posts the 1-chip small blind (SB). Player B posts the 2-chip big blind (BB).
- Preflop · Pot: 3 chips
The blinds are 1 and 2 chips. Heads-up, the dealer (D) also posts the small blind.
- Player A BTN / SB AAce of clubs (Ac)KKing of diamonds (Kd) · Stack 199 · In this round 1
- Player B BB QQueen of hearts (Qh)QQueen of diamonds (Qd) · Stack 198 · In this round 2
- Preflop · Pot: 8 chips
Player A raises to 6 before the flop.
- Player A BTN / SB AAce of clubs (Ac)KKing of diamonds (Kd) · Stack 194 · In this round 6
- Player B BB QQueen of hearts (Qh)QQueen of diamonds (Qd) · Stack 198 · In this round 2
- Preflop · Pot: 12 chips
Player B calls. Each player has put in 6 chips.
- Player A BTN / SB AAce of clubs (Ac)KKing of diamonds (Kd) · Stack 194 · In this round 6
- Player B BB QQueen of hearts (Qh)QQueen of diamonds (Qd) · Stack 194 · In this round 6
- Flop · Pot: 12 chips
Player B holds a pair of queens, and the flop brings a third queen and a pair of sevens. Three queens and two sevens are a full house.
Board: QQueen of clubs (Qc)77 of spades (7s)77 of diamonds (7d)
- Player A BTN / SB AAce of clubs (Ac)KKing of diamonds (Kd) · Stack 194 · In this round 0
- Player B BB QQueen of hearts (Qh)QQueen of diamonds (Qd) · Stack 194 · In this round 0
Cards are shown for learning; totals are displayed before pot collection.