In case you didn’t know what it means, board texture in poker refers to how the cards on the board do relate to each other and it is one of the most critical pieces of information in any given poker hand. This is because board texture influences optimal bet sizing and bet frequency as well as overall post flop strategy.
Therefore, in games of Texas Hold’em board texture is a highly valuable piece of information that should be impacting on your playing strategy, especially if you are a new comer to the game. a and because there are different types of board textures you should be looking at how to play all of them.
For any burgeoning poker player, the art of being able to correctly read the board texture is a compulsory skill. In all, there are 19,600 alternative flops with 50 unknown cards which is why it is so critical that you understand the tendencies of how each one will affect post flop play. This is applicable to all poker games, whether you are playing live or online.
What Is Board Texture?
Board texture is a term used in poker and refers to how the community cards impact on typical hand ranges. This is the starting point of your post flop strategy as soon as hand ranges have been defined by the pre flop action.
This categorisation falls across how dry or wet the board texture is, meaning how probable it is that a player’s range has connected in some possible way. No Limit Texas Hold’em poker games are all about implementing plans that reflect on how card hand ranges will interact with different boards.
What Is a Dry Board In Poker?
A dry board is simply a board that is hard to connect to such as, for example, K, 7, 2 without a flush draw. Another example of a dry board is one with a flop such as Q, 9, 2, again with no flush draw with just the one draw.
A dry flop texture makes it much more unlikely that any player in the hand will be holding a strong poker hand making it the perfect environment for continuation bet bluffing.
What Is a Wet Board?
As the opposite of a dry board, a wet board texture is one that offers lots of alternative ways to connect with both made hands and draws. Flops such as JS, 8S, 6D & KD, JD, 9S and QH, JH, 10C being examples of boards that are considered to be wet.
These wet textures hit a lot of different hand ranges and make post flop strategy much more interesting and also a little bit more difficult. The improved connectivity of the board will dramatically increase how regularly a player will flop hands like two pair and also made straights. Even a hand such as top pair will be vulnerable in this situation.
When you are playing on boards that have a wet texture, you should be expecting much less fold equity for your continuation bets than when you are playing on a dry board. A dynamic board such as this also brings up opportunities for bluffing later on in the hand as well as stealing the pot.
For example, you might want to call a bet on the flop and turn with a second pair. However, when the when the river card completes some draws it could prove to be more profitable to turn your show down worth into a bluff by raising your opponent’s bet.
Why It Is Important To Understand And Read Board Texture
In short, the board texture directs your post flop strategy. If you have a pretty good reckoning of what your opponent’s card hand range looks like, then you should be able to work out which hand range will have the advantage on the flop.
In acting on this, you will be able to make the most of your hole cards with better post flop planning. Factors like fold equity are usually less on wet boards, however, if your hand range connects well and your opponent’s hand doesn’t, then you can seize the initiative and make more bluffs. It is this type of planning ahead that will ultimately allow you to find an edge on the remaining players in the game while they play their ABC strategy right back at you.
It is practice like this that has made the world class poker professionals what they are today. This honing daily of their poker skill set has given them a finely tuned instinct that allows for incredibly accurate planning and bet sizing.