Hole cards
The term hole cards ( [ˈhəʊl kɑɹds] ; also pocket cards or down cards ) in some poker variants , especially Texas and Omaha Hold'em , refers to the cards that each participating player receives face down at the beginning of each round and only this one Player may use to form his hand. They thus form the counterpart to the Community Cards .
In Texas Hold'em each player receives two cards face down, in Omaha Hold'em each player may only use two of his four cards face down.
There are many different ways to protect the hole cards from the eyes of other players while viewing them. However, the most common is shown in the picture above. Usually the second hand is also used as a privacy screen.
When looking at the hole cards , however, it can also happen that the player unintentionally reveals details about these cards to an attentive teammate. If, for example, three diamonds are flopped and the player looks at his face-down cards again, the opponent can take this as an indication that the player is holding at least one red card, since he seems to be checking again whether he is holding a diamond. This behavior is also often used by experienced players to make a bluff appear to their opponent as a strong hand.
Some players protect their hole cards with a card guard .