Counterfeit (poker) - Texas Hold 'em

Texas Hold 'em

Counterfeiting in Texas hold 'em is similar to counterfeiting in Omaha, in that hands do not change value. Often Texas hold 'em counterfeiting is less likely to cause a player to lose an entire pot. On a flop of Q-J-T, a player holding A-K will have flopped an ace-high Broadway straight. If the turn card comes a king, the player with A-K will still have the same straight, but now so will a player with A-7, resulting in a tie. The A-K player's hand didn't get worse in rank, but it becomes less likely to win the entire pot.

Counterfeiting in Texas hold 'em more often leads to ties, like in the example above, but can also result in losses. For example, if the flop is J-T-9, K-Q is the best possible hand. But if the turn card is a queen, a player who held K-Q will now be counterfeited and able to lose to a player with A-K.

In common usage, the term counterfeiting is sometimes applied in a non-standard way to situations where hands do change value. If the flop is J-7-5, a player who has 7-5 would have two pair and be ahead of a player with pocket aces. Another jack on the turn or river, however, will make the first player's hand objectively stronger—from Sevens and Fives to Jacks and Sevens—but now behind the second player's Aces and Jacks, with the original pair of fives being counterfeited by the pair on the board.