Hello everybody,

I struggle a bit with classification of different board textures.

I would like to Cluster different Boards with a classification for simplification

I could see in a video from Upswing Poker that boards will be classified the follow:

• High Connected Flops
• High Disconnected Flops
• Low Connected Flops
• Low Disconnected FLops
• Monotone Flops (clear)
• Paired Boards (clear)

Unfortunately I do not know exactly when a Board is

• High Connected

- I assume this is KQJ.
- But whats about KQ4 (is this already classified as High connected or just in case that all cards are connected?

• High Disconnected

- I assume AT6
- But whats about A53? (is this hith disconnected or low disconnected?

• Low Connected

- When a flop is classified as low connected?

• Low Disconnected

- When a Flop is classified as low disconnected?
- Is 632 Already connected and just 654 is connected? (does we need 3 cards in a row for this?)

Maybe someone has a kind of clear definition about this.

Thanks in advance

usually, "connected" means that it is possible to flop a straight, so at6 is high disconnected, and a35 is high connected. Of course, some boards have more straight possibilities and some less, preflop ranges also play a part (a tight player opening from early position will not flop a straight on a35), but for above purposes this is enough of a distinction

Hi Tutejszy,

Thanks for the clarification. This seems to be reasonable.

Since we get to use 5 cards at Showdown, we need to determine how likely someone can end up with a 'true' 5 card hand using this Flop. Obv you first look at the cards themselves and then determine if those cards fit into your opponent(s) ranges.

Board textures should affect how you structure your betting line in a hand, especially if you are first to act.

I hate to nit pick, but I will .. AT6r is different than AxTy6y. While you can't get too caught up in the two gut-shots alone, adding what could be a nut flush draw warrants some extra attention on what may appear to be the 'same' Board. If you're sitting with an off-suit Ace or set then you may/should charge the flush Ace a bit more to draw since they have additional equity. While some will say that's 'it's only a small number of combos' you still want to maximize your value/protect your hand in those spots (while still taking stack sized into consideration).

While we 'class' opponents as well, I don't think we should try to develop (and try to remember) six different strategies based on Board textures and then integrate that into Player types as well. That's possibly 24 different strategies if you use the 4 basic Player types.

The more you play you're going to be making these decisions automatically, it's up to you how sophisticated you try to flow chart the game for game play. GL

imo there are 2 types of boards:

static board: a board that benefits the last preflop aggressor by allowing the aggressor to value bet with many strong hands as well as earn protection value with good but vulnerable hands, both of which provide the opportunity for draws of all kinds* to earn more ev by betting than by checking.

dynamic board: a board that forces the preflop aggressor to check many strong hands due to the many strong hands such boards provide for the preflop callers range. because of the increased flop calling and raising frequencies of the preflop caller, the preflop aggressor will be called too often to earn protection value with good but vulnerable hands. the preflop callers lowered folding frequency causes the preflop aggressor to check draws much more often than on boards that benefit the aggressor more.

to draw a conceptual line in the sand between the two, i categorize any board that allows me to bet with very low equity hands on the flop at high frequency profitably as the preflop aggressor as static. all other boards are dynamic exactly because of the number of strong hands and draws in the preflop callers range.

naturally, as the board becomes more and more dynamic, the checking frequency of the preflop aggressor will increase. as a result on dynamic boards we see an increase in the frequency of betting into a preflop aggressor. think of calling a raise in the big blind and u get the 567ccc flop. the raiser should check a lot because of the number of strong hands and draws it puts in the callers range. thus the big blind should bet into the raiser more often than a less dynamic flop.

on very static flops, we usually want to check to the aggressor 100%.

as your opponent may lean to either side of the spectrum (loose/tight, passive/aggressive) we see the margin that separates these flop categories shift. over folders basically make more boards static than a good player would. players that call too much cause a shift toward the dynamic side of the spectrum. players that raise too much will cause you to lose ev with your weak draws and protection bets on static boards, but this will benefit your strong hands. players that dont raise enough will cause a shift toward the static end of the spectrum which allows the aggressor to bet many more weak draws, value hands, and protection bets.


*on some boards the best draw is a backdoor straight flush draw, like on KK2r.