If you checked preflop and checked the flop, Ultimate Texas Hold’em forces a final choice after the turn and river are dealt: Bet 1× your Ante, or fold. Folding surrenders the Ante and Blind (Trips, if you placed it, can still pay). Betting 1× puts you all the way to showdown.
Hold’em Coach makes that decision legible with dealer outs: a count of unseen cards that would let the dealer’s hand strictly beat yours.
What a dealer out is
On the river, many cards are still unseen: the two dealer hole cards and the rest of the deck. A dealer out is a single card that, if it were one of the dealer’s hole cards, would give the dealer a hand that beats you.
Important details (how the app counts them):
- Only strict wins count. Cards that make the dealer tie (a push) are not outs.
- The count is about one dealer hole card completing a beating hand, not exotic two-card combinations.
- Outs are grouped in the app: completing/higher flushes, straights, board-pairers, overkickers, and so on.
Tap the outs pill on the felt to see the full breakdown. Turn on Show dealer outs in Settings if you hide it.
When you do not need outs
Before the coach looks at outs, it checks whether you already have a clear bet:
- A hidden pair or better that is not counterfeited (pocket pair, or your hole card pairs the board).
- A hand that beats the board because your hole cards clearly upgrade it.
- Under Basic, an ace kicker on a one-pair board can also be an automatic Bet 1×.
If none of those fire, the decision falls through to the outs path.
Outs thresholds by profile
Bet 1× when dealer outs are at or under the line; fold when they are above it.
| Profile | Normal line | When your hole cards do not play (“below board”) |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | ≤ 21 outs | ≤ 18 outs |
| Balanced | ≤ 19 outs | ≤ 17 outs |
| Disciplined | ≤ 17 outs | ≤ 15 outs |
Basic matches the familiar “fewer than 21 outs” idea from published basic strategy, with one precision: the app bets at exactly 21 as well (≤ 21), and it tightens when you are only playing the board.
Balanced and Disciplined use stricter lines so you fold more marginal rivers. They are training styles, not “more optimal” charts.
Playing the board for a push
Sometimes the best five-card hand is entirely on the board — your hole cards do not help. Folding then can be wrong if the board is strong enough that a Bet 1× often pushes instead of losing.
Hold’em Coach will recommend “Play the board — bet 1× for push” in those chop spots when the board is a straight or better (and in some paired-board cases inside the outs line). Folding a board chop throws away a push you could have kept.
Scary boards
If the board itself shows a four-flush or a dangerous four-straight texture, the coach often folds the outs path even when the raw count looks tempting — unless you are in a board-chop push spot. The one-liners sound like “4-flush board — fold” or “Scary board — fold.”
Disciplined also refuses some thin high-card / weak-kicker rivers that Basic might still take with a low outs count.
After the hand, Coach Debrief (and Ask Coach, with Coach+) can walk through which cards were outs and why.
A simple river checklist
- Do I have a real pair or better that uses my hole cards? → usually Bet 1×.
- Am I only playing the board on a strong board? → consider Bet 1× for push.
- Otherwise open outs: at or under my profile’s line? → Bet 1×; above it → Fold.
- Is the board a four-flush / scary straight texture? → respect the fold unless it is a chop spot.
How to practice outs
- Play to the river with the coach on and read the outs pill before you act.
- Finish Academy lesson Dealer outs (scripted hand with a clear count).
- In Ask Coach, try prompts like “What were the dealer outs?” on a hand you folded or pushed.
- Compare the same river under Basic vs Disciplined in Settings — watch the line move from 21 toward 17.
For the streets that get you here, read the flop strategy and the full UTH strategy guide. For what each bet pays when you get there, see Blind, Ante and Trips payouts.