How to split 12 cards into three hands

Every Patch-Patch hand has one moment no other poker game has: the three flops are out, you hold twelve cards, and you decide which four play which board. Betting matters, reading opponents matters, but a poor split loses boards before a single chip goes in after the flop. This article is about making that split well, quickly, with a method you can use at any clock speed.

Start from the boards, not from your cards

The natural instinct is to look at your twelve cards and find the "good" ones. Turn it around. Look at each flop first and ask what it wants:

• Two or three cards of one suit want two cards of that suit.
• Connected cards (a 9, 10 and jack, or 7-8 with a gap) want two cards that fill or extend the run.
• A paired flop (8-8-3) wants a card of the paired rank, or a pocket pair that makes a full house with it.
• A high card on the board (an ace or a king) wants a card of the same rank for a strong pair, or two cards that pair the board twice.

Then look for those cards in your twelve. Three flops, each asking for something specific, are much easier to satisfy one at a time than twelve cards are to sort in your head.

Two cards are the hand; two are the support

Each board plays exactly two of its four cards, so a hand is really a pair of cards that works with that board, plus two more. Think of it as the core and the support:

• The core is the two cards that make your hand or your draw right now: the two hearts for the heart flush, the two cards that complete the straight.
• The support is the other two. They give the hand a second chance on the turn and river: a card that pairs the board for a full house later, a second way to make a straight. Four cards make six different two-card combinations on each board, so good support cards are real value, not filler.

Most splits fail because a board got no core at all, or because one board got two cores and another got none.

Rules of thumb that hold up

Never put three or four cards of one suit on one board. Only two can play. A third heart in the same hand adds nothing to the flush that two hearts don't already make, and it is a card the other two boards could have used. The extra suited card is almost always worth more elsewhere.

A pair in your hand belongs where it can make a set or better. Two kings beside a board with a king on it make three of a kind on the flop. The same two kings beside a board without one are only a pair.

Made hands first, draws second. A set or two pair on the flop is worth keeping where it is. Then look at what's left for the draws. A flush draw needs two suited cards; an open-ended straight draw usually needs two cards that join the board's run.

Count your boards, not your best hand. A split with three reasonable hands usually beats a split with one monster and two hopeless ones. Each board is a third of the pot, and only a player in contention on all three can scoop.

A worked split

Here are three flops and twelve cards. Take a moment to try your own split before reading on.

Board 2 is the easiest place to start. The flop is 8-8-3, and you hold the 8 of clubs and the 3 of spades: those two with the board make a full house, 8s full of 3s. That is the strongest hand you can make anywhere, so 8♣︎3♠︎ go to board 2.

Board 3 shows the ace and the 9 of clubs. You hold the ace and the 9 of hearts, which pair both: two pair, aces and 9s. You also hold two small clubs, 7♣︎2♣︎, which make a flush draw with the board's two clubs. Put all four on board 3 and that hand has two pair now and a flush if a club comes.

Board 1 is jack-10 with two hearts. K♥︎Q♥︎ are perfect: an open-ended straight draw (an ace or a 9 makes a straight) and a heart flush draw. And Q♦︎J♠︎ pair the jack now. Four cards, two different ways to win the board.

The last two cards, 5♦︎4♥︎, help nowhere, so they go where they hurt least: beside the full house on board 2, which doesn't need them.

Notice what the split avoided. The 9 of hearts is a heart, and it would have been tempting to add it to the king and queen of hearts on board 1. But a third heart there plays no better than two, and on board 3 the same 9 makes two pair. Each card went to the board where it does a job that no other card does.

What changes on the turn and river

The split is final once the arrangement ends, so choose it with the next two cards in mind as well:

• A draw needs its board to improve. Board 1 above wins often only if a heart, an ace, a 9 or a jack arrives. Put draws where they have the most cards to hit.
• A made hand needs to survive. Two pair on board 3 is good now but loses to a flush if a third club comes and an opponent holds two clubs. The 7 and 2 of clubs make that less likely and give you the flush yourself.
• Support cards count most on boards that are still open. On a flop like 8-8-3 the full house is nearly settled, which is why it's the right home for the leftovers.

A short checklist for the clock

1. Read each flop: suits, runs, pairs, high cards.
2. Find the strongest made hand anywhere and lock it in.
3. Give every other board a core: two cards that make a hand or a real draw.
4. Never three of a suit in one hand.
5. Put the leftover cards where they hurt least, usually beside your strongest hand.
6. Tap I'm Ready.

At slow tables you have three minutes, at fast tables 100 seconds: enough for this method once it's a habit. To practise without a clock, How it works has an arrangement step with hints, and the Patch-Patch rules cover the arrangement in full.