Two Cards advanced tips: how the computer players think

The computer players in Two Cards follow simple habits, not clever tricks. Once you know which starting cards each habit plays and what makes them fold, you can beat them again and again. This page shows the hidden numbers behind each habit. They come straight from the game's rules, but the game never shows them on screen.

New to poker? Read tips for new players first.

How does a computer player choose a move?

Every move goes in two steps:

1. Follow the habit, or not? The player's skill decides how often they follow their habit: 5 times out of 10 at skill 1, up to 9 times out of 10 at skill 5. See what skill means.
2. If not, they pick a move at random from: fold (only when they can't check for free), check, call, or the smallest raise. All in only comes up at random when no smaller raise is left. So a random move is never a big raise.

Everything below is what they do when they do follow their habit.

Which starting cards does each habit play?

Before the middle cards come, each habit looks only at its own two cards. The game sorts every two-card start into groups (a "suited" start means both cards have the same suit):

When a player holds a start they raise with, they make the smallest raise 7 times out of 10. Otherwise they check or call.

The big secret: before the middle cards, a computer player who likes their start never folds. They call any bet, even an all in. A start they don't like, they fold (or check, if it is free).

What this means for you:

• A big raise before the middle cards does not scare anyone off. Save your big bets for later.
• When Mira raises before the middle cards, she very likely holds a pair of queens or better, or ace-king.
• When Leo calls, he could hold almost anything.

What do they do after the middle cards?

After the middle cards come, they ask three questions: Do my own cards make a pair or better with the middle? Do they make two pair or better? Am I one card away from a straight or a flush? A pair that only sits in the middle, with none of their own cards, does not count for them.

These are the hidden numbers, as chances out of 100:

They look at these one after the other, so a player can pass one test and still fold at the next. Otherwise, they call.

What counts as a big bet?

For the computer players, a bet is big when the chips they must put in to call are more than half of all the chips in the middle (counting your bet), and more than the big first bet.

Here is the trick. When nobody has bet yet this round, your bet only counts as big if it is more than the whole pile before you bet. The whole pile button bets about exactly the pile, which is right on the edge. Tap + once after The whole pile to be sure it counts as big.

What this means for you:

• To make Mira, Noa, Edvin or Signe fold after the middle cards, bet a little more than the whole pile. Unless they have two pair or better, they almost always fold.
• Small bets, like Smallest or Half the pile, keep them in. Use small bets when you have a strong hand and want them to call.
• Leo folds to a big bet only 1 time in 4. Don't try to scare Leo. Bet when your hand is good, and he will often pay you.

How do you play against each habit?

Where you sit matters

The player who acts last in a round sees what everyone else did first. That is a big help: if everybody checks to you, a bet can win the pile right there. In Two Cards, the player with the D marker acts last after the middle cards come. Play a few more starts when you have the D marker, and fewer when you must act first.

Faces: a closer look

The faces in Two Cards follow the move, not the cards. Most players look pleased after a raise and calm after a check. Signe is the other way round: pleased after a check, worried after a raise. So with Signe, a worried face after a raise is a strong sign, and a smile after a check means little.

The fibbing face goes with the name, not the habit. Rename Signe on the New table page, and her face stops fibbing. Name a seat Sam, and Sam gets a face of their own that fibs just like Signe's. Faces are explained on the computer players.

How do you win Play until one stack?

In Play until one stack, the first bets grow every 8 hands (the full table is on game modes). With 1,000 chips each, the first bets are small at the start and huge later: from hand 41, the big first bet is 600 chips.

• Early on, play only good starts and let the eager players lose chips to each other.
• Mid game, steal piles from the careful players with bets just over the whole pile.
• Late in the game, the first bets alone can eat your chips. With a short stack, pick a good start and go All in before the first bets do the damage. The computer players will call if they like their start, so pick a strong one.
• When only two players are left, the D marker puts in the small first bet and acts first before the middle cards.

Learn from every hand

• Turn on Show cards that folded in Settings to see everyone's cards at the end. You learn which starts each player really plays.
• Use Show the next card (or the setting Show the other cards) to see what would have come after a fold.
• Use Practice on the New table page to test a strange table, like five Eager players at skill 5, without changing Your numbers.

See also

• The computer players: the habits and faces, simply put.
• Betting, raising and all in: raise sizes and side piles.
• Game modes: Play until one stack and New table.
• Glossary: poker words explained.
• Play Poker Texas Hold'em: Two Cards.

• About Poker Texas Hold'em: Two Cards
• All game guides