Best Starting Hand In Texas Holdem Poker

1. Best Starting Hand In Texas Holdem Poker Tournaments
2. Best Starting Hand In Texas Holdem Pokerm Poker
3. Best Starting Hand In Texas Holdem Poker Wsop
4. Top 10 Best Starting Hands In Texas Hold'em Poker
5. Best Starting Hand In Texas Hold Em Poker

When playing Texas Holdem poker offline in private or social settings the role of the dealer is taken by one of the players and moves round the players after each hand in a clockwise direction. Known affectionately as American Airlines, pocket rockets, or simply the bullets, a wired pair of aces is the top starting hand in all of Texas holdem. As you can see, bringing aces to battle against nine random hands gives you nearly a one third chance of winding up the winner.

For a certain segment of new hold'em players, starting hand charts can be fascinating. Even those with many years of experience who have little need to consult such charts still find them interesting as debate-starters.

In hold'em there are 169 different combinations of hands you can be dealt. For those of us who enjoy working with numbers or creating lists with which to organize our lives, there's something appealing about the idea of ranking all of those hands from 1 to 169, even if we know such a list probably might have only limited value when it comes to actual game play.

In truth, there are actually a lot more possible combinations of hole cards in hold'em — 1,326 of them, in fact. But that total also considers suits as distinct, when in fact before the community cards come the suits are all essentially of equal value.

That is to say, is of the same value as when playing preflop, while and are also of equivalent value. So, too, are the different combinations producing the same pocket pairs all equal before the flop in terms of their relative worth. While there are six different ways to get pocket aces — , , , , , — you're equally happy no matter what suits the cards are.

So we get rid of all of those redundant hands and say that in Texas hold'em there are 169 'non-equivalent' starting hands, breaking them down as follows: Is there a high flush in texas holdem.

• 13 pocket pairs
• 78 non-paired suited hands (e.g., with two cards of the same suit like or )
• 78 non-paired unsuited hands (e.g., with two cards of different suits like or )

Notice now the non-paired combinations of hole cards neatly divide into equal groups, both of which are six times as large (78) as the smaller group of pocket pairs (13). The total of 169 combinations represents a square, too — 13 x 13 — another curious symmetry when it comes to hold'em hands.

Still, that's a lot of starting hand combinations — too many for most of us humans to keep in our heads — which is one reason hand ranking charts are appealing and even can be useful, since they help players think about certain two-card combos as 'strong' or 'average' or 'weak' as possible starters.

Setting aside the idea of actually ranking the 169 hands from best to worst, we might think for a moment about other ways of categorizing starting hands in hold'em, using that initial breakdown of hands into pocket pairs, non-paired suited hands, and non-paired unsuited hand as a first step toward coming up with further, smaller groups that are easier to remember.

The 13 pocket pairs we might group as big or 'premium' (, , and ), medium ( through ), and small ( through ).

Meanwhile, we might divide each of the other groups into 'connectors,' 'one-gappers,' and 'two-gappers' (and so on), further thinking of them also as 'big,' 'medium,' and 'small' while also keeping separate suited and non-suited combinations.

These categories of non-paired hands are created by thinking about straight-making possibilities (affected by connectedness) and flush-making possibilties (affected by suitedness). There are more ways to make straights with 'connectors' — that is, two cards of consecutive rank like — than with two-gappers, three-gappers, and so on. So, too, do you have a better chance of making a flush with suited hole cards than with non-suited hole cards.

Another possible group to create would include 'ace hands' — i.e., non-paired hands containing one ace — that can be thought of as 'big aces' (e.g., , ), 'medium aces' ( down to ), and 'small aces' ( to ). Or 'king hands,' too. We like keeping these groups in mind, as hands with big cards like an ace or king can connect with flops to make big pairs.

In any case, you can see how these criteria for making categories can help when it comes to building those starting hand charts. And in fact most of those charts feature a similar ordering of hands, with..

• the premium pocket pairs and the big aces (suited and non-suited) up at the top;
• medium and small pocket pairs and big-to-medium suited connectors and one-gappers in the middle;
• and non-paired hands with less potential to make big pairs, straights, or flushes toward the bottom.

Best Starting Hand In Texas Holdem Poker Tournaments

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However, there are problems with relying so heavily on starting hand charts that you don't take into account factors that can make a given hand gain or lose value. Such as the flop. Or the turn. Or the river. Or other factors — including how your opponents are playing their hands — that can quickly affect the value of your starting hands.

After all, as anyone who's played even a few hands of hold'em well knows, even if is the highest-ranking starting hand and a non-suited ranks as 169th, a couple of deuces among the community cards is all it takes to make the best hand worst and the worst hand best.

Learning the relative value of starting hands is definitely an important first step when it comes to getting started in hold'em. Other aspects of game play such as the importance of position, knowing when and how much to bet or raise, and thinking about opponents' holdings and playing styles as hands proceed are good to learn, too, and help show how a great starting hand might not be so great five community cards later.

Poker is not blackjack, a game in which similar hand-ranking guides are sometimes used to inform players' decisions about how to play. In poker you want to be wary about becoming too reliant on those pretty starting hand charts. They can be great for indicating which hands might be worth playing (and which should be thrown away), but troublesome if allowed to outweigh all of the other important factors that arise as a hand plays out.

That said, starting hand charts can be useful, especially for those new to hold'em. They also can be a big help when picking up other games, too, like pot-limit Omaha or the various stud games, if only to get an early idea what hands tend to play better than others.

But for many such charts ultimately are only themselves a way to get started, before the experience of playing helps players more instinctively recognize both hand groupings and how hands tend to compare in terms of profitability.

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• General Guidelines
• Seven Card Stud
• Limit Texas Hold'em

There are five categories of limit hold 'em starting hands that we will discuss: Big pairs, small and medium pairs, two high cards, suited connectors, and big-little suited. Most other hands should be thrown away unless you have the big blind and the pot has not been raised.

Big pairs.

A pair of tens and higher is an excellent starting hand. With a high pair, you not only can make an even bigger hand, but also can completely miss the board — your hand does not improve — and still have a reasonable opportunity to win the pot. Obviously, the chances of winning with two aces are better than the chances of winning with two tens. In general, however, all high pairs have immediate value and should be played aggressively.

Small and medium pairs.

In hold 'em, as in seven-card stud, there is a big difference in strength between big pairs and smaller pairs. A hand like the

seldom wins the pot without improvement. Moreover, the odds against this hand improving to three of a kind on the flop are almost 8-to-1 (although you still can flop a straight draw).

Since small and medium pairs rarely win without improving, they have little immediate value and therefore can be classified as drawing hands. And to profitably play these hands, you need several opponents in the pot.

Two high cards.

often should be folded, especially if someone has raised. In addition, this hand must hit the flop to win in a multiway pot.

If your hand is suited, you should be more inclined to play. But remember the warning given earlier: Don't overrate the value of two suited cards.

Suited connectors.

are only fair at best. And if your hand contains a gap, you cannot play it as often since your straight possibilities have decreased. This type of hand usually should be thrown away in early position, and you should not call a raise even from a late position unless many players are already in the pot.

Big-little suited.

An ace or a king with a small card of the same suit is similar in value to the suited connectors and should be played as such. Of course ace-little suited is better than king-little suited.

Starting Hand Quiz

Best Starting Hand In Texas Holdem Pokerm Poker

1. What hands are you primarily interested in playing?

Big pairs and high cards, especially suited high cards.

2. How do you play these hands?

Aggressively. Almost always raise, and with the better hands, usually reraise.

3. Suppose two players are already in the pot. The first player has raised, the second has called, and you hold two kings. What should you do?

Raise again. You have a strong hand and would prefer to shut out the remaining players.

4. In what situation do small pairs play best?

In a many-handed pot.

5. When you play a small pair, what are you hoping to do?

To make three of a kind on the flop.

6. When do suited connectors play best?

When many opponents are in the pot.

7. You are in one of the blind positions, someone has raised, and there are several callers. What kind of hands should you play?

All of the good hands, plus all pairs and many of the hands that can make straights and flushes.

Best Starting Hand In Texas Holdem Poker Wsop

8. Which hand is better, ace-jack offsuit or eight-seven suited?

Normally, ace-jack offsuit is the better hand. But when a lot of players are in the pot, you would prefer to hold the eight-seven suited. In this spot, don't overplay a hand like ace-jack.

9. If there is no raise, what hands do you call with out of the little blind?

Even though you can get in for only a partial bet, you still need to be somewhat selective. Routinely playing hands like the

eventually will prove costly. In other words, you still should discard your worst hands.

10. If someone has raised, how does this affect the hands you should play?

Generally, you need to be much more selective. Small pairs and medium suited connectors do not play well against a large pair, and when someone raises, he's quite likely to be holding a large pair. In addition, a raise makes it doubtful that a lot of players will enter the pot. This means you will not get the implied odds — the amount of money you anticipate winning versus the amount you expect it to cost you — that many hands require to be profitable.

11. When should you play a hand like king-four suited?

Top 10 Best Starting Hands In Texas Hold'em Poker

When you are in a late position, several players are already in, and the pot has not been raised.

12. When you have a close decision regarding whether to play a hand, what should you consider?

Best Starting Hand In Texas Hold Em Poker

In hold 'em, as in seven-card stud and all other forms of poker, you must take into account how well those opponents already in the pot play. The better they play, the less inclined you should be to go up against them.