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• No Limit Hold'em Starting Hands
• Holdem Starting Hand Winning Percent
• Texas Holdem Starting Hands Chart
• Holdem Starting Hands Ev
• Best Starting Hands Holdem

NL Hold’em Starting Hand Charts One aspect of the game of No-Limit Hold’em that causes beginning players much grief is deciding which hands to play and which hands to dump. NL Hold’em is much more difficult than Limit Hold’em because the value of a hand depends on so many factors other than just the cards in your hand. 6 Max Starting Hand Charts. The 6 Max game is a very popular 6 Player game that is available when playing Online Poker. This is typically a very aggressive and fast game. When starting out in the 6 Max game, it is recommended to err on the side of playing too tight, then loosening as you get a feel for the players and site conditions.

The hands closest to a return of 0% (return being probability of winning subtract the probability of losing) are Q-5 offsuit and J-5 suited. Q-5 offsuit has the worst positive return, at about 0.24%. J-5 suited is the closest starting hand to 0% return, at about -0.03%.

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:

• 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.

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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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No Limit Hold'em Starting Hands

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  no-limit hold’emcash game strategytournament strategybeginner strategystarting hand selectionstarting hand chartsmath

A common question amongst beginning poker players is, 'How tight or how loose should I play?' Morespecifically they ask,'What percentage of hands should I play before the flop?' These are goodquestions. However, the answers to them are rather complex. Why? Because poker is a constantly changing game andyour decisions should be adjusted according to your opponents' actions and tendencies.

It's also worth noting that a simple answer to how many starting handsyou should play just doesn't exist. Experienced players will be better at playing post-flop, and thereforewill be able to play a wider range of hands successfully. However, we recommend that beginning poker playersplay a tighter style. The reason? Beginning poker players will have less post-flop experience, which may leadthem to make costly mistakes that experienced players would avoid. New to poker? Check out the basics aboutpoker hands and ranks here.

There are, however, a few general guidelines you may want to follow when you are starting out. Below we outlinethe most important of these:

When to Call and When to Raise

If the action is folded to you and you have a hand you want to play, youshould generally come out raising. If you don't think your hand is good enough to raise with, then justfold. This prevents your opponents from being able to put you on a weak hand (which you would signal by limping)and also forces the other players to put more money into the pot pre-flop when you are holding a good hand.

Starting Hands to Play in Early Position

Early Position (EP) is usually considered to be held by the first three players to act at a 9-handed table. Ithese positions you hav at least 6 players still to act and thus you will need a strong hand to play. Normally,solid players will raise three times the big blind with something like 66+/AQ+ (which is only 6.5% of hands).

This may seem tight, but remember you are risking three big blinds to win only 1.5 big blinds if your sixopponents all fold. On top of that you may also have to play out of position post-flop if you are called.Because of all these disadvantages, it is generally best to have a strong hand before the flop.

Starting Hands to Play in Middle Position

Middle position is considered to be the second and third positions that are to the right of the button. Here wehave fewer people remaining to act, so if we do get called, we get to play in position more often. This meansthat we can start to loosen up a little bit. The most important players to consider are those between us and thebutton, because these are the players we will have to play out of position against after the flop (should theycall).

However, the tighter they are playing, the more hands we can play. But if we are playing against very looseplayers on our left, we still should play somewhat tight. This may seem like a disadvantage, but we will make upfor not playing as many hands by making more money with the hands that we do play. As a baseline we'drecommend raising three times the big blind with hand like like 22+/AT+/KJ+/89s-JQs/A2s-A5s. This is 15.5% of hands. If wehave tight players on our left we can start to raise with hands like 56s-78s and QJ/A9s/K9s/KTs/QTs/J9s.

As you become more confident in your post-flop play, you can also start to add hands in the second category intoyour regular raising range. Just keep in mind that, when you have very loose players on your left, you are goingto have to tighten up a little bit. If you have someone with position on you that is not folding very often, thelast thing you want to do is put money into the pot with 65s, as you are not going to be a winner at showdownvery often.

Starting Hands to Play on the Cutoff & Button

Cutoff (when you are one position before the button) play is going to depend heavily on what the button isdoing. If the button is very tight, you can treat the cutoff position as another button. If the button isplaying 70% of hands, then you will have to tighten up a bit. As a default I'd probably be raising around25% of hands on the cutoff, which comes out to pretty much any pair, any suited ace, A9o+, any broadway (facecards), any suited connectors, as well as K8s+, Q8s+, J8s+, T8s+.

On the button, or on the cutoff with a tight button, you can start to really open up a lot, normally raising 50%(or more) of your hands. You are guaranteed to be in position if you get called, and only have two players toget through anyway. If one, or both, are very 3-bet happy, and you don't feel comfortable playing weakerhands against 3-bets, then you can tighten up a bit. However, even if they are loose and calling a lot pre-flop,you should normally be able to play well enough in position after the flop to still be able to profit from the hand.Essentially, any hand that is not two bad offsuit cards are fair game for raising.

Starting Hands & Table Position Chart

Whether you are an experienced poker player, or just getting to know the game, you might find the Starting HandsChart below helpful to improve your game. You may use the button on top to toggle between suited and unsuitedhands. Mecca bingo 5 free online games.

Starting Hands from the Small Blind

If it is folded to you in the small blind, then you should be looking to see how tight the big blind is. If theyare very tight, then you can get away with stealing a lot. But, given that the only player left to act getsdecent pot odds to call and will be in position against us post-flop, we generally need to be much tighter herethan we would from the button. The small blind raising range should be similar to cutoff range, assuming thatthe big blind is not very tight. If the big blind is folding 62.5% or more, then we can raise any two cards andstill show a profit. Most people will be below this however, and in that case we need to be a bit more selectiveand be folding the majority of our hands.

Playing Any Position with a Raise in Front

Generally if there is a raise in front of you, then you are going to need a hand better than theirs to continue,or else you should be holding a hand that has good implied odds. For example, if someone raises in earlyposition and we think they're playing similar to the strategy described here, then the raiser should beholding something like 66+/AQ+. We're not going to make money by calling with hands like AJ or KQ against thesehands, and thus we should just be folding. If we have a hand like 55 however, we might consider a call because if wehit a set we are likely to find our opponent holding an over pair and thus we can make some money from them.

Generally, the rule when hoping to hit a set is this: we win 20x the amount we need to call when we do hit ourset. Why? Because this takes into account that fact that sometimes when we hit a set, our opponent will also hita set, as well as the fact that sometimes they might have a hand like KK and an when an Ace comes on the flopthey might get shy and not pay us off.

When we are 3-betting (re-raising a pre-flop raise), we should always know why we are 3-betting. When firststarting out it is fine to 3-bet when you think you have the best hand and will get called by worse. Once youget comfortable also consider adding in hands that would normally be a fold, so that your 3-bet actually getsyour opponent to fold. Either way, you should always know why you are 3-betting. Never 3-bet just to define yourrange, or to see where you're at, or for any of those kinds of reasons. Only 3-bet if you think you willget called by a range worse than yours, or if we will get hands better than yours to fold.

Starting Hands Winning Odds

Below you will find all hands you may be dealt in poker, together with their corresponding odds of winning.

Tournaments

Early in the game, when stacks are deep, you can play tournaments extremely similar to cash games. As antes kickin, and as stacks get shallower, you will have to make a few minor adjustments. First of all, when antes startaffecting play there is more of a benefit to winning the pot, so you can raise a wider range of your handspre-flop.

When stacks are shallow there is also more benefit to making top pair or overpairs, compared to hitting sets andmaking flushes. Therefore, you should be more inclined to play high-card value hands, rather than pairs and weaksuited connectors. Also, as you start to get 10 or fewer big blinds in your stack, you generally want to beplaying an all-in or fold strategy. Antes normally mean that there are already 2.5 big blinds in the pot, so youget a very good price on your steal, increasing your stack by 25% or more without contest when everyone folds,as well as giving you a chance to more than double up if you get called.

Further Reading

We have a number of great strategy articles available here at CardsChat.com.Our Texas Hold'em Starting Hands guide is a great follow up to thisarticle and has more specific information on which hands to play. It also has charts that you can use whenlearning to play tight, solid poker.

Starting Hands Percentage FAQ

There are 1,326 possible combinations of cards from a standard deck but there are only 169non-equivalent starting hands in poker. This number is made up of 13 pocket pairs, 78 suited hands and 78 unsuited hands.

Holdem Starting Hand Winning Percent

Pre-flop refers to the phase before the flop (the dealing of the first three face-up cards to theboard). The pre-flop is after blinds have been posted and players have been dealt their pocket hands. Firstbets are played during this phase, which is also called the pre-flop betting round.

There are three concepts that guide pre-flop play: Equity, implied odds and position.Equity can be seen as how much of the pot your hand is worth (i.e. the better your hand, the bigger your equity).Implied odds are the theoretical odds you have of winning as the game progresses, due to your opponents'missteps or more (i.e. the potential winnings for that hand versus the amount you need to make thenext call). Weighing these two up against each other is key in playing the pre-flop phase. Moreinformation on pre-flop terms can be found on our pre-flop concepts page here.

Once you have looked at equity and implied odds, the most important factor toconsider is your position. Broken into early, middle and late, your position refers to when you are able to place your bets.The later your position, the more information you have about your opponents' hands, and the moreaggressive you can be in your pre-flop play.

The best hands to play in poker pre-flop will always be your big pocket pairs (such as Ace-Ace,King-King and Queen-Queen), followed by big-suited connectors (such as suited Ace-King), and, finally, yourbig connectors who do not share a suit.

The best hand in poker is the royal flush. This hand consists of the Ace, King, Queen, Jack and 10of the same suit.

The royal flush can be formed in four ways (one for each suit) and the odds of being dealt one are649,739:1, or 0.000154%.

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