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Best Starting Hands In Texas Hold'em Poker

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The first thing you learn in poker is the standard ranking of hands. For most people, the 2nd thing you learn is how to play 5 card draw.

But Texas holdem isn’t far behind.

Once you’ve mastered the basics of playing—how the deal works, how the bets are handled, and so on—you start learning about the strategic concepts behind winning the game on a consistent basis.

All Texas Hold’em starting hands can be separated into two categories: “suited” and “offsuit”. Suited hands contain two cards of the same suit, like J♣9♣, A ♥ K ♥, K♠Q♠ and 9 ♦ 3 ♦. All other starting hands are in the offsuit category, like A♠8 ♦, 7♣5 ♥ and K ♥ 9 ♦. 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. Poker starting hands: playing the right cards at the right time The basic idea of poker is to play the strongest poker hands in early position, good hands in mid-position and a few more hands in the late (aka strongest) position. A pair of aces, also known as “pocket rockets” (and sometimes “American Airlines”) is the best starting hand for Texas Hold ‘Em.

And the first of these concepts is tight preflop play.

I’ve read that at most Texas holdem games, you can break even just by having strong play preflop. Even if your play after the flop is only mediocre, if you’re playing right before the flop, you won’t lose any money in the long run.

But some players take being tight preflop to the extreme.

And they often confuse being tight with being passive.

Yes, you’re only going to play good hands preflop. But most of the time, you’re not going to try to play them cheaply.

You’re going to gamble with them. You’re going to bet and raise with them.

Don’t forget that even though poker is a game of skill, it’s still gambling. You can’t win at gambling without, well… gambling…

Here are the top 10 starting hands in Texas holdem along with some suggestions for how to best play them. You can (and should) play other hands preflop, but these might be the most important hands to play preflop.

1. Pocket Aces

It’s hard to go wrong when playing “rockets,” or “bullets,” as a pair of aces if often called. After all, a pair of aces is easily the most powerful starting hand in the game. Even if you mis-play this hand, it’s so strong that you’ll often win lots of money anyway.

But how do you get the most money out of this hand?

If you’re playing in a no-limit game, if you’re in early position, it might make sense to limp with pocket aces. Your hope is that someone following you will put in a raise with a pair of kings or queens. When the action gets back to you, you can re-raise and make your opponent play for his entire stack.

If you’re in middle or late position, you should raise with aces. There’s no reason to be tricky here. You don’t want to give a substandard hand a cheap way to draw out on you.

If you’re playing limit, you should raise regardless of your position. You don’t have the ability to make someone play for all her chips, so you have to thin the field as soon as you can.

Your goal with pocket aces is to get heads-up with someone as soon as possible.

Some players get irritated when they get their aces cracked. They also get irritated when they get no action. You can’t have it both ways, though—if you get action, sometimes you’ll lose.

Most of the time, you’ll want to play the aces strong after the flop, too—regardless of what cards are there. You need to be sure you have a good read on your opponent and she has a monster before folding aces after the flop.

2. Pocket Kings

Before the flop, you should play “cowboys” just like you’d play pocket aces. The only difference is that you might not limp hoping for a re-raise opportunity in a no-limit game, like you would do with aces. (And even that move is one you should only use occasionally.)

Playing pocket kings after the flop isn’t much different, either.

But you do have one thing to worry about:

What if an ace hits the flop?

The first thing to think about is not giving away your hand. It’s natural to be bummed when the 2nd best starting hand in the game suddenly looks inferior.

But you don’t have to look downcast and give away your hand to your opponent. Keep a poker face.

Everyone loves high cards in Texas holdem. If an ace hits on the flop, it’s possible that your opponent just got a bigger pair than you have.

Does this mean you should automatically fold those cowboys?

Obviously, I don’t think so, or I wouldn’t warn you about maintaining your poker face.

The number of players still in the hand on the flop is a big deal. If you’re heads-up with an opponent, you should stay in the game, but maybe slow down with your betting. He might be trying to represent that ace, or he might not. I think you should gamble here unless you have a good read on your opponent.

On the other hand, if you’re in the pot with 3 or 4 other players, your kings are no good. There’s almost no chance at all that with 3 or 4 opponents none of them has an ace. You have no choice here but to fold.

This illustrates how important it is to play kings aggressively preflop. If you get as much money into the pot as you can while you’re still the favorite, you’ll likely do well in the long run.

3. Pocket Queens

If you’re dealt “ladies,” you have the 3rd strongest possible starting hand. And since this is a big pair, you’d prefer to play with fewer opponents after the flop. This means that betting, raising, and re-raising is the right strategy preflop with pocket queens.

Your goal is to get heads-up with one of your opponents before the flop ever hits.

You can only do that by playing aggressively.

Now you have to worry about whether you’re going to see an ace or a king on the flop. Playing pocket queens isn’t too different from playing pocket kings after the flop; you’re just more likely to have to slow down a little bit.

If you’re acting first, and if you’re only facing a single opponent, you must bet here. You want to try to win the pot without a showdown if you can.

But if you get re-raised, you’ll probably have to give up and fold.

Sometimes, you’ll wind up in a hand with pocket queens and 3 or 4 other players. Remember what I said about pocket kings in this situation. If you’re dealing with that many other players, someone is bound to have an ace or a king.

You’re going to have to fold in that case.

4. Pocket Jacks

The problem with pocket jacks is that it’s a trouble hand. It’s stronger than most hands, but there are still a lot of things that can go wrong. Some players hate playing pocket jacks.

You don’t have to hate this hand, though. It’s still a great preflop hand. You just need to learn how to NOT overplay it.

This means you’re going to pay attention to your position and to how the other players play their hands. After all, they like big cards, and the queens, kings, and aces have to be somewhere. If they’re not in your opponents’ hands, they’re in the deck, which means they’re liable to come up on the flop and scare you.

If no one in front of you has bet or raised, you should bet with the jacks. In a limit game, you don’t have to decide how much to bet, but in no limit, you do. Some players always make the same preflop bets in terms of size to disguise the strength of their hands. That’s a valid approach, and if that’s you, great.

But if that’s not you, bet a little less with pocket jacks than you would otherwise. Almost any flop is going to be scary if you go into it with a pair of jacks. Any queen, king, or ace could kill your hand.

Heck, even if you have an overpair in this situation, you can’t be confident you’ll win.

In some respects, pocket jacks are the same as smaller pairs. You really have to hit 3 of a kind to win a big pot with them.

Take into account how your opponents play, too. Just because an opponent bets or raises doesn’t mean he has a big hand. This is especially true in some of the lower stakes limit games that I specialize in.

5. Ace-King Suited

“Big slick” is one of my favorite hands to play. I’ve seen it rated higher than pocket queen or pocket jacks by some poker writers, in fact.

I’ve seen some players and writers complain that ace-king suited is hard to play. I don’t agree. I think it’s easier to play than pocket jacks, for sure. (In fact, I’m not sure why I didn’t reverse their order on this list.)

You should bet or raise with ace-king suited preflop. If you’re raised or re-raised, you need to think about how that player has been playing. Against a savvy, tight player, your ace-king suited is probably going to lose to pocket queens, kings, or aces. Against a maniac, though, or a novice, you might still be ahead.

Best starting hands in texas hold

The size of the raises and re-raises matters, too. If you’re playing limit, calling here makes more sense than risking your whole stack in a no limit game.

The good news is that when you see a flop, you have a 1/3 probability of getting an ace or a king. This gives you top pair or top pair with the best possible kicker. If you get one or 2 suited cards on the flop, you also have flush possibilities.

In this case, it’s time to play strong. Bet and raise.

If you have a lot of opponents and a flush draw, it might be worth it to continue if you can play cheap. With multiple opponents, you stand a chance of winning a big pot with the flush when you hit.

On the other hand, if you miss the flop entirely, you have to give this hand up.

6. Ace-Queen Suited

I’ve seen ace-queen suited called the biggest trouble hand in poker. I know that I overplay it often.

Yes, this is one of the best possible starting hands, but it’s hard to know where you’re at with it. As a result, maybe the smartest thing to do is pay close attention to your opponents’ play when you have this hand.

If you’re in early position, you can play it really aggressively, understanding that if you get raises and re-raises from the other players, you’re almost certainly dominated.

On the other hand, if you’re playing with lousy players who are too loose and aggressive, you might still have a shot.

If you’re in late position and there’s a lot of action before you, it might be best to fold AQ suited preflop.

And don’t make the mistake of thinking that ace-queen offsuit is just as good as ace-queen suited. It’s not even close. That hand didn’t even make the top 10.

7. Pocket 10s

Pocket 10s are pretty speculative. Even though they’re a top 10 hand, you still need to hit the perfect flop for this hand to hold up.

My goal with pocket 10s is to get in cheap and see how the flop develops. If I don’t hit another 10 on the flop, it’s easy to get away from this hand.

Even if the flop comes up with all undercards, I’m still afraid someone has a bigger pair in the hole. Those jacks, queens, kings, and aces are somewhere.

Unless the pocket 10s improve on the flop, or unless the other players are demonstrating a lot of weakness, I’m getting away from the hand on the turn if it hasn’t improved. The higher bets at that point make the hand almost worthless.

But don’t forget to get a read on the other players at the table. Your equity in a hand is always a combination of how likely it is that you have the best hand and how likely it is you can get your opponent to fold.

8. Ace-King

Ace-king is a strong hand even when it’s not suited. Most of what I said about how to play this hand still applies, but not being suited is a bigger drawback than you think. Sure, you’re only going to hit you flush 6% of the time with suited hole cards, but 6% is huge.

That being said, this is an easy hand to get away from if you miss the flop.

But a lot of the time, you will hit a big pair on the flop. When you do, you prefer fewer opponents.

So betting and raising with ace-king preflop makes sense.

Getting out of the hand after the flop is also an easy decision.

9. Ace-Jack Suited

You’re getting into some speculative hands here. Ace-jack suited is better than Ace-X suited, but not by much. The bigger the cards, the better, but a jack is almost a medium card.

Keep in mind that ace-jack offsuit, while playable, is not a premium hand. In fact, many writers don’t even consider ace-jack suited to be a “premium” hand.

It’s playable, though, because of the possibilities after the flop:

  • You could flop a flush or a flush draw.
  • You have straight possibilities (and straight flush possibilities).
  • You have the potential to get a pair of aces with a reasonably good kicker.

The problem with ace-jack suited is that it’s easier to get a 2nd-best hand with it than with most of the other hands on this list. A pair of jacks with an ace kicker is all right, but what do you do when your opponent has queens?

I think you have to play this cautiously preflop, try to get into a pot with a lot of opponents, then hope you hit a monster flop that fits perfectly so you can get paid off.

If you have position on everyone, and if your opponents are tight enough, you might try bluffing with this one preflop. If someone plays back at you, get really cautious, though.

Best starting hands in texas hold

10. King-Queen Suited

Some writers put a pair of 9s in this spot, but others put king-queen suited. I prefer king-queen suited, so that’s what I went with.

Playing king-queen suited isn’t much different from playing ace-jack suited, though. They’re both speculative hands, and you’re going to want to hit a reasonable flop with it.

This means trying to get in cheap before the flop and hitting your hand on the flop.

Conclusion

Starting hands in Texas holdem are half the battle. Everyone knows that you’re supposed to limit yourself to the top 20 or so starting hands. This post only covers half those.

The other half of the possible starting hands, though, are easy enough to play. They’re just like the lower ranked hands on this list—only more so. They’re all speculative, so you want to try to get into pots cheap with lots of other players and clean up when you hit your hand.

It’s easy to overplay a reasonable starting hand in Texas holdem, but you really should only be playing about 3 hands preflop per hour. If you’re playing more than that, you’re in trouble.

And even with those 3 hands, you need to be cautious with most of them.

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The Strongest Poker Hands – Before and After the Flop

Before the flop is dealt, the strongest hands are easy to spot. Aces, Kings and Queens top the list – with Ace-King not far behind.

The relative strength of poker hands in Texas Hold’em changes as the community cards are dealt. While all sorts of starting hands can hit the flop, there are certain categories which are more likely to turn into hidden monsters.

This page covers the top 10 poker hands, before the flop – and then all the way to the river. This includes:

  • Starting Hands: Top 10 hands that every play would love to be dealt before the flop
  • Flop Betting: How the first 3 community cards have a huge effect on the ‘relative’ strength of the bet pre-flop hands.
  • Turn and River: Draws can complete, or high cards can hit as the community card board is completed.
  • Top Hands and Position: Why being dealt a top 10 poker hand alone is not enough to win big.
  • How to Tell: If you can spot those times an opponent has a monster hand, you’ll be in a great position top get away from 2nd best holdings.

Starting Hands: The Top 10 Hands Before the Flop

Pocket Aces rule the rankings before the flop. If you are dealt this hand, you’ll win 80% of the time against any single hand your opponent could hold by the river.

Here are the top 10 hands pre-flop in Texas Hold’em:

  1. Pocket Aces: There is no better feeling in Hold’em than looking down at a pair of aces. Especially if there has been a raise ahead of you.
  2. Pocket Kings: With aces so rare, it is usual to assume that your pocket kings are the best hand pre-flop. You can always reassess if you face multiple re-raises. With no aces on the flop, you can hope to win a big pot with this hand.
  3. Pocket Queens: There is a risk that opponents have aces, kings or ace-king when you are dealt Queens. With no ‘card removal’ for those hands as when you are dealt A-A or K-K. Pocket Queens is still a very strong hand and should be played for a raise.
  4. Ace-King: This hand is even stronger when suited, though plenty strong enough with just the high card value. If you make a pair on the flop, you will have the top kicker to go with your top-pair.
  5. Pocket Jacks: As you get down the rankings, even strong starting hands start to become vulnerable to over-cards on the flop. Jacks are often good enough to win unimproved, though you need to be cautious when an ace hits the board.
  6. Ace-Queen: Again, a suited version is much stronger than an unsuited one – as you’ll be able to make the nut flush on occasion. This hand becomes stronger if your opponents are prone to overplaying aces with weaker kickers.
  7. Pocket 10’s: This is the last pocket pair which is more likely than not to be an over-pair on the flop. It has hidden value, blocking straights and allowing you to hit a set (as with all smaller pairs) on boards which look ‘safe’ for the higher pairs.
  8. King Queen Suited: This hand has a lot of potential multi-way. Heads up against one of the premium hands, it does not do as well. If you find yourself with king-queen suited in position in a multi-way pot, you can often make a hidden monster and win a big pot.
  9. Ace-Jack / Ace-Ten: These hands are vulnerable, though suited versions can make the nut flush, if you don’t make 2 pairs, there is always a chance of a Broadway straight.
  10. Mid-Pairs: Finally, mid-pairs can make sets – giving them a lot of deceptive strength. When someone has aces, and bets strongly, you can often win their whole stack with a hidden pair or 7’s (for example).

Relative Strength of Poker Hands on Different Flops

Key to success in poker is not to get married to the top 10 starting hands after the flop. There are several factors to consider. While you can often assume that your premium starting hand is still best (and bet it accordingly), a clear assessment of the risks is always useful.

When you see a flop, think about the following:

  • How many opponents saw this flop (what is the risk that some random hand connected!)?
  • Does this flop have the potential to hit many drawing hands (straights and flushes)?
  • Is this the type of flop that will not connect with hands my (tight) opponents are likely to play (low, unconnected flops fit this category)?
  • Are there cards on the board which are higher than my pocket pair?

These questions highlight an error that many new players make with premium hands. If you limp or call, instead of raising with those aces – you can end up in a tricky spot. You could see a wet flop (lots of potential draws available) with multiple opponents who might have random holdings. If you have to act first in the betting, the situation looks even trickier. Here your hand is too strong to give up on, though if you get a lot of action on subsequent betting rounds, you could be in trouble!

Playing good hands strongly, and raising a few outside the top 5 for balance, is a great way to avoid too many tough spots on the flop.

Turn and River Cards: How Likely my Opponent Hit?

When the turn or river card completes a flush (for example) and your opponent comes out firing with a big bet, you need to ask yourself how often you are beaten.

The wrong question to ask here is ‘how often do players make flushes by the river?’. You have some additional information. If your opponent called a bet on the flop, or even raised, then they are likely to have some kind of hand. If they continued all the way, only to re-raise you at the end when their card hit – you might just be in trouble.

Getting ‘married’ to over-pairs can be expensive in these situations. What is demonstrates is that even the top 10 starting hands can be losers in certain run-outs. You’ll need to use your judgement to decide whether your opponent might be bluffing in the scenario above. This can be based on the player, their bet sizing in the hand and your history with that opponent. In my experience, players at the smallest stakes are not bluffing frequently enough in this type of spot to make this a profitable call.

Playing the Top 10 Poker Starting Hands in Position

Best Starting Hands In Texas Hold'em Poker

With the dynamics or poker hand strength changing as the community cards come out, playing in position is a great way to optimise your profits. This simply refers to acting last in the betting on the flop, turn and river betting rounds. The player with the ‘Dealer’ button position acts last – though keep in mind that acting last relative to the raiser pre-flop is a different factor.

When you are last to act, you can get away from hands when there is a raise and a re-raise ahead of you. It is always an option to bet out and steal a pot you might otherwise have given up on when everyone checks to you as well.

Position strategy goes a lot deeper than this. When you are starting out, keep in mind that acting last + having a top 10 poker hand is the best spot to be in!

Best Starting Hands In Texas Hold'em Pokerxas Hold Em Poker

How to Tell If Your Top Hand is Beaten?

Best Starting Hands In Texas Hold'em Poker Poker

As you gain experience playing on different board-textures, and against different types of opponents – spotting those times when your pocket aces are second best becomes a lot easier.

Best Starting Hands In Texas Hold'em Pokerr

While some opponents keep betting at any pot where they have a piece of the board (or a draw in some cases), other opponents are more cautious. If someone who usually limps and calls suddenly wakes up with big bets, this is a great sign that you could be beaten. I have seen opponents play passively for hours, and suddenly check-raise when they made the top flush. If you pay those types off, it is down to you not paying attention – rather than bad luck.