The Best and the Worst Starting Hands in Texas Hold'em:
One of the first and most important things to learn when
playing Texas Hold'em is which starting hands is worth staying in with and
which you should fold. Deciding whether or not those two down cards you're
first dealt are playable is the most important decision in every hand, because
while you have to be in it to win it, you also can't lose money you haven't
bet.
Since the two hole or pocket cards are the only thing that
will make your hand better or worse than any other players, it's important that
they are good strong cards.
Top 10 starting hands:
Pair of Aces: This is the best Hold'em poker hand you can hope to have.
It's the best of the best, and will win more than any other hand. Also known as
American Airlines, pocket rockets, or bullets.
Pair of Kings: This 2nd-best hold'em hand is still incredibly strong and
will win you a good chunk of change. Two kings, or "cowboys" are only
dominated by aces.
Two queens, or "ladies" are a very good hand.
Sure, kings and aces will beat you, but you've got the upper hand on jacks and
below.
Ace-king is a strong but tricky hand. It is the strongest of
the drawing hands, but the flop needs to work with you to give you a pair of
aces or kings for it to really pay off. Suited it is slightly stronger than
unsuited, as then you can also make the nut flush much more easily.
A pair of jacks, ten-handed, will win almost 20% of the
time. If the flop shows a queen, king, or ace, watch out, but otherwise, it's
smooth sailing.
Ace-queen is the second best drawing hand, and when suited,
will win about 20% of the time as well.
King-queen, especially suited, is a great drawing hand that
is only afraid of an Ace falling on the board.
Ace-jack is another great drawing hand. Suited is always
better here, but unsuited is still playable.
King-jack, especially in later positions, is a fine hand to
play, but can be beat by any of the hands listed above and should be folded to
big raises. Statistically, suited it will win just under 19% of the time, but
unsuited that drops to just 15%.
Ace-ten is still a good hand -- you've got the ace, and can
make a straight if the miracle J-Q-K falls on the board. But be wary of playing
it too strong, especially unsuited, as if all you end up with is a pair of
aces, you may be out-kicked.
Top 10 worst starting hands:
Sure, you know that a pair of aces is the best hand in Texas
Hold'em, but it is also essential in recognising the worst starting hands. As a
player, you must know that these hands are almost always fold'em hands and in Texas
Hold'em it is just as important to improving your poker game and not playing
like a novice or fool. Some of these "worst hands" are bad in the
same way and will lose at about the same rate, so they have been called ties,
even when one is a slightly better hand.
7-2: Off suit is considered the worst hand in Texas Hold'em.
They are the lowest two cards you can have that cannot make a Straight
(there's 4 cards between 2 and 7). Even if they are suited, they will make you
a very low Flush,
and if either pairs, it's an awfully low hand. Because it is the worst, some
players will play it for fun and in online games, it is known as "the
hammer."
8-2: This is the same basic problem as above, only you've
got an 8 instead of a 7. Still pretty bad for a high card. Suited or not, this
is a fold'em hold'em hand.
Tie: 7-3 & 8-3
The 3 makes this hand able to beat the two above it, but
with the 3-8 you still can't make a straight
and the 3-7 still, well, is still lame.
6-2 while if the
board gives you a miracle flop of 3-4-5, you will have a straight,
someone with a 6-7 will have a higher straight. If you get a flush,
someone will probably have a higher flush.
Against even 4 players, this hand will lose approximately
90% of the time - which obviously does not for a good start to any game.
Tie: 9-2 & 9-3 & 9-4
The only thing these three hands have going for them over
the hands above is the 9. If the 9 pairs, you'll have a middle pair that could
still be beat by anyone holding pocket 10s, jacks, queens, kings, or aces, yet
you might be fooled by a board filled with low cards into thinking you have the
best hand and losing a lot of money. No straights can fill the gap between
these cards, either. You have been warned.
10-2 This hand has a legendary quality because Doyle Brunson
captured two World Series of Poker Bracelets with it. But it's not a good hand
-- Doyle Brunson is one of the all-time best in the game, so if anyone can make
it work, it was going to be him!
9-5 Another hand people may play because it's fun. But if you're playing to win, it's not a good idea to
play this type of hands (that seem like fun). There's no doubt this hand is a
statistical loser.
Tie: 7-4 & 8-4 & 8-5 & 6-3
All these hands will rarely win, especially unsuited. Don't
be tempted, even in the small blind. If you see two low cards in the hole,
unless you're in the big blind and you can see the flop for free, fold.
Face card + low card, unsuited:
One of the most common mistakes that beginners make is that
when they see any face card in their hand, they play it. J-2, Q-3, K-4 for example -- and
most of these hands are losers. They're useless hands that may win a few pots, but more often will
lose you huge cash when you find the other player has a higher kicker and the
winning hand.
Ace + low card, unsuited:
This is another common beginner mistake, playing any ace.
Again, it may win on the few occasion, and it can be a more than an OK hand, but at a table of 4 or
more, this hand shouldn't be played if there is a raise in front of you. You're
going to be out kicked a lot with Ace-little, and it is going to feel like a punch
in the gut when the other player shows their higher ace.