Texas Holdem Hands To Play And Fold

4/11/2022by admin
Texas Holdem Hands To Play And Fold Rating: 5,5/10 2599 votes

Our Texas Hold'em Starting Hands guide is a great follow up to this article and has more specific information on which hands to play. It also has charts that you can use when learning to play. Poker starting hands: playing the right cards at the right time. The basic idea of poker is to play the strongest poker handsin early position, good hands in mid-position and a few more hands in the late (aka strongest) position. Over time, you'll naturally want to shake things up a bit.

The Top Texas Holdem Poker Starting Hands

Every Poker player knows that you don’t play every hand you’re dealt. But, how do you know which hands to play and which to fold?

Best Starting Hands in Texas Holdem Poker to Play

How do you know which starting hands to play?

This is a question that every poker player, amateur or professional, should always be prepared for at the start of every hand, fundamental to poker strategy. You do not want to play every hand, you must know when to fold. If you know which starting hands to play, you can conduct the game in your favour.

Learn Texas Holdem Poker

Texas Holdem Hands To Play And Fold

Texas Holdem Hands To Play And Fold Chairs

Here are the Top 10 Best Starting Hands in Texas Hold’em Poker-

How to play texas holdem for beginners
  1. AA – Pocket Aces or Bullets is the strongest starting hand in poker. Play Strongly, But bear in mind – even though it’s is the best starting hand, you will be left with only one pair if the board doesn’t improve.
  2. KK – Pocket Kings or Cowboys – The second-best starting hand after Aces. But if an Ace turns up post-flop, you will lose to anyone holding a single Ace in their starting hand.
  3. QQ – Pocket Queens or Ladies – the third best starting hand with a winning probability of 80% pre-fop.
  4. JJ – Pocket Jacks or Fishhooks – Pre-flop, it has a 78% chance of winning and is still a still a very strong hand. Be mindful of opponents.
  5. AKs – Big Slick – Ace King suited is the top unpaired starting hand to have in a game of poker. Also called Anna Kournikova or Kalashnikov (AK rifle) by recreational players
  6. Ts – TNT or Tension. The nickname for Pocket Tens is because having a pair of tens pre-flop is tense because of the high chance of overcards.
  7. AQs – Big Chick – Ace Queen suited is another hand with the potential to win the pot.
  8. AKo – Big Slick – Ace King off-suits also rank high in the chart and is capable of winning at least 40% of the time against any other hand (except aces or kings).
  9. AJs – Armani Jeans – Ace and Jack suited is better than most other hands. However, if an opponent raises from early position, proceed with caution.
  10. KQs – Marriage – King and Queen suited is a strong hand that can end up a making Royal Flush.

Other Possible Hands

  • Suited Connectors (98s, 76s, T9s)
  • Offsuit Connectors (T9o, 98o, 54o, JTo)
  • Suited Gappers (97s, T8s, KJs)

Texas Holdem Hands To Play And Fold

*s refers to suited cards (of the same suit)
*o refers to off-suited cards (of different suits)

There are a possible 169 non-equivalent starting hands (ignoring specific suits) in a standard 52-card deck in Texas Hold’em Poker. So, here’s a chart with detailing the win percentage of Texas Holdem starting hands-

Texas Holdem Hands To Play And Fold Away

A

KQJT98765432
A85%68%67%66%66%64%63%63%62%62%61%60%59%
K66%83%64%64%63%61%60%59%58%58%57%56%55%
Q65%62%80%61%61%59%58%56%55%55%54%53%52%
J65%62%59%78%59%57%56%54%53%52%51%50%50%
T64%61%59%57%75%56%54%53%51%49%49%48%47%
962%59%57%55%53%72%53%51%50%48%46%46%45%
861%58%55%53%52%50%69%50%49%47%45%43%43%
760%57%54%52%50%48%47%67%48%46%45%43%41%
659%56%53%50%48%47%46%45%64%46%44%42%40%
560%55%52%49%47%45%44%43%43%61%44%43%41%
459%54%51%48%46%43%42%41%41%41%58%42%40%
358%54%50%48%45%43%40%39%39%39%38%55%39%
257%53%49%47%44%42%40%37%37%37%36%35%

51%

Top Texas Holdem Starting Hands You Should Pray For

Quick Basics:

  • Every player is dealt two cards face down
  • Five community cards are placed on the table (whose value is shown as the round progresses).
  • All players try to make the best five-card combination from among the board and personal cards and bet on the same.
  • Best hand at the end of the round is declared the winner(s) and wins the pot.

It’s only by knowing how to master the basics do you become a poker player who is taken very seriously by his/her opponents. Learn more about the basics of poker-

Poker Diaries: Online Poker vs Offline Poker – The Similarities, The Differences
Poker Diaries: When To Bet & When To Fold With The PreFlop Range Chart
Poker Diaries: Different Types of Poker Playing Styles & Personality
Poker Diaries: Importance of Playing in Position
Poker Diaries: What Are Outs & How To Calculate Them?
Poker Diaries: What are Pot Odds and Equity?

Introduction to Folding

Knowing what hands to fold in poker doesn’t come easy to most players. If you’re reading this article, you’re probably concerned that you play too many hands, call too many raises speculatively or on the contrary, play too tight and need some guidance. We can’t all play like Phil Ivey or Tom Dwan and expect play a wide range of hands profitably. This article will give a basic guide on what hands to fold in poker.

Playing Situations, not Just Cards

Texas Holdem Hands To Play And Fold Laundry Service

Before I get into the hand groups you should be folding. Let me preface it by saying that, as your experience, table awareness and proficiency in Texas Hold’em develops, you will look for profitable situations instead of just playing solid poker hands. This is something I always tell players I mentor. But this article is designed to help those of you who are having difficulty with pre flop hand selection and want some general advice on what hands to fold in poker.

Ace Rag

Ace rag is almost definitely the most overplayed and overrated hand in Texas Holdem. Even professionals will occasionally overplay the ace if they’ve been dealt junk for hours. The truth is, unless you are in position or shorthanded, these hands are unlikely to make you any money or help build your stack much.

They don’t play particularly well post flop and you are unlikely to extract 3 streets of value if you make top pair. Sometimes when you think you will, you end up finding yourself beat by a bigger kicker.

Low Paint Cards

This may surprise you but the Queen Jack and King Jack hands are not as powerful as you think. Granted, you have two paint cards and have the opportunity to make straights. But, if you are calling raises with these hands, particularly against early position open raises, you are going to find yourself outkicked or against a higher pair.

If a strong player is opening from under the gun and you are tempted to play Queen Jack from the small blind, think again. The range of hands you are likely to be up against have Queen Jack in bad shape.

To make this clearer, if you are against an Ace Jack, Ace Queen or King Queen, you are approx. 25% to win the hand in a showdown. Let’s also not forget you do not have the pre flop lead.

Low Connectors

Hands like 4-5, 6-7 and 3-4 are hands to fold in poker. I make a distinction from suited as they play much better. The offsuit low connectors are unlikely to help your ROI. You may have seen some professionals call raises on High Stakes Poker with these hands. That doesn’t mean they were right to and it doesn’t mean you should. Unless you make a hand stronger than one pair, you are unlikely to feel secure with low connectors so just throw them away.

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