Starting hands
Limit Texas Hold’em
One of the most common mistakes in Texas Hold’em is playing to many starting hands. An ace, a king or a small pair might be tempting, but actually pretty weak. Without strict starting hand standards your bank roll will surely decrease.
In Limit Texas Hold’em there are many factors to consider before deciding whether your starting cards are worth playing with or not.
Position is probably the most important thing. You should play many more hands from late positions than you would from early ones. This is because late positions give you information about your opponent’s hands and the possibility to respond correctly to their actions.
The more players you are facing at the table the fewer starting hands you should play. How many of your opponents that have entered the pot when it’s your turn to act is another significant aspect. For example, if you’re holding a drawing hand you want as many opponents as possible to enter the pot. If only a small number of players call you won’t get correct poker odds on your drawing hand. In other cases you would want as few players as possible to enter the pot, for example when you want to protect a high pair from different kinds of drawing hands.
If there has been a raise before it’s your turn to act, you need a really strong hand to enter the pot. Especially raises from players in early position are warning signals. When a raise comes from a late position it might be a bluff to steal the blinds.
You also have to consider whether the game is tight or loose. In loose games many players see the flop with weak cards and in these cases you should lower your starting hand standards. When the game is tight you have to be more careful.
No Limit Texas Hold’em
Beginning players should be very careful in No Limit Games. There are many starting hands that can get you in to trouble if you’re not 100 % sure of what your doing. The best advice is to play only strong hands that are relatively easy to handle after the flop. If you are an inexperienced No Limit player you should only play pairs (AA to 22), AK and AQ. You will not see many flops using these very tight starting hand standards, but you will still have the chance to win big pots if you get lucky. If you apply this strategy you will fold many hands; use this free time to observe the game and the other player’s actions. This is valuable information if you want to learn more about the game. So be sure to play hands with good poker hand odds.
Other things to think about before the flop in No Limit Games:
- Beware of trap hands. Many hands look tempting to play (AJ and KQ for example), but there’s a risk that they will be dominated by even stronger hands (AA, KK). If you’re trapped in a situation like this in a No Limit Game the outcome might be disastrous.
- Generally raise or re-raise with AA-QQ and AK and AQs. This is the best way to protect your high hand against low pairs and drawing hands. It will also give you a strong position in the upcoming betting rounds.
- Your raises should generally be between 70 and 100 % of the pot size. Larger raises are risky and could prove costly in case you’re re-raised or if another player calls with a stronger hand.
- The other starting hands are generally hands that you just call with. Although in some cases you might raise or re-raise with these hands, for example when you’re defending your blinds.
- Sometimes you should change the pace of your game to avoid predictability. This means calling or raising with hands that you would normally throw away.
- Always respect tight players. Be prepared to fold a strong hand (AQ, for example) if a tight player raises from early position or makes a re-raise.
The table below shows minimum required starting hands depending on your position. It's optimized for semi-tight/semi-aggressive games and for un-raised pots. Beginning players should stick to the starting hands standards mentioned in the text above.
| Your position (players to act after you) | Pairs | Un-paired cards |
|---|---|---|
| Under the gun (9) | 99 | AK |
| 2nd to act (8) | 88 | AQ |
| 3rd to act (7) | 77 | AQ |
| 4th to act (6) | 66 | AJs |
| 5th to act (5) | 55 | ATs |
| 6th to act (4) | 44 | A9s, KQs |
| 7th to act (3) | 33 | Axs, KJs |
| On the button (2) | 22 | Axs, KTs, QJs, JTs |
| Small blind (1) | 22 | Axs, KTs, QJs, JTs |
| Big blind (0) | - | - |