But what starting hands are playable? This has a lot to do with your position in the hand - something we will go deeper into later on - but before we do that, let's look at the types of playable starting hands you can receive.
I will focus on no-limit hold'em cash game, but a lot of these thoughts can be transferred to limit hold'em and tournament poker.
Monster Pairs (A-A - K-K)
These hands are easy to play before the flop. You know you have the best hand (the chance of someone holding A-A when you have K-K is so slim that it doesn't change your game plan besides in really extreme situations.)
| I suggest that you don't get fancy with these holdings. Simply try to get as much money into the pot as possible pre flop. Raise first in, and if someone raises you, play a straightforward game and re-raise. Ending up with all the money in the middle is obviously a superb result. |
There is another reason, besides actually having the best hand, why you should play monster hands aggressively. In doing so, you will get opponents with hands you do well against to come along for the ride.
Let's look at an example:
| You | Opponent | Your win percentage |
| Ac-As | Ah-Kd | 92 % |
| Ac-As | 8h-7h | 77 % |
As you can see, with A-A you are better off against someone holding A-K rather than 8-7. But a player holding A-K pre-flop is probably more willing to push chips into the pot. Aggressive play when holding a monster is therefore something I strongly suggest. Opponents who decide to play back with pairs and aces are more than welcome.
When aces and kings clash, $361,800 can end up in the middle.
High Pairs (Q-Q - T-T)
First of all I would like to say that these hand types are not carved in stone. Q-Q is quite close to being a monster pair and T-T must sometimes be treated like a middle pair. You need to examine every hand as unique situation and evaluate the strengths of your pre-flop holdings with all information you can gather.
These high pairs are more than playable, and you should very rarely fold them pre flop. If you are first in, raise it up; and if someone has raised before you, re-raise most of the times. |
The most obvious reason for raising, and possibly re-raising, is because there is a big chance that you hold the best hand. And putting money into the pot when you are ahead is very rarely a bad decision. Furthermore, raising will narrow down the field, which is a good thing with these hands.
Say that you have J-J, call a raise, and three players behind you decide to call as well. Then there are not many flops that won't scare you. If an over card (A, K or Q) falls on the table, there is a big risk that an opponent has you beaten.
On the other hand, if you manage to get heads-up to the flop and a queen comes, your chances of being ahead have improved significantly.
You can be tricky and just call with a high pair. In doing so you disguise the strength, but on the other hand, you allow worse holdings to draw out on you.
Small Pairs (9-9 - 2-2)
This is a pretty wide range of hands and obviously 9-9 is a lot better that 2-2. Say that the flop comes 3 - 6 - 8, a pair of nines is not too shabby. So the difference between the hands in this range is: The higher the pair, the greater the chance is of flopping an over pair.
Besides this, your goal is the same when playing small pairs. You wish to flop a set (three of a kind with a pocket pair) and get as much money into the pot as possible. If you hit, you are sitting on a gold mine; but if you miss, you get rid of the hand (or perhaps try to steal the pot when sitting "in position" - more on that in later chapters.) |
You can even call raises with small pairs but then you are solely trying to flop a set. You don't think you have the best hand yet, but you know that you can get it when the flop is favorable. However, when you do this you must make sure that you can win a lot when you make your hand because most of the times you will miss the flop.
When two players have the same goal - flopping sets with small pocket pairs - very interesting things can happen. This is one of the biggest pot ever in High Stakes Poker.
A-K
This is a special hand so it gets its own category. A-K is in decent, good or great shape against everything but A-A and K-K and is a very playable starting hand. One thing you must remember, however, is that it is a drawing hand - you often need help from the board.
| Even though you are in a coin flip situation against all pairs, queens and below, that is when taking all streets into consideration - flop, turn and river. In an actual game where there is betting on all streets you need a fairly high level of poker instinct to play the hand well. Sometimes you miss the flop but bet to steal the pot while you sometimes abandon the hand altogether when the flop looks bad. |
With this said, you definitely want to play A-K aggressively pre flop. Raise and re-raise very often. If you are up against players who can push with a lot of holdings you can sometimes move all-in pre-flop; and if you play tournaments and the blinds are high, you should often move the chips towards the centre of the table.
Since playing A-K is a lot about gut feeling, we leave the subject for now. But we can state that it is a re-raising hand pre-flop and take the discussions further in later chapters.
A-Q and A-J
These are good hands although they might look better than they actually are. They are still in the raise category, and re-raise depending on your position, but they can also put you in lot of trouble.
| You don't want to commit a lot of money with these hands before the flop, especially A-J, and if you were to go all-in with them, you are almost always trailing behind. |
Say that you hold A-J and are up against an opponent who you know is willing to commit his chips pre-flop with pairs from T-T to A-A, A-Q and A-K. Then T-T is the only hand you can hope for when pushing with A-J (even in that situation you are a couple of percentage underdog). When you think about it, A-Q isn't that much better.
Nevertheless, these hands are playable but remember that they are drawing hands. You need to hit the flop, and even when you do, you might have to play a bit cautiously.
ATs - A2s
The fact that these hands are suited is very important. Naturally A-K, A-Q and A-J also improve when they are suited, but they also have other qualities. These holdings, on the other hand, are first and foremost suited aces.
| You can play, say, A-8s when the prize is right. You can call pre-flop, even call a small raise and raise when sitting in late position. What you hope for is flopping a flush, a flush draw or some sort of unlikely monster like 8-8-3. |
The difference between suited aces and the small pairs, however, is that you can flop a draw whereas you either miss or hit with small pairs.
Play these hands when the price is right, and turn on the aggression when you hit a draw. But remember not to get too carried away if you hit only an ace. The problem is that if you have the best hand (no one else has an ace) you will win a small pot, but if someone has an ace you risk losing a lot of money.
This hand is part of our list of Phil Hellmuth's worst blow-ups, but it is also a great example of don't knowing where you are at with a small ace.
K-Q and K-J
These starting hands are often over-played. It's not hard to imagine the problems that can arise when an opponent has an ace and any of the other cards you hold.
| When you hit a pair you will probably have the best hand, but you can't be sure. This uncertainty makes the hands a lot harder to play after the flop. |
Another thing to consider is the texture of the boards you possibly hit. Players tend, for obvious reasons, to play high cards rather than low. So if you connect with the board, chances are that someone else did as well.
When you flop a straight draw, some one else might have a pair or two and vice versa. In consequence, the pot can become quite large when there are high cards on the flop. But the thing you really want to avoid is getting out-kicked (you and an opponent hold the same pair but you have a lower unpaired card), which happens quite often with these holdings. This is the reason why many consider these starting hands - especially K-J - to be "trouble hands".
With this said, you should not automatically fold these hands - not at all. Play them, but be aware of the problems they might bring.
If your K-Q is suited, you can flop a flush draw. You can then semi bluff with it and pick up the pot, well, unless you play against Sammy Farha.
Q-J, Q-T and J-T
These hands are actually easier to play than K-Q and K-J and I think the main reason for this is psychological. They don't look as good as the higher starting hands so you tend not to commit that much money with them when you are behind. When you play K-Q you look to hit a pair whereas with Q-T you hope for a straight draw.
| Personally, I really like these starting hands and I play them most of the times when the price is not too high. When you flop straight draws with under cards (example J-T on a 9-8-x flop) the hand becomes a monster. You are drawing to the best (nut) straight and might even win when hitting a pair. |
I really like these starting hands and I play them most of the times when the price is not too high. When you flop straight draws with under cards (example J-T on a 9-8-x flop) the hand becomes a monster. You are drawing to the best (nut) straight and might even win when hitting a pair.
As all unpaired starting hands, they are better when suited.
Semi High Hands (A-T, K-T, K-9, Q-9)
Now we are coming to hands that you probably should fold if someone has raised behind you, at least when deploying the basic, straightforward strategy. You can raise when you are first in and are sitting in late position - A-T and K-T are definitely raising hands in that situation.
| But think about it. If you raise with, say, K-9, what do you want your opponents to do? Fold, call or raise? Of course you are just happy with picking up the blinds, which also gives an indication of the hand's strength. |
When sitting in early position (you are forced to act first before the flop), these hands probably belong in the muck.
Naturally you want to play the player and not always just the cards. Nevertheless, A-T off suit can put you in deep trouble.
Suited Connectors (T-9s, T-8s, 9-8s, 9-7s, 8-7s, 8-6s and 6-5s)
When your first two cards are below jack you want the cards to be suited and connected. What you hope for is to catch a flush or a straight (most often the latter.) These are very playable hands in no-limit hold'em, a game in which players always risk their entire stacks. When you catch a monster the payoff can be great.
| For obvious reasons you don't want to commit that much money pre-flop. If you are up against an over pair you are far behind. But on the other hand, suited connectors do fairly well against over pairs. Against A-A you would rather sit with 9-8 suited than A-K. |
Also when you hit a two pair, your opponents don't necessarily put you on that hand.
We will discuss suited connectors later in this poker school. For now, let's just say that the hands can be very profitable in no-limit.
When you have a suited connector you want to catch a straight or a flush, or perhaps both.
More on Starting Hands
As you probably already have realized, the value of a starting hand much depends on the game you are in. How your opponents play, what position are you in, how much money you and the ones you are up against have etc.
Without taking that information into consideration it is tough to make an optimal decision. However, if you study the later chapters, the picture will hopefully become clearer.
