NL Hold’em Starting Hand Charts One aspect of the game of No‐Limit Hold’em that causes beginning players much grief is deciding which hands to play and which hands to dump. NL Hold’em is much more difficult than Limit Hold’em. Holdem top 20 starting hands If you want to have a casino designed from the ground up, your definitive estimate will be higher than if you are fine with a templated design solution.Instead of handing your money holdem top 20 starting hands to the dealer, cash in for chips.The last community card, which you holdem top 20 starting hands.

1. Top 20 Holdem Starting Hands G Hands Charts
2. Top 20 Holdem Starting Hands Lyrics

In the poker game of Texas hold 'em, a starting hand consists of two hole cards, which belong solely to the player and remain hidden from the other players. Five community cards are also dealt into play. Betting begins before any of the community cards are exposed, and continues throughout the hand. The player's 'playing hand', which will be compared against that of each competing player, is the best 5-card poker hand available from his two hole cards and the five community cards. Unless otherwise specified, here the term hand applies to the player's two hole cards, or starting hand.

• 2Limit hand rankings

Essentials[edit]

There are 1326 distinct possible combinations of two hole cards from a standard 52-card deck in hold 'em, but since suits have no relative value in this poker variant, many of these hands are identical in value before the flop. For example, A♥J♥ and A♠J♠ are identical in value, because each is a hand consisting of an ace and a jack of the same suit.

Therefore, there are 169 non-equivalent starting hands in hold 'em, which is the sum total of : 13 pocket pairs, 13 × 12 / 2 = 78 suited hands and 78 unsuited hands (13 + 78 + 78 = 169).

These 169 hands are not equally likely. Hold 'em hands are sometimes classified as having one of three 'shapes':

• Pairs, (or 'pocket pairs'), which consist of two cards of the same rank (e.g. 9♠9♣). One hand in 17 will be a pair, each occurring with individual probability 1/221 (P(pair) = 3/51 = 1/17).

An alternative means of making this calculation

First Step As confirmed above.

There are 2652 possible combination of opening hand.

Second Step

There are 6 different combos of each pair. 9h9c, 9h9s, 9h9d, 9c9s, 9c9d, 9d9s

To calculate the odds of being dealt a pair

2652 (possible opening hands) divided by 12 (the number of any particular pair being dealt. As above)

2652/12 = 221

• Suited hands, which contain two cards of the same suit (e.g. A♣6♣). Four hands out of 17 will be suited, and each suited configuration occurs with probability 2/663 (P(suited) = 12/51 = 4/17).

• Offsuit hands, which contain two cards of a different suit and rank (e.g. K♠J♥). Twelve out of 17 hands will be nonpair, offsuit hands, each of which occurs with probability 2/221 (P(offsuit non-pair) = 3*(13-1)/51 = 12/17).

It is typical to abbreviate suited hands in hold 'em by affixing an 's' to the hand, as well as to abbreviate non-suited hands with an 'o' (for offsuit). That is,

QQ represents any pair of queens,

KQ represents any king and queen,

AKo represents any ace and king of different suits, and

JTs represents any jack and ten of the same suit.

There are 25 starting hands with a probability of winning at a 10-handed table of greater than 1/7.^[1]

Limit hand rankings[edit]

Some notable theorists and players have created systems to rank the value of starting hands in limit Texas hold'em. These rankings do not apply to no limit play.

Sklansky hand groups[edit]

David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth^[2] assigned in 1999 each hand to a group, and proposed all hands in the group could normally be played similarly. Stronger starting hands are identified by a lower number. Hands without a number are the weakest starting hands. As a general rule, books on Texas hold'em present hand strengths starting with the assumption of a nine or ten person table. The table below illustrates the concept:

Chen formula[edit]

The 'Chen Formula' is a way to compute the 'power ratings' of starting hands that was originally developed by Bill Chen.^[3]

Highest Card

Based on the highest card, assign points as follows:

Ace = 10 points, K = 8 points, Q = 7 points, J = 6 points.

10 through 2, half of face value (10 = 5 points, 9 = 4.5 points, etc.)

Pairs

For pairs, multiply the points by 2 (AA=20, KK=16, etc.), with a minimum of 5 points for any pair. 55 is given an extra point (i.e., 6).

Suited

Add 2 points for suited cards.

Closeness

Subtract 1 point for 1 gappers (AQ, J9)

2 points for 2 gappers (J8, AJ).

4 points for 3 gappers (J7, 73).

5 points for larger gappers, including A2 A3 A4

Add an extra point if connected or 1-gap and your highest card is lower than Q (since you then can make all higher straights)

Phil Hellmuth's: 'Play Poker Like the Pros'[edit]

Phil Hellmuth's 'Play Poker Like the Pros' book published in 2003.

Statistics based on real online play[edit]

Statistics based on real play with their associated actual value in real bets.^[4]

Nicknames for starting hands[edit]

In poker communities, it is common for hole cards to be given nicknames. While most combinations have a nickname, stronger handed nicknames are generally more recognized, the most notable probably being the 'Big Slick' - Ace and King of the same suit, although an Ace-King of any suit combination is less occasionally referred to as an Anna Kournikova, derived from the initials AK and because it 'looks really good but rarely wins.'^[5][6] Hands can be named according to their shapes (e.g., paired aces look like 'rockets', paired jacks look like 'fish hooks'); a historic event (e.g., A's and 8's - dead man's hand, representing the hand held by Wild Bill Hickok when he was fatally shot in the back by Jack McCall in 1876); many other reasons like animal names, alliteration and rhyming are also used in nicknames.

Notes[edit]

1. ^No-Limit Texas Hold'em by Angel Largay
2. ^David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth (1999). Hold 'em Poker for Advanced Players. Two Plus Two Publications. ISBN1-880685-22-1
3. ^Hold'em Excellence: From Beginner to Winner by Lou Krieger, Chapter 5, pages 39 - 43, Second Edition
4. ^http://www.pokerroom.com/poker/poker-school/ev-stats/total-stats-by-card/
5. ^Aspden, Peter (2007-05-19). 'FT Weekend Magazine - Non-fiction: Stakes and chips Las Vegas and the internet have helped poker become the biggest game in town'. Financial Times. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
6. ^Martain, Tim (2007-07-15). 'A little luck helps out'. Sunday Tasmanian. Retrieved 2010-01-10.

Top 20 Holdem Starting Hands G Hands Charts

Playing Texas hold’em, you have been dealt two holecards. Now you must make the most important decision: whether or not to invest in this starting-hand. I always teach my seniors poker classes to use the Hold’em Algorithm. That makes the decision much easier – and less stressful.

I thought our readers might be interested in the odds against being dealt the best possible starting-hands. Mike Caro’s Hold’em Starting Hand Distribution Chart is described in his book, “Caro’s Most Profitable Hold’em Advice” (Cardoza Publishing; www.cardozapub.com).

The 20 best starting-hands in sequence are in the box to the right. Caro presents the odds against being dealt each of these hands, or a better hand. I will add my assessment of these three main groupings.

The odds shown refer to the probability (likelihood) of being dealt those holecards – or better. For example, you can expect pocket Aces, pocket Kings, or pocket Queens in the hole, once every 73 hands dealt. With 30-35 hands dealt per hour that will occur (on average) about once every two hours of play. Patience!

It is noteworthy that all of the 20 best holecards listed satisfy the Hold’em Algorithm criteria for all positions, including early position; and hence are playable preflop. Caro’s chart goes well beyond these first 20 to all 169 possible different starting-hands. There are many other playable combinations depending on position and other factors. Rather than trying to memorize these, it’s so much easier to use the Hold’em Algorithm, and quickly add up, in your head, the score for your holecards to easily decide if they are playable.

I regard the top three – A-A, K-K, and Q-Q – as “made hands” preflop. They could win the pot even without further improvement. Playing these preflop, your best action is to raise to thin the field to (preferably) three opponents staying to see the flop with you. (More than three opponents would make your A-A an underdog.)

Top 20 Holdem Starting Hands Lyrics

The next nine listed (J-J down to A-J suited) are “semi-made hands.” With luck, they might survive to take the pot; but more likely they need to improve. It’s best to play cautiously until your hand improves enough to warrant getting aggressive or deceptive to build “your” pot.

The last 10 hands (A-10 suited, down to Q-J suited) are “premium drawing hands.” Almost certainly, they must improve to win the pot. Usually, it’s best to limp along, hoping for a multiway pot (three or more opponents staying to see the flop) with no raising (the minimum investment for you). If the flop doesn’t help this hand consider mucking those holecards. (The same applies to other playable drawing hands that satisfy the Hold’em Algorithm before the flop.)

A Short Cut

For those unsuited holecards not listed in the chart, when there is one honor card among your two holecards, an easy way to make your play-or-fold decision is to use the Hi-Lo concept: One honor card and one low card – 7 down to 2. Such hands are best mucked unless you are one of the blinds, and there are no raises.

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