Get our easy to read and efficient Preflop Poker Charts for free and build a solid poker strategy for your game instantly. Download them at Upswingpoker.com. Poker Starting Hands - Comprehensive guide to which poker hands you should play, including a 2020 Texas Hold'em poker starting hands chart. Jan 14, 2020 This preflop checklist contains just 6 things that will keep you focused on the right information preflop and help you decide if you should fold, limp-behind, or attack with a big raise. Most players build their preflop strategy solely around a hand chart they found online. Now don't get me wrong-a poker hand range chart can be helpful. Equity Chart - 2 Annotations to this chart: This chart compares different starting hands with ranges and gives you the Equity this hand has against the selected range. 77 have 41,3% Equity versus a 7.5% range (consisting out of 99+, AJ+, KQ) Feel free to modify this chart to your own purposes. The ranges I listed are common, nevertheless not.
In short, your decisions in the pre-flop betting round should be based on three key factors:
- Your hand strength
- Your position at the table
- Your opponents' action in front of you
We now look more deeply at how to apply these basics in the specific environment of the cash-game tables.
Hand selection
As in all games of Texas Hold'em, be it tournament play or a cash game, you will need to categorise your starting hand. (Refresh your memory of what we mean by 'monsters', 'very strong hands', 'speculative hands' and 'trash' in the Poker Basics lesson.)
By and large, it is correct to raise with monsters and very strong hands; it is better to be more circumspect with speculative hands; and trash should be thrown away. As you get more experienced you will add other factors, but the core decision is based primarily on that list.
However in a cash game, you will have a bigger stack compared with the big blind, so you can tend to play more speculative hands. The reasons for this are twofold: firstly we are risking a much smaller proportion of our stack to enter a pot pre-flop. Secondly, if we hit, we will win a far bigger pot.
Therefore the risk/reward calculation changes with 100 BB stacks in a cash game. In some instances we should be happy to call pre-flop with a hand that we might ordinarily throw away. (The notion of 'pot odds' is discussed in more depth later.) You can afford to call and miss with speculative hands like smaller pocket pairs and suited connectors against raises, knowing that you will fold if you miss.
The larger stack sizes also free you up to play slightly unorthodox poker at times. You might want to call with a very strong hand instead of re-raising. Or you might want to call a re-raise with a weaker speculative hand.
Your decision will need to take into account the effective stack size, as discussed in the last lesson.
For example: You are on the button with 3♣3♠ and a very tight player raises from early position. It is very likely that he holds a big pocket pair, so you will need to hit a set to win.
Poker Starting Hands Guide - Best Starting Hands In Poker
If your assumption is correct and the tight player has a big pair like A♥A♦ or K♠K♣ it will be tough for him to get away from his hand on a flop like 3♦Q♦10♠. You are very likely to be able to get the maximum amount of chips in the pot.
Therefore if the effective stack is 100 BB in this situation, you can certainly call the raise and hope to hit your set. The times you hit and win a big pot will make up for the times you miss and lose.
But if the effective stack is only 20 BB, you cannot win enough. Your relatively small profit will not make up for the times you miss. You should fold 3♣3♠ if you or your opponent is short-stacked.
In later stages of tournaments, play like this this simply doesn't work. You usually play with a shallow stack, where fancy moves can cost you your tournament life. That is not true in a cash game, where the small investment pre-flop can grow into a big one if you hit the right flop.
But always keep in mind that stack size is not the only factor in the decision whether you want to play a hand or not – always consider position, opponents and your table image.
Join us on our Discord channel.
Poker Hand Odds Preflop Chart Fantasy Football
Both before and after the flop in any limit Holdem game, it is helpful to be able to make a reasonably accurate estimate of the types and numbers of playable hands that you are likely to be competing against.
Much of your decision making involves the business of 'putting' opposing players 'on their hands' (or in other words, figuring out what cards they are playing). Experienced Holdem players are often very good at this. An understanding of the types of hands that are most likely to be against you helps prevent both underestimating and overestimating your competition.
Here are some stats that are based on the total possible combinations of various Holdem hole cards that are normally playable.
For better viewing on your mobile device (or to download or print the chart), check out holdem hole card frequencies in high resolution universal .pdf format.
The five different types of two card Hold'em hands highlighted here are those that are most commonly played. They are not shown in any particular order and within the groups are powerful hands that are almost always played, down to marginal value hands that can be played under certain betting conditions.
The rest of the hands, shown as All Others, are all the very weak hands that most players hardly ever play.
Pairs - All pairs. AA, KK, QQ, JJ, 1010, 99, 88, 77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22
Two High Cards Suited - AK(S), AQ(S), AJ(S), A10(S), KQ(S), KJ(S), K10(S), QJ(S), Q10(S), J10(S)
Two High Cards Unsuited - AK, AQ, AJ, A10, KQ, KJ, K10, QJ, Q10, J10
Poker Hand Odds Preflop Chart Interpretation
Medium and Low Suited Connectors - These include both no-gap and one-gap connectors: J9(S), 109(S), 108(S), 98(S), 97(S), 87(S), 86(S), 76(S), 75(S), 65(S), 64(S), 54(S), 53(S)
In short, your decisions in the pre-flop betting round should be based on three key factors:
- Your hand strength
- Your position at the table
- Your opponents' action in front of you
We now look more deeply at how to apply these basics in the specific environment of the cash-game tables.
Hand selection
As in all games of Texas Hold'em, be it tournament play or a cash game, you will need to categorise your starting hand. (Refresh your memory of what we mean by 'monsters', 'very strong hands', 'speculative hands' and 'trash' in the Poker Basics lesson.)
By and large, it is correct to raise with monsters and very strong hands; it is better to be more circumspect with speculative hands; and trash should be thrown away. As you get more experienced you will add other factors, but the core decision is based primarily on that list.
However in a cash game, you will have a bigger stack compared with the big blind, so you can tend to play more speculative hands. The reasons for this are twofold: firstly we are risking a much smaller proportion of our stack to enter a pot pre-flop. Secondly, if we hit, we will win a far bigger pot.
Therefore the risk/reward calculation changes with 100 BB stacks in a cash game. In some instances we should be happy to call pre-flop with a hand that we might ordinarily throw away. (The notion of 'pot odds' is discussed in more depth later.) You can afford to call and miss with speculative hands like smaller pocket pairs and suited connectors against raises, knowing that you will fold if you miss.
The larger stack sizes also free you up to play slightly unorthodox poker at times. You might want to call with a very strong hand instead of re-raising. Or you might want to call a re-raise with a weaker speculative hand.
Your decision will need to take into account the effective stack size, as discussed in the last lesson.
For example: You are on the button with 3♣3♠ and a very tight player raises from early position. It is very likely that he holds a big pocket pair, so you will need to hit a set to win.
Poker Starting Hands Guide - Best Starting Hands In Poker
If your assumption is correct and the tight player has a big pair like A♥A♦ or K♠K♣ it will be tough for him to get away from his hand on a flop like 3♦Q♦10♠. You are very likely to be able to get the maximum amount of chips in the pot.
Therefore if the effective stack is 100 BB in this situation, you can certainly call the raise and hope to hit your set. The times you hit and win a big pot will make up for the times you miss and lose.
But if the effective stack is only 20 BB, you cannot win enough. Your relatively small profit will not make up for the times you miss. You should fold 3♣3♠ if you or your opponent is short-stacked.
In later stages of tournaments, play like this this simply doesn't work. You usually play with a shallow stack, where fancy moves can cost you your tournament life. That is not true in a cash game, where the small investment pre-flop can grow into a big one if you hit the right flop.
But always keep in mind that stack size is not the only factor in the decision whether you want to play a hand or not – always consider position, opponents and your table image.
Join us on our Discord channel.
Poker Hand Odds Preflop Chart Fantasy Football
Both before and after the flop in any limit Holdem game, it is helpful to be able to make a reasonably accurate estimate of the types and numbers of playable hands that you are likely to be competing against.
Much of your decision making involves the business of 'putting' opposing players 'on their hands' (or in other words, figuring out what cards they are playing). Experienced Holdem players are often very good at this. An understanding of the types of hands that are most likely to be against you helps prevent both underestimating and overestimating your competition.
Here are some stats that are based on the total possible combinations of various Holdem hole cards that are normally playable.
For better viewing on your mobile device (or to download or print the chart), check out holdem hole card frequencies in high resolution universal .pdf format.
The five different types of two card Hold'em hands highlighted here are those that are most commonly played. They are not shown in any particular order and within the groups are powerful hands that are almost always played, down to marginal value hands that can be played under certain betting conditions.
The rest of the hands, shown as All Others, are all the very weak hands that most players hardly ever play.
Pairs - All pairs. AA, KK, QQ, JJ, 1010, 99, 88, 77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22
Two High Cards Suited - AK(S), AQ(S), AJ(S), A10(S), KQ(S), KJ(S), K10(S), QJ(S), Q10(S), J10(S)
Two High Cards Unsuited - AK, AQ, AJ, A10, KQ, KJ, K10, QJ, Q10, J10
Poker Hand Odds Preflop Chart Interpretation
Medium and Low Suited Connectors - These include both no-gap and one-gap connectors: J9(S), 109(S), 108(S), 98(S), 97(S), 87(S), 86(S), 76(S), 75(S), 65(S), 64(S), 54(S), 53(S)
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Ace and Non-High Combinations - A9, A8, A7,A6 Note: 25% of these 64 combinations (16) are suited. 75% of the 64 combinations (48) are unsuited.