Texas Hold'em: a game in which it is easy to learn the basics, but considerably harder to master. For now, let's cover a basic part of the game - starting hands. Texas Hold'em position example. Lets say we are up against one opponent on the flop and we have not managed to improve our hand. If our opponent checks to us, we stand a good chance of being able to. All Texas Hold'em starting hands can be separated into two categories: 'suited' and 'offsuit'. Suited hands contain two cards of the same suit, like J♣9♣, A ♥ K ♥, K♠Q♠ and 9 ♦ 3 ♦. All other starting hands.
- A pair of aces is statistically the best hand to be dealt in Texas Hold'em Poker.
- The 10 Best Starting Hands in Texas Hold 'em Poker. Nick Koudis / Photodisc / Getty Images. A pair of aces, also known as 'pocket rockets' (and sometimes 'American Airlines') is the best. Ace-King (Suited) Ace-Queen (Suited).
Texas Hold'em is undoubtedly the world's most popular poker variant. This fast, action-packed casino game can be played at land-based casinos and online at Borgata. Hold'em, as some call it, is a game of skill and making money out of it starts with having a solid understanding of the different hands and knowing how to play them.
Understanding Poker Hand Notation
Before we can get started with the opening hand recommendations in Hold'em, let's first start by looking at the hand notation in online poker games.
In poker variants, including Hold'em, there are symbols used to describe the diverse hands available. There's no need to worry as these are pretty simple and straightforward. Below are the different annotations you will find:
· S – suited cards
· O – two cards from different suits (unsuited)
· + – means all hands ranking above the stated hand are included
For instance, 77+ indicates a pair of sevens and any other pairs ranking above it such as 88, 99, TT, AA. Pairs such as 22, 33, 44, 55 and 66s would be excluded. The same applies to connectors, the + symbol means that similar hands using higher cards are included eg. T7 (Ten-Seven) would include T8, T9, JT (Jack-Ten), QJ (Queen-Jack) KQ (King-Queen) and AK (Ace-King).
If symbols that denote suited and unsuited cards are not available, then it's not important if the cards are suited or not.
5 Best Texas Hold'em Starting Hands
What Is The Best Starting Hand In Texas Holdem
Texas Hold'em poker has 169 different two-card opening hand combinations. The notion is that if your starting hand is not a pair, then you will be dealt either connected or unconnected cards or a hand that's either suited or offsuit. Suited hands have cards of the same suit e.g. A♥5 ♥, whereas unsuited cards belong to different suits K♠10♦. On the other hand – no pun intended – unconnected cards will have one, two, three or more gaps (T72) making it difficult to hit a straight hand, and connected cards vice versa (T89).
1. Pairs: A♣ A♥, K♠ K♦, 7♥ 7♠
2. Suited Connectors: K♦A♦, J ♣ Q♣, 10 ♥9 ♥
3. Offsuit Connectors: 4♣ 3♦, 9♥ 8, 10♠ J♣
4. Suited Gappers: 10 ♥8 ♥, 5 ♠2♠, K♦J♦
5. Unconnected Cards: 8♦3♠, 10 ♥6 ♣, Q♣ 10♦
1. Pairs: A♣ A♥, K♠ K♦, 7♥ 7♠
2. Suited Connectors: K♦A♦, J ♣ Q♣, 10 ♥9 ♥
3. Offsuit Connectors: 4♣ 3♦, 9♥ 8, 10♠ J♣
4. Suited Gappers: 10 ♥8 ♥, 5 ♠2♠, K♦J♦
5. Unconnected Cards: 8♦3♠, 10 ♥6 ♣, Q♣ 10♦
Moreover, it is also important to familiarize yourself with the different rankings of Texas Hold'em handsto know which are worth playing, and how they change according to your position on the table at an online casino. For instance, cards such as 7♦ 2♥ or 9♥ 4♠ are very weak to even consider past the flop. Whereas, strong hands such as A♣, A♦, 10♥ 10♦ and K♠ K♥ should always be played from any position. A three of a kind always wins to a two pair, and a flush always beats a straight.
How to Play
In Hold'em poker, players need to make the best 5-card hand possible using their two hole cards and five community cards on the table. Besides your position, you will need to consider other factors such as the number of players on the table as well as their playing style when deciding on placing your wager preflop.
Below is a quick summary of the basic Texas Hold'em rules:
- When the game begins, all players on the table are dealt two hole cards (also known as pocket cards) face-down. This means no other players can see your cards.
- Thereafter comes the Flop betting round, which consists of 3 community cards dealt face-up for players to use.
- The dealer will then deal the fourth card, known as the Turn.
- The Turn is followed by the River, which is the fifth and last community card.
- Players get to bet, check or fold as the betting rounds take place.
Pocket Pairs
Aces – a pair of Aces is by far the best starting hand in Hold'em. However, if nothing improves from the community cards you only have a pair. It is quite rare, however, to ever go wrong with this hand preflop.
Kings – a pair of Kings are almost as good as a pair of Aces preflop. However, it is not very often that you get dealt any of them. Although they are premium preflop holdings, they don't play too well against multiple opponents. Sometimes it is better to raise preflop to avoid having sets of pairs.
Queens and Jacks – these are middle pocket pairs, and with either of them, you should be confident that you have a good starting hand. They are very foldable preflop, but they can also be the trickiest hands to play. Other pocket pairs falling under this range include 55 through 99.Low pairs – these are hands below 55, all the way down to 22. It is not a wise move to raise first on low pairs, but they tend to be profitable at a later position and likely to result in a three of a kind or even great, a four of a kind which pays even more.
Suited Cards
Starting with two suited cards is good to score a flush or even better, a straight flush in this online casino game. However, the odds of getting a flush with two suited hands during the flop are as low as 0.8%. You are more likely to get a flush after the river and at only around 6.5% of the time, and a straight flush with a much lesser probability.
Connectors – Suitedconnectors include a combination of Aces and Kings, which is a premium hand suitable to play from any position, as well as good hands like T9, KQ, JT and QJs which are also great to play from most positions on the table.
54s and 76s are lower suited cards that should be folded from an early position and playable as a raise first from late positions.
Gappers – suited one-gappers have the potential to win big pots if they connect with the board. For instance, if you have a T8 then a 9 and other corresponding cards appear in the community cards, you win. Big gappers are far more unlikely to win but are playable from a late position.
Conclusion
Using the guidelines laid out in this article, together with a Texas Hold'em starting hands chart is a great way to enhance your playing skills. The more you Hold'em the more you will start opening a diverse range of starting hands – there are a whole lot of them, as already mentioned. Borgata offers the best poker and other entertaining online casino games for you to enjoy. Get started on making better Hold'em opening hands on BorgataOnline today!
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
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.
Best Texas Holdem Hand
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