The Best Starting Hands in Holdem

Continued from: Playing Before the Flop in Holdem These are the best starting hands in Holdem poker (assuming a 7 handed game):

List of the Best Holdem Hands by Category

Category 1 Hands
Strategy: Open with these hands from any position.
AA, KK, QQ, AKs, AK, JJ

Category 2 Hands
Strategy: Open with these hands from middle or late position if no one has raised.
TT, AQs, AQ, AJs, 99, AJ, 88

Category 3 Hands
Strategy: Open with these hands only if you're in late position and no one else has come into the pot.
KQs, KQ, 77, ATs, AT

In most cases the list above will be the only hands you will play. There are some other speculative hands that might be good enough to call the big blind with from late position; they will be played in a different fashion and require a working knowledge of pot odds and race odds. I will include the easier "speculative hands" after we discuss the category 1-3 hands.

It shouldn't be difficult to remember which hands to play from which positions, and if you do get a bit confused or forget from time to time, it will just serve to mix up your game play. Just remember, when in doubt, raise or fold.
DO NOT CALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Don't call.

Do not call with any of the category 1-3 hands, EVER! Sometimes you may not be sure if you should call a raise, fold to a raise, or re-raise a raise. Just remember that calling is the least likely to be correct. You should only be calling bets before the flop when you have a very good reason, a specific purpose in doing so. If you're not sure if a hand is worth raising or not, just fold it. Remember, when you raise, three things can happen and two of them are good. The key to No Limit Holdem is to play tight (only start with good hands) and play aggressively. That's the game.

So, we know that we should open for 4 times the big blind in an unopened pot, but we haven't discussed what to do when the pot has been raised in front of us. Well, for the most part we should fold. But if you have a powerful enough hand you should be willing to re-raise. How strong does your hand have to be to re-raise? STRONG!!! Against most players, most being poor players, you're re-raise will be very unlikely to cause a player to fold a hand he has already raised with. Therefore, it only makes sense to raise with hands that we actually want to play a flop with.

An easy rule of thumb is just to move the categories down one. If you need a category 3 hand to raise with in late position, then you need a category 2 hand to re-raise with against someone who raised in late position. You need a category one hand to re-raise an early position raiser. You should only re-raise with category 3 hands if the original raiser was the dealer; he could be playing his position and is likely to have a sub-optimal hand.

♣ Continued at: Learning Hands for Holdem

♣ Back to the index of resources for playing free holdem poker.