Article: Holdem Starting Hand Guide
Holdem Starting Hand Guide
Mike Wittmeyer
Starting hands are one of the most important poker decisions. This is because what you do before the flop has a great effect on what happens after the flop. Proper preflop play can lead to much easier post flop decisions and more money for you. This article is going to be more oriented to lower stakes no limit holdem.
Position
Position is a very important concept in Texas Holdem. It dictates which starting hands you should play in different situations. Holdem is a positional game because if you enter the pot in early position you are going to have to go first in every round. Likewise if you enter the pot in late position you will get to go after everyone. Being able to go after the other players is a huge advantage, as you will have a wealth of knowledge about what has happened. This is the reason that in early position you must play tighter, and in late position you can loosen up.
Early Position
In early position, you want to limit your starting hands to premium hands. In some advanced poker books you may see some really stringent requirements on early position. However, this is a low stakes article so it will differ from a pro's starting hand arsenal. The hands you should be playing in early position are AA, KK, QQ, JJ, 1010, AK, AQ, and AJ. If the players are really bad you can slip A10, 99, and 88 in there.
With the big pairs, it is crucial that you put a raise in. The reason is because you are in bad position, and your hand does not play well in multi-way pots. For example, AA is a huge favorite over KQ heads up. However, if AA is going against KQ, J10, 66, and 88 it doesn't have an advantage anymore.
Hands like AK or AQ should almost always be raised. The reason is because the hands you are usually up against in this situation are going to be hands like KQ or QJ where your opponent is way behind. Your big advantage in these situations justifies the raise. Also, if you only have one opponent in the hand, and the flop comes rags, say 742, you can make a bet here because there is a good chance you are still ahead of your opponent.
With hands such as 1010 or 88 a raise is not necessary. With a hand such as 1010 it is likely that at least one over card will flop, so if you limp in and the flop comes bad, you can fold and only lose a minimal amount. If the flop comes good, you can make a large bet, somewhere around the size of the pot, to get over cards out. If you had raised this hand and the flop came bad, you put yourself in a bad position, as you have to act first and it is likely one of your opponents has you beat.
If you have a hand such as AJ, it is also a good idea to usually limp as opposed to raising. The reason is because unpaired hands like AJ aren't very far ahead of a hand such as KQ, so you will almost always need to hit the flop to win the pot. If the flop comes good, say J42, then you can make a pot sized bet as you have a strong hand.
In middle position you can play all the hands listed above along with KQ, KJ, QJ, J10, and other mid pairs, as long as the pot hasn't been raised. With these hands you almost always want to limp in, as your hand is not strong enough for a raise. It is not likely you are going to win the pot without hitting the flop, so you want to get in cheaply and try to make a hand on the flop.
If the pot has been raised, you should fold all hands except AA-JJ or AK, with which you will re-raise. At a table where you know there will be many players in the hand you can play hands like KQs or 88 against a raise. The reason is because if you are sure many people will see the flop, then it is going to be a big pot. In a big pot like this you want a good drawing hand. By playing these hands you are looking to make a straight or a flush with the suited connectors, or a set with the mid pairs.
If your table is very passive and loose, meaning many players are just calling the big blind, you can limp in with some better multi-way hands. These hands include 910s (suited), 78s, and pocket pairs such as 66 or 77. With the pocket pairs it is either make a set or fold, as small pairs rarely hold in multi-way pots.
Late Position
In late position it is acceptable to play many more hands, including low suited connectors if many people are already in without a raise. You want lots of people in when you are holding suited connectors, because if you hit the flop big, you want many players in the hand to pay you off.
Say you hold 56s on the button, and there have been six callers. It is a profitable play to call the big blind here. You have the best position, and also great pot odds. If the flop comes bad you can easily fold. However, once in a while the flop will come good, say a straight or flush draw, and if you hit it you are going to win a very nice pot.
If the majority of people have limped in, and you are on the button with a big pair like AA, you need to make a very substantial raise, as your hand doesn't have much multi-way value. Even if you can limit the field to 3 people with a very large raise, you increase your chances of winning the pot significantly.
A play that some trickier players use to increase their pot odds is as follows. Say you hold KQs on the button. This is a very powerful drawing hand. If 5 players have limped in you can assume that they all have mediocre hands. By doubling the big blind, you can almost assure yourself every player already in the pot will call. This builds a big pot, and a drawing hand plays much better in a large multi-way pot. Now if you hit a flush or a straight, you already have a substantial amount of money in the pot, and there are plenty of players in the pot to pay you off even more.
Blinds
In the blinds you are already invested, but you don't want to be calling raises just because you have money in the pot, as you are out of position and almost always dominated cards-wise.
If it is folded around to the button and he raises 3x the big blind, and you are holding 78s, you should fold. The reason for this is that even though it only costs you a little more to call, you are going to have to act first, and only one player is in so your suited connectors aren't very valuable.
Now if the situation was that 5 people had limped in, and the button raised 3x the big blind, it is a different situation. The reason is because if you call this bet you are very likely to get 4 or maybe all 5 of the players behind you to enter as well. This makes your suited connectors much more valuable. Even though you are out of position you are getting very good odds to play the hand.
These concepts should give you a decent starting ground for low stakes no limit holdem. If you are playing higher limits you will probably want to go with tighter standards. With your new improved group of starting hands, you should find post-flop play much easier, and win more money.
About the author: Mike Wittmeyer runs the Coinflip Poker website: The authority site for Sit n Go Strategy
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