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Poker starting hands: which hands to play

Updated: Diese Seite auf Deutsch

Contents: 5 sections
  1. The starting hands chart
  2. Practice: play or fold?
  3. How many starting hands are there?
  4. Why position matters
  5. Questions and answers

The best starting hands in Texas hold'em are a pair of aces, kings, queens or jacks and ace-king of the same suit. That is how the best-known grouping has it, the eight groups of David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth. The chart below shows all 169 starting hands with their group, and group 1 is the strongest.

Which hands you play also depends on your PositionWhere you sit relative to the button, and so when you act. Whoever acts later has seen what the others did.More in our poker terms: whoever acts early needs stronger cards than the player on the Dealer buttonA disc that shows who is the dealer in this hand. It moves one seat to the left after every hand. At the kitchen table, the player with the button usually deals the cards too.More in our poker terms. The groups come from a book about LimitThe bets are fixed, you can't bet as much as you like. The opposite is no-limit.More in our poker terms hold'em. They don't carry over one to one to No-limitThere is no upper limit, you can bet all your chips at any time.More in our poker terms, but they still work as a guide.

The starting hands chart

Show in color up to group

Tap a number. Then only the groups up to it keep their color.

All 169 starting hands in one chart, colored by groups 1 to 8. The list below names the same hands for each group.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
  1. Group 1 (5 hands, together with the groups above 2.1% of all hands): AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AKs
  2. Group 2 (5 hands, together with the groups above 4.4% of all hands): TT, AQs, AJs, KQs, AKo
  3. Group 3 (6 hands, together with the groups above 6.9% of all hands): 99, JTs, QJs, KJs, ATs, AQo
  4. Group 4 (8 hands, together with the groups above 10.7% of all hands): T9s, KQo, 88, QTs, 98s, J9s, AJo, KTs
  5. Group 5 (18 hands, together with the groups above 18.1% of all hands): 77, 87s, Q9s, T8s, KJo, QJo, JTo, 76s, 97s, A9s, A8s, A7s, A6s, A5s, A4s, A3s, A2s, 65s
  6. Group 6 (10 hands, together with the groups above 23.2% of all hands): 66, ATo, 55, 86s, KTo, QTo, 54s, K9s, J8s, 75s
  7. Group 7 (18 hands, together with the groups above 30.9% of all hands): 44, J9o, 64s, T9o, 53s, 33, 98o, 43s, 22, K8s, K7s, K6s, K5s, K4s, K3s, K2s, T7s, Q8s
  8. Group 8 (15 hands, together with the groups above 40.9% of all hands): 87o, A9o, Q9o, 76o, 42s, 32s, 96s, 85s, J8o, J7s, 65o, 54o, 74s, K9o, T8o
  9. No group (84 hands): all the others, fold them in this system.
Groups by Sklansky and Malmuth, "Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players". Top right both cards of the same suit (s), bottom left different suits (o), the pairs on the diagonal. A ace, K king, Q queen, J jack, T ten. We worked out the shares ourselves from the 1,326 possible starting hands.

Every square names its hand. The pairs are on the diagonal. Above and to the right of it are the hands where both cards have the same suit, called suited (s). Below and to the left are those with different suits, called offsuit (o). So the ace and king of hearts are "AKs", the ace of hearts with the king of spades is "AKo".

The suit itself doesn't matter, only whether both cards share it. Then you can make a flush. Which hand beats which is on the hand rankings.

Practice: play or fold?

Test yourself with random cards. You get two cards and decide whether to play the hand. Then you see its group, and the chart above marks the hand.

King of hearts and jack of clubs, KJo for short. Do you play this hand?

No hands answered yet.

The trainer doesn't know your seat at the table. Groups 1 to 6 count as playable, hands in no group as fold. For groups 7 and 8 both answers count, because there it depends on your seat. The cards are shuffled at random.

How many starting hands are there?

169 different ones if you only look at the ranks and at same or different suits: 13 pairs, 78 suited hands and 78 offsuit hands. If you count every card on its own, there are 1,326 combinations. A pair comes in six ways, a suited hand in four and an offsuit hand in twelve.

So on average you get a pair once every 17 hands, and a particular pair like two aces once every 221 hands. The eight groups cover 85 of the 169 hands, which is 40.9% of all starting hands. In this system you fold the rest.

Why position matters

Your position is where you sit relative to the dealer button, and so when you act. Whoever acts later has seen what the players before them did. On the button you act last in every betting round from the flop on and know whether anyone has bet. Whoever acts early decides without knowing that, and many players after them can still raise. That's why they need stronger cards.

The rule of thumb: early on you play only the top groups, and the closer you are to the button, the further down the chart you can go. Printed versions of the chart don't agree on which group belongs to which seat, so we don't give a fixed list here. The groups are meant for a full table. At the kitchen table with only a few players, you are in late position more often.

What each seat is called, from under the gun to the button, and who acts when is on our page about poker table positions. How a whole hand plays out is in the poker rules.

Questions and answers

What are the best starting hands in poker?

A pair of aces, kings, queens or jacks, and ace-king of the same suit. That is group 1 in the grouping by Sklansky and Malmuth, together 2.1% of all starting hands.

How many starting hands are there in poker?

169 different ones: 13 pairs, 78 hands with both cards of the same suit and 78 with different suits. If you count every card on its own, there are 1,326 combinations.

How often do I get a pair?

On average once every 17 hands, because 78 of the 1,326 possible starting hands are a pair. A particular pair like two aces comes on average once every 221 hands.

Why do you play fewer hands in early position?

Whoever acts early doesn't know yet what the players after them will do, and many of them can still raise. That's why they need stronger cards than the player on the button.

Sources (5)
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