Best Texas Holdem Starting Hands

In this article I will talk about what I think are the best texas holdem starting hands. What advantages and disadvantages different texas holdem starting hands have.

This is just a primer into what kind of cards you should play pre-flop and I advice you to study deeper. With that out of the way, let us get started!

Super Overpairs (AA and KK)

I call aces and kings super overpairs for one reason, they are the two best starting hands you can get in texas holdem.. You can usually go broke with them in standard online (or live) no-limit hold'em games where the stacks are around 100 big blinds deep or less ($1,000 in a $5/10 NL game).

Your objective with these two hands is to try to get your money in pre-flop if you can.

But know that usually if you start making big overbets pre-flop other players will know what is up.

But I do not recommend slowplaying aces or kings, because people will give you their money when they have hands like AK or JJ. You will want to raise or try to re-raise pre-flop* and get your money in on the flop or turn.

There are not many flops you are afraid of with AA or KK. Although KK has the disadvantage of an Ace flopping. I recommend you bet if there are 2 players or less in the pot to try and see where you stand. If you get called then check-fold the turn if you do not improve.

* A good re-raise is about 3-3.5x an opponents raise. For example if you are playing $100 ($0.5/$1 NL) and an opponent raises to $3 and you find yourself with pocket kings. You should re-reraise to about $9-10.5. Of course if you think your opponent is very loose and will call a bigger re-raise then go for it!

Good Overpairs (QQ and JJ)

Queens and jacks are what I consider good overpairs. They are a bit harder to play but are still among the best texas holdem starting hands you can get.

You can usually treat queens as kings or aces, but you have to be careful if a tight player is putting in a lot of money. He could very well have you beat with aces or kings.

Basically, you have to have better reads to put all your money in with QQ or JJ. But don't be fooled, if you're playing vs. an aggressive player and you have QQ and the flop comes J92 you should be pretty willing to put your money in on the flop if you get raised.

He can have so many hands like any Jack, a draw like QT, KT, T8 or a flushdraw with A5 or a suited connector like 76.

A disadvantage with queens and jacks is that the flop will bring overcards more of the time. Again I recommend you play them the same as I recommended you play KK when an Ace flopped. With 2 players or less you should bet about 2/3-3/4 of the pot* and give up if called and you do not improve.

Bottom line: Treat these hands as monsters. Raise and re-raise with them pre-flop but try to have reads on the players who will have you severely beat when they give you action.

* This means that if the pot is $10 you should bet about $6-8.

Super Broadways (AKs-AKo)

I think ace king should have it's own column because it is still one of the best starting hands in texas holdem if you know how to play it.

You generally want to play it aggressively pre-flop raising and re-raising as with the other hands above. You will flop an Ace or King about 1/3rd of the time. So what to do 2/3rds of the time?

That is the question. My recommendation is to not automatically continuation bet a flop that has missed you. It now becomes even more important to know your opponent. But if you do not have any specific reads you can always just give up if you do not flop anything.

I can hear your confused brain going "Will I not lose money if I just give up?". No you will not. Because the times that you flop an ace or king and someone gives you all their money with hands like KT or AJ will make up for the times that you give up.

And sometimes when you check in position you turn an ace or king. It is better for you as a new player to take it easy and play straightforward. What will end up happening if you try to outplay people is that you will lose a lot of money.

Good Broadways (AQ, KQ)

Are you beginning to see a pattern repeating itself here? We are going through the best texas holdem starting hands but the same concepts keep coming up.

With AQ you generally want to raise and re-raise in late position*.

With KQ I recommend that you open-raise in any position in a 6-handed no-limit game. Fold to a tight early raiser but call a late position raiser.

Why a late position raiser you ask? Because his opening range is likely to be much wider. This means that your KQ will dominate his hand-range. I will talk about hand-ranges in future articles, so don't sweat it! :)

As your hands get weaker you need better and better reads to commit your whole stack. But in general you want to play AQ and KQ the same way I advocated playing AK when missing the flop. Just play straightforward!

When you hit top pair you just value-bet relentlessly because most opponents at lower stakes will call down with almost anything. But remember, if you get put all-in when you have top pair with KQ on a flop like Q92 you have to fold without reads.

Always play solid poker if you do not have SOLID EVIDENCE of how your opponent plays. You cannot start guessing how he plays, this will cost you too much money. There's nothing wrong with folding. Every excellent poker player folds the best hand now and then.

* If you re-raise a tight UTG raiser then you might get yourself in a dominated spot where your opponent has AA, KK or AK. You want to avoid that, it is one of the biggest traps in no-limit holdem.

Mediocre Pocket Pairs (TT and down...)

Don't get me wrong. Hands like tens and nines are still excellent texas holdem starting hands but you have to be very careful with them.

I recommend you just call raises with tens and lower for set value. Sometimes you flop an overpair with tens and you can proceed to play after the flop but be careful if someone is betting big into you or an overcard comes.

You will also want to raise 77 and higher in late position* and continuation bet almost any flop, except the really ugly ones. For example if you have 88 and flop comes AKJ.

So then which flops are good to bet? Usually the dryer the flop the better it is to bet. Examples of dry flops are:

J 72

K93

TT6

What is so special about dry flops you ask?

A dry flop means that less of your opponents hands will have hit the flop. If the flop comes JT9 and you're sitting there with red sevens you should probably just give up. Your opponent is VERY likely to hit this flop!

* When I say late position I mean the last two positions--the button and the cut-off. If you are unfamiliar with these terms then visit the learn poker lingo article.

Mediocre Broadways (AJ, AT, KJ etc...)

With texas holdem starting hands like these you want to play carefully. I prefer to play them in late position. If you are first in you want to open-raise them and go by the straightforward rule.

If you miss then you're out of there. If you hit then you should value-bet and be careful if someone is willing to put in a lot of money and you do not know if they are a crazy maniac who just escaped a mental hospital!

If you have any questions regarding specific hands then go ahead and e-mail them to me and I will help you out.

Texas Holdem Starting Hands Summary

Be aggressive with good hands
Know your opponents, get reads as fast as you can
Study as much as you can
As always, keep it fun! :-)

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