- The Sklansky and Malmuth starting hands table groups together certain hands in Texas Hold'em based on their strength. Starting with the strongest set of hands that you can be dealt in group 1, the hands get progressively weaker working down the table until the virtually unplayable hands in group 9.
- At the bottom of this page is a comprehensive listing of Texas Hold'em starting hands based on their EV (expected value). Expected value is the average number of big blinds this hand will make or lose. For example: AA from the Small Blind in a $3/$6 game will make, on average, 2.71 times the big.
This section contains strategy articles for playing specific hands and certain types of hands in no limit Texas Hold'em.
Remember that these are simply rough guidelines for playing different starting hands in Texas Hold'em. There are an almost endless variety of situations that you can find yourself in with each of these hands, so they are far from being an all-round 'ultimate guide'.
Every beginning player, therefore, needs to understand the poker hand rankings to determine the strength of each player’s hand and, subsequently, the winner. In this guide, we present the Texas Hold’em hands order of value, from bottom to the highest hand. Pocket Aces (A ♥, A ♠) This one is a poker classic. The strongest starting hand in poker, pocket aces are a strong. Pocket Kings (K ♦, K ♣).
Texas Hold'em hand strategy articles.
| Title | Level | Category | Utility |
|---|---|---|---|
| Playing Pocket Aces | Beginner | Hands | 5/10 |
| Playing Pocket Kings | Beginner | Hands | 5/10 |
| Small Pocket Pairs | Intermediate | Hands | 7/10 |
| Playing Ace King | Intermediate | Hands | 6/10 |
| Playing Pocket Queens | Intermediate | Hands | 5/10 |
| Rag Aces | Intermediate | Hands | 5/10 |
| Drawing Hands | Advanced | Hands | 7/10 |
| Drawing Hands w/ Aggression | Advanced | Hands | 6/10 |
If you're looking for a guide on how to play a hand of Texas Hold'em from start to finish, try the hand guide.
Hands In Hold Em
Hand strategy section highlights.
Important hand strategy articles.
None of the strategy guides for the specific hands above are going to prove to be essential to improving your game (hence the lower than average utility ratings), as playing solid Texas Hold'em is all about evaluating the situation and using your own logic to make the most profitable decision possible.
Playing good Texas Hold'em is not about waiting for certain hands and then playing according to a set of rules. A monkey can do that, and I'm fairly sure that I could beat a monkey at Poker.
Worst Hands In Hold'em
But still, that's not to say that these hand guides can't be a little useful. The article on how to play small pocket pairs is one of the most informative articles in the section as it touches upon additional mathematical concepts such as pot odds and implied odds.
Other useful Hold'em hand strategy articles.
I like the drawing hands and playing drawing hands with aggression articles for the same reason why I like the small pocket pairs article - it teaches other important concepts about Texas Holdem that will be more valuable to you than rules and guidelines for specific hands.
Best Starting Hands In Hold'em
Anyway, that's enough of me lecturing you on why playing according to specific rules is filthy and horrible. Just enjoy these articles and try to avoid thinking about decisions from inside a box.
Go back to the awesome Texas Hold'em Strategy.
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