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Texas Hold'em Poker Starting Hand Rankings

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  1. Texas Hold'em Poker Starting Hand Rankings Chart
  2. Texas Hold'em Poker Starting Hand Rankings Week 9
  3. Texas Hold'em Poker Starting Hand Rankings Nfl
  4. Texas Hold'em Poker Starting Hand Rankings Against

When you first start playing poker it's important that you are quickly able to recall hand rankings and the strength of the hand you've been dealt. Fortunately, it's pretty easy to do so, as highlighted in this complete guide to the 10 strongest poker hands, with their rankings listed in order from highest to lowest. Furthermore, the rankings are standard for all the most popular types of poker games including No-Limit Hold'em, Pot-Limit Omaha and Seven-Card Stud.

In addition to a poker hand rankings chart, also provided are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions regarding poker hand rankings, as well as the game of poker in general.

1. Royal Flush

A ‘Royal Flush', otherwise known as a ‘Royal Straight Flush' or ‘A Royal', is the best possible hand in poker. It consists of ace, king, queen, jack and ten, with all five cards of the same suit, such as As-Ks-Qs-Js-10s.

Texas Holdem Starting Hands Infographic. This Cheat Sheet covers every kind of starting hand and gives you easy-to-follow instructions on how to play them before and after the flop. The infographic also includes helpful stats about how likely it is for someone else to have a bigger pocket pair than you before the flop. Best Texas Hold'em Starting Hands Keep in mind that there are varying opinions as to value of starting hands in Texas Hold'em. Rankings will vary according to table position and the type of game you are playing, i.e. Tournaments, heads-up, cash games, etc.

This unbeatable hand is rare, though, with the odds of making a royal flush just 1 in 30,939 or 0.0032 percent using 7 cards. These odds apply to the game of Texas Hold'em where you build your hand using 5 cards, but still have 7 cards to choose from, namely 2 pocket cards and 5 on the board.

2. Straight Flush

A ‘Straight Flush' consists of five cards in a row that are all in the same suit. It essentially combines a straight with a flush, with an example being Jc-10c-9c-8c-7c. This powerful hand rarely gets beaten, but in the eventuality of a showdown between straight flushes the player with the highest top card wins. Bear in mind that suits are irrelevant in poker and that only kickers are used to separate same ranked hands.

The odds of making a straight flush is 1 in 3,589, or 0.0279 percent.

3. Four of a Kind

Starting

A Four of a Kind, otherwise known as ‘Quads', consists of any four of the same value cards in each of the four suits. For example Ks-Kh-Kc-Kd-2s is a four of a kind hand. In Texas Hold'em, if the community cards dealt complete four of a kind on the board, such as 10c-10s-10h-10d-7c, the player with the highest hole card wins. In the example provided, however, if none of the players have a card higher than a 7 the hand is drawn.

Four of a kind hands are strong and rarely beaten, with the odds of making such a hand 1 in 594, or 0.168 percent.

4. Full House

A ‘Full House' is any three of a kind hand combined with a pair. An example of such a hand would be Ah-Ac-Ad-Kc-Kd, or 'aces full of kings,' which is the best possible full house hand and would in turn beat a lesser-ranked full house, as well as a flush, a straight, or any other hand ranked lower on this list.

Also referred to as a ‘Full Boat', the odds of making a full house is 1 in 37.5 or 2.60 percent.

5. Flush

A ‘Flush' is fifth highest on the poker hand rankings list, and consists of five cards of the same suit, but not in consecutive order. An example would be Ac-Jc-9c-7c-5c or Qd-10d-7d-5d-2d. Between two flushes, the one with the highest-ranked card wins the hand, with an ace-high flush the best possible flush. Casino licence uk cost uk. Therefore, an ace-high flush beats a king-high flush, a king-high flush beats a queen-high flush, and so on. This is a hand that even a super tight poker player would play.

Lauberge poker room number. The odds of making a flush is 1 in 32.1, or 3.03 percent.

6. Straight

A ‘Straight' consists of five consecutive cards in numerical order, but not of the same suit. In this hand, aces can count both as a high or low card. For example, the lowest possible straight, also known as the ‘Wheel' or ‘Bicycle', is five-high as in 5h-4d-3s-2c-Ad, while the highest referred to as ‘Broadway' is ace-high as in Ad-Ks-Qh-Jc-10s.

The odds of making a straight is 1 in 20.6 or 4.62 percent.

7. Three of a Kind

A ‘Three of a Kind' hand consists of any three cards of the same face value, and two non-paired cards. An example would be Ah-As-Ad, with a King and a Queen as side cards, which is also the best possible three of a kind hand. The term ‘Set' and ‘Trips' both refer to types of three-of-a-kind hands, but in a set you must hold a pair in your hand. By contrast, trips are when there is a pair on the board and you hold a third matching card in your starting hand, such as a 6c-6s-Kh-10h-5d board and you hold a 6d in your hand.

The chances of making a three-of-a-kind hand is 1 in 19.7, or 4.83 percent. Bally slot machine parts for sale.

8. Two Pair

Any ‘Two Pair' hand consists of two cards of the same face value together with another two cards of the same value. For example Jc-Jd-6c-6h-Kc. If two players both hold two pair then the player with the biggest pair wins. At the top of the two pair ranking order is aces and kings with a queen kicker.

The odds of making two pair or ‘Top Two' as it is also known is 1 in 3.26, or 23.5 percent.

9. One Pair

A ‘One Pair' hand means you have two cards of the same face value and three other non-matching cards. For example Ac-Ad-Qc-9d-3h or 10d-10h-7c-5d-2h. In a pair versus pair situation, like the previous example, the higher pair always wins, with two aces the best possible one-pair hand. Where two players have the same pair the player with the next highest card wins.

Also known as a ‘Pocket Pair', the odds of making such a hand is 1 in 1.28, or 43.8 percent.

10. High Card

When a player has five unpaired cards the highest-ranked card plays. The highest possible high card in poker is an ace, which would beat a king high hand, and so on. For example, an Ac-Qh-10d-7s-3h hand would beat a Kd-Jc-9h-7c-5s hand.

The odds of not making a pair is 1 in 4.74, or 117.4 percent.

Poker Hand Rankings FAQs

Do hand rankings vary between different poker games?

Texas Hold'em Poker Starting Hand Rankings Chart

All the most popular 'high-card' poker games use the standard poker hand rankings based on five cards only and listed in order from highest to lowest. These include Hold'em, Omaha, Seven-Card Stud, and Five Card Draw. On the other hand, 'low-card' games, known as Lowball, use an alternate low hand ranking in which the lowest possible hand wins. Badugi, 2-7 Triple Draw, and Razz are examples of such Lowball games.

Do my extra cards matter in poker?

When playing Texas Hold'em, it's important to remember that the best five card hand takes the pot. If you and your opponent have the same hand, however, then the highest kicker comes into play. For instance, if your holding is A-9 versus K-10 for your opponent and the board comes Q-Q-Q-Q-8, then your quads and ace high hand would beat your opponent's quads and king high hand. If, however, the highest kicker is a community card then its a split pot. An example of this would be if you had 10-9 versus your opponent's 10-7 on a 10-K-K-A-Q board, as you both have two pair each, tens and kings, with a communal ace high card.

Which suit is ranked the highest in poker?

Most poker games do not rank one suit more valuable than another, with all suits considered of equal value. A spade Royal Flush, for instance, is considered of equal value as one comprised of either diamonds, hearts or clubs.

Texas Hold'em Poker Starting Hand Rankings Week 9

What is a ‘draw' in poker?

A ‘draw' or ‘drawing hand' in poker is when a player's hand is incomplete and needs an additional card or cards in order to become valuable. There are many types of draws associated with the game of poker, such as flush draws, straight draws, open-ended straight draws, and inside straight draw, to name but a few. A flush draw, for example, is a hand with four matching suited cards that needs another card of the same suit to improve to a flush. Similarly, a straight draw is where a player needs to hit one card of a certain rank in order to complete a straight.

What are the 10 best starting hands in Hold'em?

It can be difficult to rank the best starting hands in Hold'em because you're always going to have hands where pocket aces get cracked. In general, however, the following 10 hands are considered the best versus any two random cards:

  • 1. Pocket Aces
  • 2. Pocket Kings
  • 3. Pocket Queens
  • 4. Ace-King Suited
  • 5. Pocket Jacks
  • 6. Pocket Tens
  • 7. Ace-Queen Suited
  • 8. Ace-King Offsuit
  • 9. Ace-Jack Suited
  • 10. King-Queen Suited

Types of Starting Hands

by Rich McComas (updated Feb 6, 2004)

Below, I have categorized thirteen types of starting hands, in order of their value. The statistics are borrowed from www.pokalyzer.com which has ran 700 billion simulated hands to produce their results.

1. High Pairs (80%ers)

A high pair is a pair of Aces, Kings, or Queens. Some people count Jacks as high pairs, but I do not as they are not statistically matched to the value of other high pairs. My advice is Raise Pre-Flop and drive the garbage out. If you are in a late position, then you do not need to raise if someone else has driven out the garbage for you. However, if you are in the blind and someone else has raised, you might want to re-raise in order to increase the size of the pot from one more round of betting, and to drive out someone like a small blind who may have limped in with a mediocre hand. Whatever you do, DO NOT limp in with a high pair. If you fail to raise above the big blind and get beat by someone with a suited non-connector, it will be your own fault. If no one else has raised, it is your job to do so in every case.

These are legitimately the best hands in poker, so rather than jam the pot and re-raise pre-flop you should probably just call the raise, or slow-bet. If someone else has raised ahead of you, the garbage will be cleared and you can wait till the flop to reveal a betting strategy. If you flop a King and Ace, and you are holding two King, you will be in the driver's seat and no one will know what hit them.

ODDS: You are going to land any given pair every 220 hands you play, so a pocket pair of aces is extremely rare. Assuming you play 100 hands a night, it will only happen every other night. The chance of landing one of the high pairs, however, is once in every 73 hands, so it should happen to you once every evening. Don't lose out on that opportunity.

Texas Hold'em Poker Starting Hand Rankings Nfl

HANDRankWin%
Pair of Aces184.9%
Pair of Kings282.1%
Pair of Queens379.6%

2. Medium Pairs (70%ers)

A medium pair includes Jacks, Tens, Nines, Eights and Sevens. These are medium pairs because odds are that an overcard will flop more than half of the time. Even though the odds of winning with a pair of Jacks is 77.2%, the chances of having the high pair after the flop are only 43%. You are hoping for trips so, but if you don't land them, only continue if you have the high pair possible, and then bet high to throw out the single face cards in the hole. Do not be suckered by landing another board pair, giving you two pair. Either someone else has trips or someone with a face card will get the high pair on the turn or river.

ODDS: The chance of landing any pocket pair of sevens or higher is the same as landing two cards ten or higher. These events happen every 5.4 hands you play (or 16% of the time).

HANDRankWin%
Pair of Jacks477.2%
Pair of Tens574.7%
Pair of Nines671.7%
Pair of Eights768.7%
Pair of Sevens965.3%

3. Ace-Face Suited (65%ers)

An ace with another face card of the same suit is Ace-High suited, which is a winning hand most of the time. Two suited hole cards only draw to a flush 3% of the time, but if they are both high, you have a great shot at winning high pair as well. Because you hold the ace, any draw to a straight is a close-end straight, so your odds are lower than an open-end straight.

ODDS: You will receive two suited cards every 3.3 hands, and it is likely that at least two players at the table have suited cards, so don't get over-excited about just any suited combination.

HANDRankWin%
AK Suited866.2%
AQ Suited1065.3%
AJ Suited1164.4%
Against

A Four of a Kind, otherwise known as ‘Quads', consists of any four of the same value cards in each of the four suits. For example Ks-Kh-Kc-Kd-2s is a four of a kind hand. In Texas Hold'em, if the community cards dealt complete four of a kind on the board, such as 10c-10s-10h-10d-7c, the player with the highest hole card wins. In the example provided, however, if none of the players have a card higher than a 7 the hand is drawn.

Four of a kind hands are strong and rarely beaten, with the odds of making such a hand 1 in 594, or 0.168 percent.

4. Full House

A ‘Full House' is any three of a kind hand combined with a pair. An example of such a hand would be Ah-Ac-Ad-Kc-Kd, or 'aces full of kings,' which is the best possible full house hand and would in turn beat a lesser-ranked full house, as well as a flush, a straight, or any other hand ranked lower on this list.

Also referred to as a ‘Full Boat', the odds of making a full house is 1 in 37.5 or 2.60 percent.

5. Flush

A ‘Flush' is fifth highest on the poker hand rankings list, and consists of five cards of the same suit, but not in consecutive order. An example would be Ac-Jc-9c-7c-5c or Qd-10d-7d-5d-2d. Between two flushes, the one with the highest-ranked card wins the hand, with an ace-high flush the best possible flush. Casino licence uk cost uk. Therefore, an ace-high flush beats a king-high flush, a king-high flush beats a queen-high flush, and so on. This is a hand that even a super tight poker player would play.

Lauberge poker room number. The odds of making a flush is 1 in 32.1, or 3.03 percent.

6. Straight

A ‘Straight' consists of five consecutive cards in numerical order, but not of the same suit. In this hand, aces can count both as a high or low card. For example, the lowest possible straight, also known as the ‘Wheel' or ‘Bicycle', is five-high as in 5h-4d-3s-2c-Ad, while the highest referred to as ‘Broadway' is ace-high as in Ad-Ks-Qh-Jc-10s.

The odds of making a straight is 1 in 20.6 or 4.62 percent.

7. Three of a Kind

A ‘Three of a Kind' hand consists of any three cards of the same face value, and two non-paired cards. An example would be Ah-As-Ad, with a King and a Queen as side cards, which is also the best possible three of a kind hand. The term ‘Set' and ‘Trips' both refer to types of three-of-a-kind hands, but in a set you must hold a pair in your hand. By contrast, trips are when there is a pair on the board and you hold a third matching card in your starting hand, such as a 6c-6s-Kh-10h-5d board and you hold a 6d in your hand.

The chances of making a three-of-a-kind hand is 1 in 19.7, or 4.83 percent. Bally slot machine parts for sale.

8. Two Pair

Any ‘Two Pair' hand consists of two cards of the same face value together with another two cards of the same value. For example Jc-Jd-6c-6h-Kc. If two players both hold two pair then the player with the biggest pair wins. At the top of the two pair ranking order is aces and kings with a queen kicker.

The odds of making two pair or ‘Top Two' as it is also known is 1 in 3.26, or 23.5 percent.

9. One Pair

A ‘One Pair' hand means you have two cards of the same face value and three other non-matching cards. For example Ac-Ad-Qc-9d-3h or 10d-10h-7c-5d-2h. In a pair versus pair situation, like the previous example, the higher pair always wins, with two aces the best possible one-pair hand. Where two players have the same pair the player with the next highest card wins.

Also known as a ‘Pocket Pair', the odds of making such a hand is 1 in 1.28, or 43.8 percent.

10. High Card

When a player has five unpaired cards the highest-ranked card plays. The highest possible high card in poker is an ace, which would beat a king high hand, and so on. For example, an Ac-Qh-10d-7s-3h hand would beat a Kd-Jc-9h-7c-5s hand.

The odds of not making a pair is 1 in 4.74, or 117.4 percent.

Poker Hand Rankings FAQs

Do hand rankings vary between different poker games?

Texas Hold'em Poker Starting Hand Rankings Chart

All the most popular 'high-card' poker games use the standard poker hand rankings based on five cards only and listed in order from highest to lowest. These include Hold'em, Omaha, Seven-Card Stud, and Five Card Draw. On the other hand, 'low-card' games, known as Lowball, use an alternate low hand ranking in which the lowest possible hand wins. Badugi, 2-7 Triple Draw, and Razz are examples of such Lowball games.

Do my extra cards matter in poker?

When playing Texas Hold'em, it's important to remember that the best five card hand takes the pot. If you and your opponent have the same hand, however, then the highest kicker comes into play. For instance, if your holding is A-9 versus K-10 for your opponent and the board comes Q-Q-Q-Q-8, then your quads and ace high hand would beat your opponent's quads and king high hand. If, however, the highest kicker is a community card then its a split pot. An example of this would be if you had 10-9 versus your opponent's 10-7 on a 10-K-K-A-Q board, as you both have two pair each, tens and kings, with a communal ace high card.

Which suit is ranked the highest in poker?

Most poker games do not rank one suit more valuable than another, with all suits considered of equal value. A spade Royal Flush, for instance, is considered of equal value as one comprised of either diamonds, hearts or clubs.

Texas Hold'em Poker Starting Hand Rankings Week 9

What is a ‘draw' in poker?

A ‘draw' or ‘drawing hand' in poker is when a player's hand is incomplete and needs an additional card or cards in order to become valuable. There are many types of draws associated with the game of poker, such as flush draws, straight draws, open-ended straight draws, and inside straight draw, to name but a few. A flush draw, for example, is a hand with four matching suited cards that needs another card of the same suit to improve to a flush. Similarly, a straight draw is where a player needs to hit one card of a certain rank in order to complete a straight.

What are the 10 best starting hands in Hold'em?

It can be difficult to rank the best starting hands in Hold'em because you're always going to have hands where pocket aces get cracked. In general, however, the following 10 hands are considered the best versus any two random cards:

  • 1. Pocket Aces
  • 2. Pocket Kings
  • 3. Pocket Queens
  • 4. Ace-King Suited
  • 5. Pocket Jacks
  • 6. Pocket Tens
  • 7. Ace-Queen Suited
  • 8. Ace-King Offsuit
  • 9. Ace-Jack Suited
  • 10. King-Queen Suited

Types of Starting Hands

by Rich McComas (updated Feb 6, 2004)

Below, I have categorized thirteen types of starting hands, in order of their value. The statistics are borrowed from www.pokalyzer.com which has ran 700 billion simulated hands to produce their results.

1. High Pairs (80%ers)

A high pair is a pair of Aces, Kings, or Queens. Some people count Jacks as high pairs, but I do not as they are not statistically matched to the value of other high pairs. My advice is Raise Pre-Flop and drive the garbage out. If you are in a late position, then you do not need to raise if someone else has driven out the garbage for you. However, if you are in the blind and someone else has raised, you might want to re-raise in order to increase the size of the pot from one more round of betting, and to drive out someone like a small blind who may have limped in with a mediocre hand. Whatever you do, DO NOT limp in with a high pair. If you fail to raise above the big blind and get beat by someone with a suited non-connector, it will be your own fault. If no one else has raised, it is your job to do so in every case.

These are legitimately the best hands in poker, so rather than jam the pot and re-raise pre-flop you should probably just call the raise, or slow-bet. If someone else has raised ahead of you, the garbage will be cleared and you can wait till the flop to reveal a betting strategy. If you flop a King and Ace, and you are holding two King, you will be in the driver's seat and no one will know what hit them.

ODDS: You are going to land any given pair every 220 hands you play, so a pocket pair of aces is extremely rare. Assuming you play 100 hands a night, it will only happen every other night. The chance of landing one of the high pairs, however, is once in every 73 hands, so it should happen to you once every evening. Don't lose out on that opportunity.

Texas Hold'em Poker Starting Hand Rankings Nfl

HANDRankWin%
Pair of Aces184.9%
Pair of Kings282.1%
Pair of Queens379.6%

2. Medium Pairs (70%ers)

A medium pair includes Jacks, Tens, Nines, Eights and Sevens. These are medium pairs because odds are that an overcard will flop more than half of the time. Even though the odds of winning with a pair of Jacks is 77.2%, the chances of having the high pair after the flop are only 43%. You are hoping for trips so, but if you don't land them, only continue if you have the high pair possible, and then bet high to throw out the single face cards in the hole. Do not be suckered by landing another board pair, giving you two pair. Either someone else has trips or someone with a face card will get the high pair on the turn or river.

ODDS: The chance of landing any pocket pair of sevens or higher is the same as landing two cards ten or higher. These events happen every 5.4 hands you play (or 16% of the time).

HANDRankWin%
Pair of Jacks477.2%
Pair of Tens574.7%
Pair of Nines671.7%
Pair of Eights768.7%
Pair of Sevens965.3%

3. Ace-Face Suited (65%ers)

An ace with another face card of the same suit is Ace-High suited, which is a winning hand most of the time. Two suited hole cards only draw to a flush 3% of the time, but if they are both high, you have a great shot at winning high pair as well. Because you hold the ace, any draw to a straight is a close-end straight, so your odds are lower than an open-end straight.

ODDS: You will receive two suited cards every 3.3 hands, and it is likely that at least two players at the table have suited cards, so don't get over-excited about just any suited combination.

HANDRankWin%
AK Suited866.2%
AQ Suited1065.3%
AJ Suited1164.4%

4. Ace-Face Offsuit (63%ers)

An Ace plus a face card of another suit are the most frequently played hands in Hold 'em. Most people stay in and raise with this hand. If you pair the face card, you will have the high kicker, and if you pair the ace, you will probably have a higher kicker than anyone else. If you draw to a straight, you will beat other straights and at least split the pot.

HANDRankWin%
AK Offsuit1264.5%
AQ Offsuit1463.5%
AJ Offsuit1562.5%

5. Ace-Low Suited (60%ers)

An ace with anything 10 or lower in the same suit. This is not a hand to go heads up against someone with. This is best played in late position with a lot of callers already in the pot, giving you higher pot odds for a flush draw. This is also a good hand for stealing the blinds if you are on the button, because at least you have one ace in the hole. Mostly, though, I like to play this hand only in No Limit Hold'em because I may need to stay in to the river to get my cards, and I want to be able to go all-in and make a big score if I have the high flush. Earning a minor pot on such low odds just doesn't make as much sense.

POT ODDS: While the chances of winning against random hands are respectable, the chances of winning in heads-up play are not. Two suited pocket cards will flop a flush less than 1% of the time, and complete a flush by the river 6.52% of the time, and two separated cards (such as A5) will hit a draw will hit a draw only about 0.06% of the time. The probability of making a flush, therefore, is 15 to 1 against, meaning that you should really only enter the pot if there are 15 other players in, which never happens, so playing these cards with any regularity is a losing proposition.

If you are on the button, and the flop is cheap, and you do go with Ace-Low suited, then you should fold unless you immediately receive either two cards that match your hole cards or a four flush. The probability of flopping a four-flush is 8.1/1 or 10.9%, and the possibility of completing the flush by the river is 1.9/1 or 35%. When betting on the turn hoping for flush, you really want at least three people in the pot, or enough money for three in the pot.

HANDRankWin%
AT Suited1363.5%
A8 Suited2160.5%
A6 Suited3058.2%
A4 Suited3557.1%
A2 Suited 4655.5%

6. Face-Face Offsuit (58%)

Two face cards are best used when drawing to a straight, so you want to get into the flop as cheaply as possible. If your high card is a King, you will flop an Ace 23% of the time, and if your highest is a queen, a higher card will flop 41% of the time.

HANDRankWin%
KQ Offsuit2360.4%
KJ Offsuit2659.4%
QJ Offsuit3956.9%

7. Low Pairs (55%ers)

Low pairs are sixes or lower. All low pairs are questionable investments at best. If you all you have are have sixes, the chances are that someone will flop a higher pair 95% of the time. If you have a low pair and you flop a open-end straight draw, stay in, because you own TWO of the hole cards needed for the straight, lowering the odds that you will have to split the pot.

ODDS: You are going to land a pocket pair about once every 16 hands so don't get too excited about the lower pairs. Half the time, your pocket pairs will be high or medium pairs. Stick to those.

POT ODDS: Some people play low pairs in late position hoping to see trips, which is also the hope for higher pairs. If you take a pocket pair to the river, you have a 4.2/1 (19%) chance of making a set or better, so NEVER put money in the pot with this hand unless there are at least five other players. However, I don't bet on low pairs EVER, because it is more likely that someone else will take a straight or a flush or higher trips or a full house to the river and beat my low trips. With low pairs, I would never want to stay in unless I saw trips on the flop, and the chances of that are 7.5/1 (or 11.8%) so I would need 9 other people in the pot to make money, which is a very rare occurrence.

HANDRankWin%
Pair of Sixes1762.7%
Pair of Fives2759.6%
Pair of Fours4856.3%
Pair of Threes6652.8%
Pair of Deuces8749.4%

8. King Flush Draw (55%ers)

A king plus another card in the same suit is a dangerous hand, unless the Ace is on the board, which will happen one-third of the time that you draw to a flush. These cards should be considered the same value as low pairs, except with a low pair, at least you know if you have trips on the flop. With a King Flush draw, you could have the ace on the flop, and still not get the flush on fifth street, so this is a potentially costly hand. See the section on 'Sucker Hands' for more info.

HANDRankWin%
KQ Suited1662.4%
KT Suited2260.6%
K8 Suited3756.8%
K6 Suited5054.8%
K4 Suited6052.9%

Texas Hold'em Poker Starting Hand Rankings Against

9. Ace-Low Offsuit (55%ers)

An Ace plus a non-suited card lower than a face card is one of the biggest losers in Hold'em. Most players stay in with any ace, especially if you are playing with less than 10 at a table. However, I routinely fold this hand because 75% of the time, with 20 cards dealt into the pocket, someone else is ALSO holding an Ace in the pocket, and more often than not, their kicker will be higher than yours.

HANDRankWin%
AT Suited1961.6%
A8 Suited3258.4%
A6 Suited4255.9%
A4 Suited4954.7%
A2 Suited 5953.0%

10. Suited Connectors (45%ers)

Two suited cards next to each other are only slightly better than non-suited connectors because they help with the straight flush. If you draw to a flush or a straight ONLY, however, you are in serious risk of losing to larger straights or flushes. Don't get too excited about these cards because they share the same suit. The flush draw potential only increases your chances of winning by 3%. I generally fold all suited connectors, occasionally keeping a QJ or JT if I am in late position and several players are in and none have raised. If, after the flop, your hole card is at the low end of the straight, this is a classic 'Sucker Hand.' I know of some good players who love suited connectors, however, because they know on the flop if they have a killer hand, and a further investment will not be required. My attitude is that if you love suited connectors pre-flop, you might as well get equally excited about any low straight draw.

ODDS: You will receive a suited connector once every 46 hands (or 2.1% of the time), and this is so rare, that people tend to jump for joy whenever it happens, not thinking that the changes of getting a 2-4 are even worse.

HANDRankWin%
JT Suited4556.2%
98 Suited8348.9%
76 Suited11542.8%
54 Suited13638.5%
32 Suited 16333.1%

11. Low Straight Draw (42%ers)

Two cards of different suits next to each other in value are going for a straight draw, and they are 3% less likely to win than the comparable suited connectors. Like suited connectors, only stay in if the pot is big because there are lots of other players calling pre-flop. Two low cards not in order is a Trash hand, and is not a Low Straight draw even if they are separated by only one card. Also, 3-2 in the pocket is the worst possible hand in poker even it if is a straight draw. An excellent analysis of unsuited connectors can be found at: http://www.pokerstove.com/unsuited.txt.

HANDRankWin%
JT Offsuit5753.8%
98 Offsuit9946.1%
76 Offsuit13339.7%
54 Offsuit15335.0%
32 Offsuit16929.2%

12. Two Suited Cards (40%ers)

Two other suited cards, with at least one NOT being a face card, results in a four-flush flop only 10% of the time, and only a third of those finish as a flush. This is a loser hand.

HANDRankWin%
T7 Suited8448.7%
T2 Suited11842.5%
83 Suited13938.3%
73 Suited14337.3%
62 Suited15632.8%

13. Trash Hands

Everything not mentioned above is a trash hand (as are some of the hands above, in my opinion), and there is no coincidence that these are in unlucky category 13. The only reason anyone stays in with these hands is that the flop was so cheap that the couldn't say no, such as being in the big blind with no raises. If you get a trash hand, and you are in the small blind, only consider calling if everyone else has and if you are sure that the person in the big blind won't raise you.





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