Becoming a good poker player means developing a good Texas Holdem Poker strategy that you rely on whenever you play the game.
While everyone has a different Texas Holdem Poker strategy, one of the important considerations when developing your own style is how you will play each of the top ten starting hands when they’re dealt to you.
Starting hand strength is often disputed among reputable sources, but most professional poker players would agree that the following is a list of the top 10 strongest starting hands, in order from strongest to weakest:
1. Ace, Ace: A pair of aces (“pocket rockets”) is the best starting hand you could be dealt. One Texas Holdem Poker strategy calls for a big old raise to get your opponents off the hand when you’re dealt these cards so you don’t give someone else the opportunity to trip their lower pair.
2. King, King: A pair of kings- sometimes called “cowboys”. Most people will raise with this hand as well, before the flop to try and eliminate the other players before the community cards are turned up.
3. Queen, Queen: A pair of queens, sometimes referred to as “ladies”, and finishes out the top three starting hands for Texas Holdem. Your position becomes more important as the top starting hands get a little weaker, if people are raising a head of you, they may have aces or kings, so be careful!
4. Ace, King Suited: Most often referred to as “big slick”, most sources would consider this the 4th top starting hand, although some people feel a pair of Jack’s should take this position.
5. Ace, Queen Suited: also known as “big chick” or the “little slick”.
6. Jack, Jack: A pair of jacks, coming in at number 6, makes the “fishhooks” a powerful starting hand. Keep an eye on what your opponents are doing and if you aren’t noticing much raising, you just might have the best starting hand! (Side Note: A lof of holdem poker players hate this starting hand. Why? They think it's cursed! In other words, observation {not facts or odds} shows this hand has a tendency to get beat by a lower hand more often than not. Hey, poker players may not be athletes, but they can be just as, if not more so, superstitious!)
7. King, Queen Suited: the royal couple!
8. Ace, Jack Suited: not quite as strong as the big slick, this is still a “blackjack” of a starting hand.
9. Ace, King Off-suit: while not as many “outs” as it’s suited counterpart, the non-pair, offsuit “big slick” is still a top starting hand in Texas Holdem.
10. Ten, Ten: rounding out the top ten starting hands in poker is a pair of tens, or “dimes”, and is the only top hand that doesn’t include a face card. Many people will raise with a pair of tens, but your Texas Holdem Poker strategy for this starting hand should very much depend on your position at the table and what the other players have done- if anyone pairs any of their face cards, you’re going to need to pull another ten in most cases to win.
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