Texas Hold’em Starting Hands Cheat Sheet

• 31.06.2025 1:24 pm
• Helen
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Making cash in No-Limit Texas Hold'em begins with the very hands you have chosen to play and the moment you have chosen to play them.

A "top 10 hand" can literally be the wrong one for you depending on the specific situation in which you are.

Simply because a very precise guide on each and when and how to play it in each situation is one task that would require too many words, this article will discuss the main points as far as preflop hands and broad strokes are concerned.

Pocket Aces

It is possible to write volumes touching on making the most with this hand (pre-flop), there is scarcely an occasion in which making a mistake is possible other than folding.

Post Flop: Although this is simply the best of all starting hands, if the board does not improve the hand, you literally have one pair. Bear this in mind to stay away from stacking off to any random two sets and pairs.

Pocket kings

These are almost identical to the pocket aces pre-flop. Even though players possess KK pre-flop, it is scarcely the right thing to do.

Incase anyone else is dealt an AA and you have a KK, chances are that you are going to simply have it all in. Do not worry about it, ignore it as a cooler and continue.

Post Flop: The same ideas touching about post flop and AA can be applied to KK. In addition to the concept of "one pair", you additionally need to be alert for any ace on this flop.

Even though an ace flopping does not mean you are done, it is always a bad sign.

• You can read: : Poker Trouble Spots: KK in Early Position Part 1

Pocket Queens and Jacks

Queens and jacks are always in the middle- just below the big pairs & above marginal pairs. They can be among the trickiest hands to play.

With that in mind, these two hands need to be in that list you have of top 10 highly profitable hands. Unlike the AA and KK, these are hands that are highly foldable pre-flop, but in certain situations. Incase you are playing at any tight table whereby players only raise with legitimate hands, most players are likely to claim that calling a player raises and a second one re-raises pre-flop is likely to be a mistake.

Post Flop: Incase of heavy action pre-fop all you have to do is assume you are either beat or that you are at best against AK. You simply need to continue with the hands, but if the board improves in a way your hand or if your rivals show signs of weakness and back off.

• You can read: Pocket Jacks Part 1: Pre-Flop Play

Pocket pairs below the Jacks

For instance: ,

If you opt to play the style emphasized in How to Crush Live $1/$2 No-Limit Hold'em, the tight-aggressive style, each of these hands will be playable but with literally no raise or even a single raise for set value.(more-so with multiple callers)

With these hands, you are set mining, if you do not hit your set, you simply do not make a bet.

It is as simple as that, without a set, no bet. Your only goal as far as these hands are concerned is to flop any set and then double up via pre-flop raiser holding pocket aces.

An important thing to remember: The lower the pair you have, the higher the chance of finding yourself in the set-over-set situation.

Any moment you flop your under-set in a situation of set-over-set it simply has to thank the stars if your entire stack is not lost. Due to this, a good number of players refuse playing any pocket pairs that are below fives.

Top-Pair Hands

For instance:

Hands like A-K, A-Q, A-J and also K-Q can be some profitable hands you can play. At any loose tables, all these hands are always great for raising the moment you have position (and someone has raised before you).

The method to make cash with the hands is literally trapping any loose rival with the same pair, (top pair), weak kicker. The most significant thing to always remember with hands like A-J or K-Q is that you almost should never call a raise with them.

When faced with any raise, these hands are usually the most dominated, and if you get into a habit of calling your raises with them, you are going to lose a sizeable chuck of money.

Post-Flop: Similarly to KK and AA, you have to remember that a single pair is always a hand that gets beaten easily. If your rival is one tight player, there is a very slim chance that he will in any way put significant bets against you, incase he can not beat top pair.

There is need to change your method of play, depending on the type of players you are against.

• You can read: Ace-Queen Part 1: The Worst Best Hand

Suited Connectors (plus Suited One-Gappers)

For instance:

Suited connectors can literally be among the most valuable of all hands as far as No Limit Hold'em games of cash are concerned. With this in mind, they are not the surest of things and are certain to miss literally anything more often compared to hitting it big.

You need to fold some small suited connectors (but preferably all suited connectors) and from early position.

In middle through to late position, all you need is play these hands diligently. You do not want to always be calling some large raises simply to play the hands heads up.

Your target as far as these hands are concerned is simply to play possibly the largest pots and for as little investment as possible. You literally need great odds if you are to make any cash on these.

Without the odds, these have to be folded and from any position

• You can read: Playing Suited Connectors in Six-Max

Suited Aces

For instance: ,

Just like suited connectors, the hands are played primarily with an aim of taking down significantly large pots with very little investment.

Understand that you not hitting an ace and getting into any betting war by playing these hands. As this article explains, don't play against any ace, even when you have a small one yourself.

Incase on the fop you do not hit a draw (or nuts) you should already be finished with these hands. It is almost never rewarding paying for simply backdoor draws.

Everything else

For instance: , ,

It's as simple as this; any other hand that can be dealt on you will lose your cash

As a starter or even an intermediate player, hands that might otherwise look great- an example being off-suit Q-J or maybe J-10 are literally going to make you lose cash after all.

If you play worse hands, making post-fop decisions will be one hard task.

The target as a beginner in poker playing is to make the fewest mistakes as possible. The best way you can limit the quantity of mistakes you commit is make minimal the quantity of hard decisions you'll be required to make.

The three commonest mistakes beginners make are:

• Out of position playing
• Playing some weak starting hands
• Playing their marginal hands against any raise

Focus on playing the hands we have in this list. Discard the weaker of the hands the moment you are out of position. Only play a raise incase you possess a very strong hand or maybe the odds with any strong drawing hand.

If you follow those guidelines, you will be on the right course to making profit.