The Best Starting Hands in Hold’em. Let’s start by talking about the best starting hands, which are often referred to as ‘premium hands’. There is some disagreement amongst poker players as to which starting hands are the best, but few would dispute the value of the first of our three main groups, Aces and Kings. Group 1: AA, KK. 58 rows Poker Hand Rankings - Texas Holdem Starting Hands Chart At the bottom of this page is a.
Pot Limit Omaha Starting Hands
Pot Limit Omaha Starting Hands
In PLO there are a total of 16,432 different starting hands, made up of all the possibilities that result from the 270,725 stochastically possible combinations. So how do you decide what starting hands to play and what not to play. This is also the reason why there is no clear cut starting hand chart for PLO unlike its popular cousin Texas Hold’em. We at adda52 have tried our best to compile some of the top hands that are playable from all positions.
The top 30 Omaha starting hands are as follows:
1. A-A-K-K | 11. K-Q-J-10 | 21. Q-Q-A-K |
2. A-A-J-10 | 12. K-K-10-10 | 22. Q-Q-A-J |
3. A-A-Q-Q | 13. K-K-A-Q | 23. Q-Q-A-10 |
4. A-A-J-J | 14. K-K-A-J | 24. Q-Q-K-J |
5. A-A-10-10 | 15. K-K-A-10 | 25. Q-Q-K-10 |
6. A-A-9-9 | 16. K-K-Q-J | 26. Q-Q-J-10 |
7. A-A-x-x | 17. K-K-Q-10 | 27. Q-Q-J-9 |
8. J-10-9-8 | 18. K-K-J-10 | 28. Q-Q-9-9 |
9. K-K-Q-Q | 19. Q-Q-J-J | 29. J-J-10-10 |
10. K-K-J-J | 20. Q-Q-10-10 | 30. J-J-10-9 |
But the larger question for any poker player would be how to play the marginal hands, the run downs, the one-gap hands etc. To make this decision making easier for you, we have marked down some starting hands and also mentioned how they should be played in various positions. Unlike Texas Hold’em where the starting hands are divided in 3 sections, PLO is a wider game with a wider choice thus it is being discussed w.r.t Under the Gun(UTG), Middle position(MP), Cutoff(CO), Button(BTN) and Small Blind(SB). Click here for more information about table positions.
Double Suited (DS) :- Four hole cards consisting of two sets of suited cards e.g. 4♥5♥7♠9♠.
Suited - Combination of cards of same suit e.g. - all Spades.
Rainbow - Combination of cards of different suit e.g. - 3♠5♥6♣A♦
Single Suited (SS) - Combination of cards with one pair of same suit e.g.- A♥3♥9♣J♦
Position | Which starting hands to play? |
UTG | A-A-K-K ds to A-A-2-2 ds, K-K-Q-Q ds to J-J-10-10 ds, K-K-9-9 ds to Q-Q-2-2 ds, J-J-9-9 ds to 8-8-7-7ds, A-A-K-K ss to A-A-2-2 ss, K-K-Q-Q ss to J-J-10-10 ss, K-K-9-9 ss to Q-Q-2-2 ss, J-J-9-9 to J-J-8-7 ss, A-A-K-K rainbow to A-A-2-2 Rainbow, K-K-Q-Q Rainbow to J-J-10-10 Rainbow, K-K-9-9 Rainbow to Q-Q-2-2 Rainbow, J-J-9-9 to J-J-8-7 Rainbow |
MP | A-A-K-K ds to A-A-2-2 ds, K-K-Q-Q ds to J-J-10-10 ds, K-K-9-9 ds to Q-Q-2-2 ds, J-J-9-9 ds to 8-8-7-7ds, A-A-K-K ss to A-A-2-2 ss, K-K-Q-Q ss to J-J-10-10 ss, K-K-9-9 ss to Q-Q-2-2 ss, J-J-9-9 to J-J-8-7 ss, A-A-K-K rainbow to A-A-2-2 Rainbow, K-K-Q-Q Rainbow to J-J-10-10 Rainbow, K-K-9-9 Rainbow to Q-Q-2-2 Rainbow, J-J-9-9 to J-J-8-7 Rainbow, 8-8-6-6ds-5-5-3-3ds, J-J-7-7ds-10-10-2-2ds |
CO | A-A-K-K ds to A-A-2-2 ds, K-K-Q-Q ds to J-J-10-10 ds, K-K-9-9 ds to Q-Q-2-2 ds, J-J-9-9 ds to 8-8-7-7ds, A-A-K-K ss to A-A-2-2 ss, K-K-Q-Q ss to J-J-10-10 ss, K-K-9-9 ss to Q-Q-2-2 ss, J-J-9-9 to J-J-8-7 ss, A-A-K-K rainbow to A-A-2-2 Rainbow, K-K-Q-Q Rainbow to J-J-10-10 Rainbow, K-K-9-9 Rainbow to Q-Q-2-2 Rainbow, J-J-9-9 to J-J-8-7 Rainbow, 8-8-6-6ds-5-5-3-3ds, J-J-7-7ds-10-10-2-2ds, J-7-7ss-10-10-2-2ss, 8-8-6-6ss-5-5-3-3ss, J-J-7-7ss-10-10-2-2ss |
BTN | A-A-K-K ds to A-A-2-2 ds, K-K-Q-Q ds to J-J-10-10 ds, K-K-9-9 ds to Q-Q-2-2 ds, J-J-9-9 ds to 8-8-7-7ds, A-A-K-K ss to A-A-2-2 ss, K-K-Q-Q ss to J-J-10-10 ss, K-K-9-9 ss to Q-Q-2-2 ss, J-J-9-9 to J-J-8-7 ss, A-A-K-K rainbow to A-A-2-2 Rainbow, K-K-Q-Q Rainbow to J-J-10-10 Rainbow, K-K-9-9 Rainbow to Q-Q-2-2 Rainbow, J-J-9-9 to J-J-8-7 Rainbow, 8-8-6-6ds-5-5-3-3ds, J-J-7-7 ds-10-10-2-2ds, J-7-7ss-10-10-22ss, 8-8-6-6-ss-5-5-3-3ss, J-J-7-7ss-10-10-2-2ss |
SB | A-A-K-K ds to A-A-2-2 ds, K-K-Q-Q ds to J-J-10-10 ds, K-K-9-9 ds to Q-Q-2-2 ds, J-J-9-9 ds to 8-8-7-7ds, A-A-K-K ss to A-A-2-2 ss, K-K-Q-Q ss to J-J-10-10 ss, K-K-9-9 ss to Q-Q-2-2 ss, J-J-9-9 to J-J-8-7 ss, A-A-K-K rainbow to A-A-2-2 Rainbow, K-K-Q-Q Rainbow to J-J-10-10 Rainbow, K-K-9-9 Rainbow to Q-Q-2-2 Rainbow, J-J-9-9 to J-J-8-7 Rainbow, 8-8-6-6ds-5-5-3-3ds, J-J-7-7ss-10-10-2-2ss, 8-8-6-6ss-5-5-3-3ss, J-J-7-7ss-10-10-2-2ss |
For a certain segment of new hold’em players, starting hand charts can be fascinating. Even those with many years of experience who have little need to consult such charts still find them interesting as debate-starters.
In hold’em there are 169 different combinations of hands you can be dealt. For those of us who enjoy working with numbers or creating lists with which to organize our lives, there’s something appealing about the idea of ranking all of those hands from 1 to 169, even if we know such a list probably might have only limited value when it comes to actual game play.
In truth, there are actually a lot more possible combinations of hole cards in hold’em — 1,326 of them, in fact. But that total also considers suits as distinct, when in fact before the community cards come the suits are all essentially of equal value.
That is to say, is of the same value as when playing preflop, while and are also of equivalent value. So, too, are the different combinations producing the same pocket pairs all equal before the flop in terms of their relative worth. While there are six different ways to get pocket aces — , , , , , — you're equally happy no matter what suits the cards are.
So we get rid of all of those redundant hands and say that in Texas hold'em there are 169 “non-equivalent” starting hands, breaking them down as follows:
- 13 pocket pairs
- 78 non-paired suited hands (e.g., with two cards of the same suit like or )
- 78 non-paired unsuited hands (e.g., with two cards of different suits like or )
Notice now the non-paired combinations of hole cards neatly divide into equal groups, both of which are six times as large (78) as the smaller group of pocket pairs (13). The total of 169 combinations represents a square, too — 13 x 13 — another curious symmetry when it comes to hold'em hands.
Still, that’s a lot of starting hand combinations — too many for most of us humans to keep in our heads — which is one reason hand ranking charts are appealing and even can be useful, since they help players think about certain two-card combos as “strong” or “average” or “weak” as possible starters.
Setting aside the idea of actually ranking the 169 hands from best to worst, we might think for a moment about other ways of categorizing starting hands in hold’em, using that initial breakdown of hands into pocket pairs, non-paired suited hands, and non-paired unsuited hand as a first step toward coming up with further, smaller groups that are easier to remember.
The 13 pocket pairs we might group as big or “premium” (, , and ), medium ( through ), and small ( through ).
Meanwhile, we might divide each of the other groups into “connectors,” “one-gappers,” and “two-gappers” (and so on), further thinking of them also as “big,” “medium,” and “small” while also keeping separate suited and non-suited combinations.
These categories of non-paired hands are created by thinking about straight-making possibilities (affected by connectedness) and flush-making possibilties (affected by suitedness). There are more ways to make straights with “connectors” — that is, two cards of consecutive rank like — than with two-gappers, three-gappers, and so on. So, too, do you have a better chance of making a flush with suited hole cards than with non-suited hole cards.
Another possible group to create would include “ace hands” — i.e., non-paired hands containing one ace — that can be thought of as “big aces” (e.g., , ), “medium aces” ( down to ), and “small aces” ( to ). Or “king hands,” too. We like keeping these groups in mind, as hands with big cards like an ace or king can connect with flops to make big pairs.
In any case, you can see how these criteria for making categories can help when it comes to building those starting hand charts. And in fact most of those charts feature a similar ordering of hands, with...
- the premium pocket pairs and the big aces (suited and non-suited) up at the top;
- medium and small pocket pairs and big-to-medium suited connectors and one-gappers in the middle;
- and non-paired hands with less potential to make big pairs, straights, or flushes toward the bottom.
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Poker Starting Hand Percentages
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Play NowHowever, there are problems with relying so heavily on starting hand charts that you don’t take into account factors that can make a given hand gain or lose value. Such as the flop. Or the turn. Or the river. Or other factors — including how your opponents are playing their hands — that can quickly affect the value of your starting hands.
After all, as anyone who’s played even a few hands of hold’em well knows, even if is the highest-ranking starting hand and a non-suited ranks as 169th, a couple of deuces among the community cards is all it takes to make the best hand worst and the worst hand best.
Learning the relative value of starting hands is definitely an important first step when it comes to getting started in hold’em. Other aspects of game play such as the importance of position, knowing when and how much to bet or raise, and thinking about opponents’ holdings and playing styles as hands proceed are good to learn, too, and help show how a great starting hand might not be so great five community cards later.
Poker is not blackjack, a game in which similar hand-ranking guides are sometimes used to inform players’ decisions about how to play. In poker you want to be wary about becoming too reliant on those pretty starting hand charts. They can be great for indicating which hands might be worth playing (and which should be thrown away), but troublesome if allowed to outweigh all of the other important factors that arise as a hand plays out.
That said, starting hand charts can be useful, especially for those new to hold’em. They also can be a big help when picking up other games, too, like pot-limit Omaha or the various stud games, if only to get an early idea what hands tend to play better than others.
Poker Starting Hands By Position
But for many such charts ultimately are only themselves a way to get started, before the experience of playing helps players more instinctively recognize both hand groupings and how hands tend to compare in terms of profitability.
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Number Of Possible Poker Hands
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