Texas Holdem Best 5 Cards
The Top Texas Holdem Poker Starting Hands
Every Poker player knows that you don’t play every hand you’re dealt. But, how do you know which hands to play and which to fold?
Best Starting Hands in Texas Holdem Poker to Play
How do you know which starting hands to play?
This is a question that every poker player, amateur or professional, should always be prepared for at the start of every hand, fundamental to poker strategy. You do not want to play every hand, you must know when to fold. If you know which starting hands to play, you can conduct the game in your favour.
Learn Texas Holdem Poker
- The easiest way to do it is make every collection of 5 cards possible and grab the hand value. Remember the best hand. There are only 21 combinations for the 7 card situation, so it's not good in terms of optimality, but it's not terrible either unless you are using this for research.
- Get Your Miniature (Credit Card Sized) Texas Holdem Starting Hands Cheat Sheet; Poker Odds Cheat Sheet (for Texas Hold'em) How To Use This Pot Odds Cheat Sheet – Facing River Bet Example. Work out pot odds; 2. Find 2.6:1 on the card (or as close to it as possible). Determine our actual equity; 4. Determine if we can profitably call.
- One of the keys to being a strong Texas Hold 'em poker player is to know which hands are playable and which are not.This list of the top 10 best starting hands for Texas Hold 'em is a good place to start learning. Do keep in mind, however, that there is some disagreement over which hands are the best, and it does depend in part on your skill level and style of play.
Here are the Top 10 Best Starting Hands in Texas Hold’em Poker-
Once all players have placed their final bids, the dealer will deal the flop. The dealer will flip over the first 3 cards, known as the “flop”, from the community deck. The goal is to make the best 5 card had you can with the three cards from the community deck and the two in your hand.
- AA – Pocket Aces or Bullets is the strongest starting hand in poker. Play Strongly, But bear in mind – even though it’s is the best starting hand, you will be left with only one pair if the board doesn’t improve.
- KK – Pocket Kings or Cowboys – The second-best starting hand after Aces. But if an Ace turns up post-flop, you will lose to anyone holding a single Ace in their starting hand.
- QQ – Pocket Queens or Ladies – the third best starting hand with a winning probability of 80% pre-fop.
- JJ – Pocket Jacks or Fishhooks – Pre-flop, it has a 78% chance of winning and is still a still a very strong hand. Be mindful of opponents.
- AKs – Big Slick – Ace King suited is the top unpaired starting hand to have in a game of poker. Also called Anna Kournikova or Kalashnikov (AK rifle) by recreational players
- Ts – TNT or Tension. The nickname for Pocket Tens is because having a pair of tens pre-flop is tense because of the high chance of overcards.
- AQs – Big Chick – Ace Queen suited is another hand with the potential to win the pot.
- AKo – Big Slick – Ace King off-suits also rank high in the chart and is capable of winning at least 40% of the time against any other hand (except aces or kings).
- AJs – Armani Jeans – Ace and Jack suited is better than most other hands. However, if an opponent raises from early position, proceed with caution.
- KQs – Marriage – King and Queen suited is a strong hand that can end up a making Royal Flush.
Other Possible Hands–
- Suited Connectors (98s, 76s, T9s)
- Offsuit Connectors (T9o, 98o, 54o, JTo)
- Suited Gappers (97s, T8s, KJs)
*s refers to suited cards (of the same suit)
*o refers to off-suited cards (of different suits)
Texas Holdem Best 5 Cards
There are a possible 169 non-equivalent starting hands (ignoring specific suits) in a standard 52-card deck in Texas Hold’em Poker. So, here’s a chart with detailing the win percentage of Texas Holdem starting hands-
A | K | Q | J | T | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | |
| A | 85% | 68% | 67% | 66% | 66% | 64% | 63% | 63% | 62% | 62% | 61% | 60% | 59% |
| K | 66% | 83% | 64% | 64% | 63% | 61% | 60% | 59% | 58% | 58% | 57% | 56% | 55% |
| Q | 65% | 62% | 80% | 61% | 61% | 59% | 58% | 56% | 55% | 55% | 54% | 53% | 52% |
| J | 65% | 62% | 59% | 78% | 59% | 57% | 56% | 54% | 53% | 52% | 51% | 50% | 50% |
| T | 64% | 61% | 59% | 57% | 75% | 56% | 54% | 53% | 51% | 49% | 49% | 48% | 47% |
| 9 | 62% | 59% | 57% | 55% | 53% | 72% | 53% | 51% | 50% | 48% | 46% | 46% | 45% |
| 8 | 61% | 58% | 55% | 53% | 52% | 50% | 69% | 50% | 49% | 47% | 45% | 43% | 43% |
| 7 | 60% | 57% | 54% | 52% | 50% | 48% | 47% | 67% | 48% | 46% | 45% | 43% | 41% |
| 6 | 59% | 56% | 53% | 50% | 48% | 47% | 46% | 45% | 64% | 46% | 44% | 42% | 40% |
| 5 | 60% | 55% | 52% | 49% | 47% | 45% | 44% | 43% | 43% | 61% | 44% | 43% | 41% |
| 4 | 59% | 54% | 51% | 48% | 46% | 43% | 42% | 41% | 41% | 41% | 58% | 42% | 40% |
| 3 | 58% | 54% | 50% | 48% | 45% | 43% | 40% | 39% | 39% | 39% | 38% | 55% | 39% |
| 2 | 57% | 53% | 49% | 47% | 44% | 42% | 40% | 37% | 37% | 37% | 36% | 35% | 51% |
Top Texas Holdem Starting Hands You Should Pray For
Quick Basics:
- Every player is dealt two cards face down
- Five community cards are placed on the table (whose value is shown as the round progresses).
- All players try to make the best five-card combination from among the board and personal cards and bet on the same.
- Best hand at the end of the round is declared the winner(s) and wins the pot.
It’s only by knowing how to master the basics do you become a poker player who is taken very seriously by his/her opponents. Learn more about the basics of poker-
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Poker Diaries: When To Bet & When To Fold With The PreFlop Range Chart
Poker Diaries: Different Types of Poker Playing Styles & Personality
Poker Diaries: Importance of Playing in Position
Poker Diaries: What Are Outs & How To Calculate Them?
Poker Diaries: What are Pot Odds and Equity?
Five Card Draw vs Texas Holdem
Five Card Draw is probably the most time proven and played game of poker. Simple and concise, it gets the job done while staying fun all the while. Although not often player in casino or tournament play, Five Card Draw is still the most popular poker style used at informal meetings. Like all games of poker, Five Card Draw begins by all players putting in their ante prior to being dealt their cards to ensure there is a pot to be won. From there, each player is dealt five cards face-down by the dealer.
From here, the players look at their cards and then are allowed to begin the first betting round starting with the player to the left of the dealer. Then, each player can choose to discard and replace up to four of the five cards in their hand. The dealer burns, or discards, the top card of the deck prior to dealing out the replacement cards to the players in clockwise order.
Texas Holdem Best 5 Cards Poker
After this draw phase, another round of betting ensues again beginning with the player to the left of the dealer. Following this final betting round, if more than one player remains a showdown occurs. The highest hand wins and receives the winnings from the pot.
A variation of Five Card Draw is known as Five Card Stud. Most of the rules remain the same except the draw phase of the game is removed. Whatever five cards each player is dealt they must keep and they are not allowed to replace them with new cards.
Texas Hold Em
In Texas Hold Em, the dealer begins by shuffling the 52 card deck. In casino and professional play, the dealer doesn’t play. Instead, a dealer button (a round disc) moves clockwise around the table after each hand and it indicates which player would be the dealer if the dealer position changed with each hand.
After this, the blind bets are made by the first two players to the left of the dealer (from here on dealer refers to who the dealer button is on). This is done prior to any cards are dealt to ensure that there is a winnings pot for every hand. Generally, the first blind bet is half of the minimum bet and the second blind bet is the full minimum bet. Once these are done, each player receives two cards face down known as the hole cards.
Texas Holdem Cards
From there, a round of betting takes place beginning with the player to the left of the two players who have already posted the blinds. Players can raise, call, or fold when their turn comes. After the first round of betting, the dealer then burns, or discards, the top card of the deck and then puts the next three cards face up on the table. These cards are the community cards and they are shared by all players in the game.
Texas Hold Em Strategy
This process continues and another round of betting takes place where each player has the opportunity to raise, call, or fold on their turn. The top card is once again burned and another card is placed face-up on the table for a total of four community cards. This is repeated once more with another round of betting, the top card being burned, and another card being placed face-up with the other community cards.
Texas Holdem Card Game
At this point there should be five community cards on the table. Another round of betting then takes place. After the final betting round, all players who remain in the game reveal their hands. The player who made the initial bet or the player who made the last raise shows their hand first. Players can form the best five card combination using their own two hole cards and the five community cards. The player with the best hand wins.
There also exists Texas Hold Em Hi/Lo in which the low hand wins the pot rather than the traditional high hand.