A pair of aces is the best pre-flop hand in Texas Hold'em Poker
In the poker game of Texas hold 'em, a starting hand consists of two hole cards, which belong solely to the player and remain hidden from the other players. Five community cards are also dealt into play. Betting begins before any of the community cards are exposed, and continues throughout the hand. The player's 'playing hand', which will be compared against that of each competing player, is the best 5-card poker hand available from his two hole cards and the five community cards. Unless otherwise specified, here the term hand applies to the player's two hole cards, or starting hand.
- 2Limit hand rankings
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Essentials[edit]
There are 1326 distinct possible combinations of two hole cards from a standard 52-card deck in hold 'em, but since suits have no relative value in this poker variant, many of these hands are identical in value before the flop. For example, A♥J♥ and A♠J♠ are identical in value, because each is a hand consisting of an ace and a jack of the same suit.
Therefore, there are 169 non-equivalent starting hands in hold 'em, which is the sum total of : 13 pocket pairs, 13 × 12 / 2 = 78 suited hands and 78 unsuited hands (13 + 78 + 78 = 169).
These 169 hands are not equally likely. Hold 'em hands are sometimes classified as having one of three 'shapes':
- Pairs, (or 'pocket pairs'), which consist of two cards of the same rank (e.g. 9♠9♣). One hand in 17 will be a pair, each occurring with individual probability 1/221 (P(pair) = 3/51 = 1/17).
An alternative means of making this calculation
First Step As confirmed above.
There are 2652 possible combination of opening hand.
Second Step
There are 6 different combos of each pair. 9h9c, 9h9s, 9h9d, 9c9s, 9c9d, 9d9s
To calculate the odds of being dealt a pair
2652 (possible opening hands) divided by 12 (the number of any particular pair being dealt. As above)
2652/12 = 221
- Suited hands, which contain two cards of the same suit (e.g. A♣6♣). Four hands out of 17 will be suited, and each suited configuration occurs with probability 2/663 (P(suited) = 12/51 = 4/17).
- Offsuit hands, which contain two cards of a different suit and rank (e.g. K♠J♥). Twelve out of 17 hands will be nonpair, offsuit hands, each of which occurs with probability 2/221 (P(offsuit non-pair) = 3*(13-1)/51 = 12/17).
It is typical to abbreviate suited hands in hold 'em by affixing an 's' to the hand, as well as to abbreviate non-suited hands with an 'o' (for offsuit). That is,
- QQ represents any pair of queens,
- KQ represents any king and queen,
- AKo represents any ace and king of different suits, and
- JTs represents any jack and ten of the same suit.
There are 25 starting hands with a probability of winning at a 10-handed table of greater than 1/7.[1]
Texas Holdem Opening Hand Chart
![Texas holdem hand rankings Texas holdem hand rankings](/uploads/1/2/5/2/125274934/756700555.jpg)
Limit hand rankings[edit]
Some notable theorists and players have created systems to rank the value of starting hands in limit Texas hold'em. These rankings do not apply to no limit play.
Sklansky hand groups[edit]
David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth[2] assigned in 1999 each hand to a group, and proposed all hands in the group could normally be played similarly. Stronger starting hands are identified by a lower number. Hands without a number are the weakest starting hands. As a general rule, books on Texas hold'em present hand strengths starting with the assumption of a nine or ten person table. The table below illustrates the concept:
Chen formula[edit]
The 'Chen Formula' is a way to compute the 'power ratings' of starting hands that was originally developed by Bill Chen.[3]
- Highest Card
- Based on the highest card, assign points as follows:
- Ace = 10 points, K = 8 points, Q = 7 points, J = 6 points.
- 10 through 2, half of face value (10 = 5 points, 9 = 4.5 points, etc.)
- Pairs
- For pairs, multiply the points by 2 (AA=20, KK=16, etc.), with a minimum of 5 points for any pair. 55 is given an extra point (i.e., 6).
- Suited
- Add 2 points for suited cards.
- Closeness
- Subtract 1 point for 1 gappers (AQ, J9)
- 2 points for 2 gappers (J8, AJ).
- 4 points for 3 gappers (J7, 73).
- 5 points for larger gappers, including A2 A3 A4
- Add an extra point if connected or 1-gap and your highest card is lower than Q (since you then can make all higher straights)
Phil Hellmuth's: 'Play Poker Like the Pros'[edit]
Phil Hellmuth's 'Play Poker Like the Pros' book published in 2003.
Tier | Hands | Category |
---|---|---|
1 | AA, KK, AKs, QQ, AK | Top 12 Hands |
2 | JJ, TT, 99 | |
3 | 88, 77, AQs, AQ | |
4 | 66, 55, 44, 33, 22, AJs, ATs, A9s, A8s | Majority Play Hands |
5 | A7s, A6s, A5s, A4s, A3s, A2s, KQs, KQ | |
6 | QJs, JTs, T9s, 98s, 87s, 76s, 65s | Suited Connectors |
Statistics based on real online play[edit]
Statistics based on real play with their associated actual value in real bets.[4]
Tier | Hands | Expected Value |
---|---|---|
1 | AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AKs | 2.32 - 0.78 |
2 | AQs, TT, AK, AJs, KQs, 99 | 0.59 - 0.38 |
3 | ATs, AQ, KJs, 88, KTs, QJs | 0.32 - 0.20 |
4 | A9s, AJ, QTs, KQ, 77, JTs | 0.19 - 0.15 |
5 | A8s, K9s, AT, A5s, A7s | 0.10 - 0.08 |
6 | KJ, 66, T9s, A4s, Q9s | 0.08 - 0.05 |
7 | J9s, QJ, A6s, 55, A3s, K8s, KT | 0.04 - 0.01 |
8 | 98s, T8s, K7s, A2s | 0.00 |
9 | 87s, QT, Q8s, 44, A9, J8s, 76s, JT | (-) 0.02 - 0.03 |
Nicknames for starting hands[edit]
In poker communities, it is common for hole cards to be given nicknames. While most combinations have a nickname, stronger handed nicknames are generally more recognized, the most notable probably being the 'Big Slick' - Ace and King of the same suit, although an Ace-King of any suit combination is less occasionally referred to as an Anna Kournikova, derived from the initials AK and because it 'looks really good but rarely wins.'[5][6] Hands can be named according to their shapes (e.g., paired aces look like 'rockets', paired jacks look like 'fish hooks'); a historic event (e.g., A's and 8's - dead man's hand, representing the hand held by Wild Bill Hickok when he was fatally shot in the back by Jack McCall in 1876); many other reasons like animal names, alliteration and rhyming are also used in nicknames.
![Hands Hands](https://xuld.richarelli.ru/pics/525850.jpg)
Notes[edit]
- ^No-Limit Texas Hold'em by Angel Largay
- ^David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth (1999). Hold 'em Poker for Advanced Players. Two Plus Two Publications. ISBN1-880685-22-1
- ^Hold'em Excellence: From Beginner to Winner by Lou Krieger, Chapter 5, pages 39 - 43, Second Edition
- ^http://www.pokerroom.com/poker/poker-school/ev-stats/total-stats-by-card/
- ^Aspden, Peter (2007-05-19). 'FT Weekend Magazine - Non-fiction: Stakes and chips Las Vegas and the internet have helped poker become the biggest game in town'. Financial Times. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
- ^Martain, Tim (2007-07-15). 'A little luck helps out'. Sunday Tasmanian. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Texas_hold_%27em_starting_hands&oldid=925603601'
Table Of Contents
Happy birthday to a certain Antanas 'Tony G' Guoga who turns 46 today. We wanted to take this opportunity not only to wish him the very best, but share with you some of the most memorable Tony G hands in poker history.
From the classic 'On Your Bike' moment all the way up to the present day with a cash game encounter with Dan 'jungleman12' Cates on the Triton Poker Cash Game, we hope you'll enjoy this small trip down memory lane!
'On Your Bike!'
The quote that spawned a thousand imitations. At the Intercontinental Poker Championship held at the Palms Hotel and Casino back in April 2006, 21 players representing their respective countries were invited to compete. The field included Doyle Brunson (USA), Eli Elezra (Israel), Johnny Chan (China), Carlos Mortensen (Spain), David Benyamine (France) and Daniel Negreanu (Canada) to name but a few of the illustrious field.
After Tony G limped with , Ralph Perry, representing Russia, raised in the big blind to 120,000 with . Tony G re-raised all in and Perry called.
The board ran out clean and Guoga exploded.
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'Come on Russian, get out! It's time to go!' screamed Guoga. 'Look at this! Look how he's playing! You are a terrible player!'
'Your career is finished. You are gone. On your bike!'
'I'm All-in Blind'
This next hand comes Season 2 of 'The PokerStars Big Game' which ran from 2010-11. With Jennifer Tilly straddling, Tony G put out the double straddle. The action was pot-limit so after it folded to Phil Hellmuth, he pots from the big blind with . After Tilly folds, Guoga is shown looking at his cards before announcing that he was all-in blind.
He could only re-pot, so the action was back on Hellmuth.
'I haven't looked,' said Guoga to Hellmuth.
'Did you look at your cards?' asked Hellmuth. 'If you haven't looked then I'm all in.'
Hellmuth moved all in and Guoga snap-called.
'Oh you lied!' said Hellmuth.
'Of course I lied, it's poker Phil!'
They ran it three times with Guoga winning all three runouts to scoop the pot.
'I Have a Four'
The Triton Poker Cash Game at Maestral Resort and Casino, Montenegro was a No-Limit Hold'em €2,000/€4,000 game featuring not only Tony G, but some of modern poker's greatest players including Dan 'Jungleman' Cates, Isaac Haxton, Mikita Badziakouski, and Timofey Kuznetsov.
With Haxton straddling, Cates opened to €20,000 with in the hijack and Tony G called in the big blind with . Guoga bet €40,000 on the flop and Cates called. He continued the aggression with a bet of €70,000 on the turn and Cates called again.
The river was the and Guoga moved all in. Cates snap-called for his last 251,000
'Four,' said Guoga.
'You have a four?' replied a bemused Cates.
'Of course,' replied Guoga, taking down a €756,000 pot. 'I'm the best, what do you think I play with?'
'This Dealer is Just Incredible'
Sometimes, just sometimes, Tony G doesn't win the pot. But that doesn't mean we're not treated to some very quotable material. In the partypoker Premier League Guoga shoved for 57 big blinds with from the small blind and Roland De Wolfe called with in the big blind.
The flop didn't offer any surprises, but the on the turn gave De Wolfe the lead and off stormed Tony G.
'This dealer is just incredible,' he said. 'This is just unbelievable. I haven't won one hand.'
The river was the and De Wolfe doubled up.
'You Come to My Game and You're Wasting My Time'
Jungleman isn't the only well-known online pro that Tony G has tangled with at the live felt. Tony G straddled with and Andrew Robl raised to $3,200 in the big blind with . Guoga called.
The flop came giving Robl top pair against Guoga's two pair. Robl check-called $10,000 and the turn was the .
Robl checked again and Guoga bet $50,000 into a pot of $27,200. After 35 seconds, Guoga called the clock.
'On the internet, you play in one second,' said Guoga to Robl. 'And you come here now, you come to my game and you're wasting my time!'
'On the internet, people don't bet three times the pot every time,' replied Robl. The 30-second clock ran out and Robl's hand was declared dead.
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