ABC of Poker: Starting Hands

As the popular fun fact goes, there are more ways to arrange a deck of cards than there are atoms on Earth! How fortunate we are then that with 52 cards and 4 suits, there are only ;) 1326 possible combinations of starting hands in poker! And to make things even easier for beginners, these fall into five basic types (pairs, suited or unsuited, connected or gapped) and three broader categories in terms of post-flop potential (premium, solid, speculative).

Starting hand charts typically feature pocket pairs running diagonally from top left (AA) to bottom right (22), with suited cards right and above, and unsuited cards to the left and below, the pairs.

Pairs

While the chance of being dealt any pocket pair is 5.9%, how likely are you to get dealt a specific pair? There are 13 possible pairs, each with 6 combinations. Knowing this, you can calculate the probability as 6/1326=0.0045 or 0.45% probability and odds of 220:1. Related terms: pocket pair, top pair, over pair A♥A♠, 2♣2♦

Suited connectors

As the name suggests, these are two consecutive (connecting) cards of the same suit which can combine with the community cards to form a straight:  J♥10♥; 8♠9♠; 5♦6♦

Suited unconnected cards

Two cards of the same suit but with a gap between them - the smaller the gap, the greater their speculative value K♠J♠, 9♦6♦, J♥7♥

Connected unsuited cards

Q♠J♦, 8♣9♥, 4♣5♥

Unconnected unsuited cards

K♣9♥, J♠4♦, 10♦8♠

Premium hands

These are the very best hands in poker and the ones you can play in any position: AA, KK, QQ, and AKs

Solid hands

These include pocket pairs of 88 and better (88+); high suited cards AKs, AQs, AJs, high unsuited cards AKo 

Speculative hands

May be further differentiated into 'quality' and 'weak' speculative hands and include small pairs, suited connectors, and suited aces. Especially valuable in early tournament stages when the blinds are small compared to the stacks (see Brush Up on Your Deepstack Strategy in Time for the MPS Malta!)

Quick glossary of terms & acronyms:

Hole cards - the cards dealt face down to the players; in Texas Hold'em, the two cards that make up your 'starting hand'; sometimes 'pocket cards' as in 'pocket pair' (when you are dealt two cards of the same value)

Community cards - the cards dealt face up on the table, forming the board, for use by all the players active in the hand 

Board - the community cards dealt face up on the table

(s) - suited as in AKs, A♥K♥
(o) - offsuit, as in AKo, A♣K♦
(x) - any card 9 and lower, as in Ax A♦5♣ or Axs A♠5♠

OP - 'overpair', a pocket pair which is higher in value than any of the community cards on the board and would thus beat the 'top pair' as on the 5♥7♣J♣ flop when you hold Q♥Q♠

TP - ‘top pair', when you pair one of your hole cards with the highest community card, as on a 5♥7♣J♣ flop when you hold J♦10♠

TP and OP are terms relative to the specific board unlike the generic term 'high pair'.

Watch @Annie Duke in this starting-hand tutorial:

Continued in: ABC of Poker: Starting Hands in Early Position

ABC of Poker: Starting Hands in Early Positions - Ranking HeroAs most beginner guides, the #RKHabc series is based on ABC poker theory and its fundamental postulate: you play only solid hands, betting and rasing when you're strong and folding when you're weak. Sounds obvious and self-explanatory, as long as you know your poker hand rankings, so where's the catch?www.rankinghero.com

Related #RKHabc article: 

ABC of Poker: Position Essentials & Glossary - Ranking HeroPoker is a game of incomplete information and that is why you need to watch out for anything that can help you fill in some of the gaps. In terms of information, the first of your assets and vulnerabilities is your position at the table. Essentially, the later you are to act, the more information you will have gained about your opponents. www.rankinghero.com