The Top Texas Hold’em Poker Starting Hands

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Jeffrey | Poker Strategy

Knowing what the top Texas Hold’em Poker starting hands are can greatly improve your odds of success when it comes to online games. Commit these to memory, and put them to work in getting you the pot the next time you play! Unlike in Blackjack, you won’t be able to employ card counting tactics, but these tips will give you the edge.

1. Pocket Aces

Pocket aces are the strongest starting hand in poker, and a pre-flop favourite over any other two-card combination, as well as a favourite over almost any hand at a whopping 4:1. You will only get pocket rockets dealt you, as they are sometimes referred to, around once every 221 hands, and how rarely they get dealt is part of of why they are so valuable pre-flop. However, bear in mind that their likelihood of securing you a win goes down as the amount of players entering the pot goes up, so the fewer opponents the better.

2. Pocket Kings

The cowboys, as pocket kings are sometimes known, are the second favourite for any hand, and are as valuable in your online poker game as they would be in the online Blackjack Canada has available! There are not too many flops that should worry you, but remember that kings will only be able to win against hands with an ace just over ⅔ of the time.

3. Pocket Queens

If you are lucky enough to get dealt pocket queens, you can rest safe in the knowledge that only eight overcards remain in the deck, or even less if you get your cash in against an opponent with an ace, a king, or an ace/king combo. The best advice for this hand is that you play it strongly before the flop, raising and reraising from any possible position all of the time. You will also still be running into many opponents who are more than willing to commit their cash with weaker hands.

4. Ace-King Suited

The Anna Kournikova, as this hand is known to many players, is so called because although it is nice to look at, it doesn’t win as often, or as much, as you think it would. It is very easy to fall for the ace-king suited, and it is not a weak hand by any means, winning against all of the other pocket pairs 50% of the time. However, you must bear in mind that if you are unable to connect with the flop, then you will be left with just an ace-high.

5. Pocket Jacks

There is a saying in poker that there are three ways to play your pocket jacks -and they’re all wrong! However, this is a little bit of a platitude, and pocket jacks is a favourite or coin-flip, 50/50, against any unpaired hand, as well as a strong pre-flop favourite over any type of lower pocket pair. It remains a very strong hand, particularly if the pot is not raised and you are looking down at jacks in a late-position. A little more caution is advised if an opponent has come in for a raise early on, however.

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