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.

Essentials[edit]

Most of the time in Texas holdem you’ll still have the best hand with a flush in these situations, but you always need to know what the best possible hand is before deciding how much to risk in the pot. Other hands to watch out for include possible straights and boards that have a high likelihood of having two pair.

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':

• The 20 Best Starting Poker Hands. The best starting hands in Texas Holdem are big pairs and big cards. Of course, we all know the power of AA, KK and QQ, but JJ-TT are also premium hands. Some have a hate relationship with JJ and TT, but I love being dealt these.
• Poker Hand Rankings Quiz. Put your knowledge of poker hands to the test with the quiz below.
• In high games, like Texas hold 'em and seven-card stud, the highest-ranking hands win. In low games, like razz, the lowest-ranking hands win. In high-low split games, both the highest-ranking and lowest-ranking hands win, though different rules are used to rank the high and low hands.
• The best possible starting hand in Texas Holdem is pocket aces, which is a favorite to win against every other hand with a significant margin. It is also known as Pocket Rockets and Bullets because of its strength. Pocket Aces has: around 85% chance to win against a random hand.

• 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).

Alternative means of making this calculation

First Step

As confirmed above.

There are 1326 possible combination of opening hand.

Second Step

There are 6 different combos of each pair. 9h9c, 9h9s, 9h9d, 9c9s, 9c9d, 9d9s. Therefore, there are 78 possible combinations of pocket pairs (6 multiplied by 13 i.e. 22-AA)

To calculate the odds of being dealt a pair

78 (the number of any particular pair being dealt. As above) divided by 1326 (possible opening hands)

78/1326 = 0.058 or 5.8%

• Suited hands, which contain two cards of the same suit (e.g. A♣6♣). 23.5% of all starting hands are suited.

Probability of first card is 1.0 (any of the 52 cards)Probability of second hand suit matching the first:There are 13 cards per suit, and one is in your hand leaving 12 remaining of the 51 cards remaining in the deck. 12/51=.2353 or 23.5%

• Offsuit hands, which contain two cards of a different suit and rank (e.g. K♠J♥). 70.6% of all hands are offsuit hands

Offsuit pairs = 78Other offsuit hands = 936

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.

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^[1] 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.^[2]

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.

Statistics based on real online play[edit]

Statistics based on real play with their associated actual value in real bets.^[3]

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.'^[4][5] 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.

Notes[edit]

1. ^David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth (1999). Hold 'em Poker for Advanced Players. Two Plus Two Publications. ISBN1-880685-22-1
2. ^Hold'em Excellence: From Beginner to Winner by Lou Krieger, Chapter 5, pages 39 - 43, Second Edition
3. ^http://www.pokerroom.com/poker/poker-school/ev-stats/total-stats-by-card/^{[dead link]}
4. ^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.
5. ^Martain, Tim (2007-07-15). 'A little luck helps out'. Sunday Tasmanian. Retrieved 2010-01-10.

These are the traditional poker hand rankings, which are used in the most popular variants of poker (such as Texas Hold‘em).

Whether you’re looking to learn how poker hands rank or what beats what in poker, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s get started.

Poker Hands from Highest to Lowest

The following poker hand rankings relate to more traditional and popular game types, including:

• No Limit Hold’em
• Limit Hold’em
• Pot Limit Omaha
• 5 Card Draw

The hands are ranked from strongest to weakest.

1. Royal Flush
The best hand possible, a royal flush consists of A, K, Q, J and 10, all of the same suit (extremely rare).

2. Straight Flush
Also very rare, a straight flush consists of any straight that is all the same suit.

3. Four of a Kind
Four of a kind, or ‘quads’, consists of four cards of equal value along with another card known as a side card.

4. Full House
A full house consists of three cards of one value and two cards of another.

5. Flush
A flush is a hand which has all cards of the same suit.

If 2 or more players get to showdown with a flush, the flush with the highest card wins.

6. Straight
A straight has 5 cards of consecutive value that are not all the same suit.

Best Hand In Texas Holdem Crossword

Note that an Ace can be either the high or low end of a straight, but not both at once. So, A-K-Q-J-10 and 5-4-3-2-A are valid straights, but 2-A-K-Q-J is not. 5-4-3-2-A is also known as the wheel, and it is the lowest possible straight.

7. Three of a Kind
Also known as ‘trips’, three of a kind is 3 cards of the same value and 2 side cards of different values.

8. Two Pair
Two pair consists of two cards of equal value, another two cards of equal value, and one extra card.

When two opposing players have two pair, the player with the highest pair wins the pot. For example, Aces and Threes beats Kings and Queens. If both players have the same highest pair, the player with the higher second pair wins. If both players have the exact same two pair, then the player with the higher extra card wins.

9. One Pair
One pair consists of two cards of the same value, and three extra cards. This is the lowest ranking “made” hand.

10. High Card
Five cards that do not interact with each other to make any of the above hands.

Tie-breakers and Kickers

In the event multiple players have the same poker hands, the extra cards come in to play. These cards are called ‘kickers’. The player with the higher kicker will take the pot in this event.

Texas Holdem Hand Rankings Preflop

No Limit Hold’em Example: Player AandPlayer B

• Player A has K♥ 9♥
• Player B has A♠ K♦
• The flop, turn and river are K♠-T♣-T♦–4♠-2♣

This means the player’s final poker hands are:

• Player A: K♥ K♠ T♣ T♦ 9♥ for Two Pair, Kings and Tens with a Nine kicker
• Player B: K♦ K♠ T♣ T♦ A♠ for Two Pair, Kings and Tens with an Ace kicker

The winner of the pot is Player B because he has Player A ‘out-kicked’.

In a high card or one pair hand tie-breaker, both players can sometimes have the same kicker. In this case the second kicker is used, and then the third, and so on. If both players’ 5 card hands are identical, then they share the pot equally.

Top 20 Best Texas Hold’em Hands Rankings

I wanted to include something a bit more exciting in this article, so here’s the top 20 No Limit Hold’em starting hands in terms of raw all-in equity (or percentages).

Although the order of the best poker hands to start with is sometimes contested, this list will give you a rough idea of which hands are stronger than others.

I hope you enjoyed this list of poker hands rankings!

Read more:

Source:@Upswingpoker.com