1. Knowing what beats what in poker or Texas Hold’em is an important early step in learning the game. To help you out, I have provided for you an attractive printable or downloadable “cheat sheet” for both 5 card hand rankings as well as top 24 pre-flop starting hands.
2. If you raise preflop from early position with something like 99, you reduce the number of players that will see the flop and make it more likely that your hand will be best even if an overcard falls. With no raise, hands like KJ or A10 will be more likely to come in and beat you if an overcard does flop.

Because Texas Hold’em poker is very complex game it is impossible to draw any strict rules that will guarantee you to play winning poker. The only part of Texas Hold’em poker game where can be successfully applied some particular rules is Texas Holdem preflop starting poker hands strategy.

The Best Possible Starting Hand in Omaha High: When playing straight Omaha, or Omaha High, the best hand you can hope to peel up from the table is AAKK. That's it, the very best hand preflop. Now you want these to be suited as well to give you the best odds post flop.

The hands are ranked from #1 to #169, where #1 is the best. This ranking is applicable when the poker table is full ring (9-10 people). The ranking is based on computer calculation results with all the players staying to the river card. It is not applicable to any real play. If the hand is named XXs then it means the hand is suited, if XXo then the hand is off suit. Modified in the ranking above. I’ve moved AQ to the top of the Group 3, and also moved 99 to the second position, because in the game of no limit holdem I feel these hand plays much better (I will further explain this below). For these Group 3 hands, I look to raise pre-flop with the first two hands (AQ, 99).

The decision which poker starting hands combinations should be played preflop can be made based on Texas Holdem preflop starting hand value ranking . Remember that sometimes you should play also weaker poker starting hands combinations to make your poker preflop strategy game less readable. Poker preflop hand value ranking is based on starting hands groups and poker hand rankings. Poker starting hands combinations from the same group can be played in pretty much the same way. As you will become more experienced poker player you will be thinking rather in terms of EV (expected value based on preflop odds) of each preflop poker strating hands combination rather than in groups. Poker odds calculator is another tool that may help you with learning preflop odds as well aspreflop strategy.

Keep in mind that the Texas Holdem poker preflop strategy and the poker starting hands groups you are going to play depend on playing style and quality of poker players at your table and your position. You will need lot of practice at poker tables to master this preflop part of poker strategy which is important part of learning to play winning poker.
Below you can find the preflop poker starting hand ranking.

Poker Starting Hands Groups

s – suited
x – low card
T – 10

1. AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AKs
2. TT, AQs, AJs, KQs, AK
3. 99, JTs, QJs, KJs, ATs, AQ
4. T9s, KQ, 88, QTs, 98s, J9s, AJ, KTs
5. 77, 87s, Q9s, T8s, KJ, QJ, JT, 76s, 97s, Axs, 65s
6. 66, AT, 55, 86s, KT, QT, 54s, K9s, J8s, 75s
7. 44, J9, 64s, T9, 53s, 33, 98, 43s, 22, Kxs, T7s, Q8s
8. 87, A9, Q9, 76, 42s, 32s, 96s, 85s, J8, J7s, 65, 54, 74s, K9, T8

The poker starting hands listed in each group first have higher rank.

Texas Holdem Poker Preflop Strategy

What Texas Holdem poker preflop rules to remember:

• always raise preflop, rarely call unless you are in blinds
• in raised pot preflop rather re-raise or fold than call
• always make your decisions based on your poker starting hands strength - preflop odds, position and quality of your opponents
  

For more complex view into Texas Holdem poker preflop strategy and strategy on and after the flop check our the best poker books reviews or recommended learning poker portals that can be found in our learn how to play poker section.

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]

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).

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:

Preflop Hand Rankings

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.

Poker Preflop Hand Rankings

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]

Pre Flop Hand Rankings

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.