Here are a few tips on how to play poker various hands in the pre-flop round in Texas Hold’em poker. How to Play Premium Poker Hands (AA, KK, QQ, JJ) These poker hands hold a lot of. How to Play Texas Hold’em Correctly Before the Flop How to Play Texas Hold’em Correctly Before the Flop Some of the most important decisions you will make in a Texas Hold’em hand happen before the flop. This means that one of the most important aspects of Hold’em poker occurs when you have the least amount of information about the hand. Preflop Poker Hands and Position Position is everything in texas hold'em. It is definitely the most important aspect of the game. The importance of position in hold'em cannot be emphasized enough. Here are a few tips on how to play poker various hands in the pre-flop round in Texas Hold’em poker. How to Play Premium Poker Hands (AA, KK, QQ, JJ) These poker hands hold a lot of value and can put you way ahead in the poker game. It can easily be an over pair, higher than any card on the board. On this site you can find all possible combinations of preflop hands that can occur in Texas Hold'em Poker. As a bonus you will also learn the nicknames of the different hands. 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).

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:

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.

In Holdem, when you have a very short stack of 10bb or less, your preflop strategy is basically limited to shoving or calling a shove. An optimal strategy will depend on your opponent’s flaws, as exploiting their flaws will be the most profitable approach.
However, it is essential to comprehend what a balanced preflop gto strategy is so that you can spot their leaks and avoid making errors yourself. The Texas Holdem poker hands charts that we will present below will help you master preflop gto strategy when playing with a short stack.

Gto based Preflop Shove Strategy – Early Position

Texas Holdem Preflop Hands

From an early position, even with a short stack, you must play your strongest hands. This means playing mostly premium starting hands and suited Broadway cards.

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for shoving under the gun in a 9 handed-table with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

Gto based Preflop Shove Strategy – Middle Position

From a middle position, you still play strong hands. Now you can add some more suited starting hands, notably suited aces, some more additional unsuited Broadway cards, like KJo and small pairs.

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for shoving from middle position 2 in a 9 handed-table with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

Gto based Preflop Shove Strategy – Late Position

From late position, as the players left to act are reduced, your push range starts to become much wider.

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for shoving from the cutoff with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

From the button, your range can be even looser. Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for shoving from the cutoff with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

Gto based Preflop Shove Strategy – Small Blind

From the small blind, you can become super aggressive. Now you only have to worry about the big blind having a strong hand!

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for shoving from the small blind with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

Gto based Calling a Shove Strategy – Early Position

When you are facing a shove, as the gap concept suggests you need a stronger hand than what you would shove with in the same position if you were first in.

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for calling from utg +1 an utg shove with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

Gto based Calling a Shove Strategy – Middle Position

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for calling from middle position a shove from middle position with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

Gto based Calling a Shove Strategy – Late Position

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for calling from the button a shove from middle position with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for calling from the button a shove from the cutoff with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

Gto based Calling a Shove Strategy – The Blinds

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for calling from the small blind a shove from under the gun with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

Texas Hold'em Preflop Chart

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for calling from the small blind a shove from middle position with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for calling from the big blind a shove from the cutoff with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for calling from the big blind a shove from the button with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.

Texas Holdem Preflop Odds Chart

Below is a Texas Holdem gto based chart for calling from the big blind a shove from the small blind with a 10bb, 8bb, and 6bbstack.