03-22-04, LearnTexasHoldem:

Starting Hands In Holdem

Question: how do I know when to play the right starting hand in nl holdem?

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Answer: That's a pretty general question but I'll do my best here to give you a few tips. In no limit holdem one of the main factors dictating how "tight" or few cards you have to play is how aggressive people are preflop. If everyone is just "limping" in without raising, then you can get away with playing a lot more poker hands.

A concrete example of that would be playing a hand like JToff in early position. That is the type of hand you just come in with and hope to hit something big. Now if the game is more aggressive and you'll have to pay more to see the flop then you will need to really tighten up in the front. That brings us to our next point for when to play certain hands: position. You'll hear over and over again about playing tight in the front and loose in the back.

That is especially true in no limit holdem where any weak play up front can be picked off by an aggressive player in the back. If you are near the dealer button, the less chance there is you'll loose your money if you just call. It also gives you a big advantage the rest of the hand too since you can see what everyone else did before you act. My next point about starting hands relates to your relative skill. The better player you are, the more cards you can play since you'll be less likely to be trapped in a hand when you flop something marginal. The looser you play preflop, the more you have to fold on the flop when you catch a little something.

Next, you need to take into account the type of starting hand you have and what texture it likes. For example, you wouldn't want to take a hand like 89s heads up against a big preflop raise. That kind of hand, a suited connector, prefers to have a multi-way pot. The opposite is the big pairs, AK, AQ, etc. They prefer fewer people in and the more people in the weaker the hand becomes. My next point involves what you think your opponent has and how you think your hand will play against his. Let's say you are playing a little $50 buyin no limit game and you have TT in the big blind. A person who has been playing pretty tight and has the same amount of chips you do comes in for a decent size raise and everyone folds to you.

Now what are the outcomes for the flop? One outcome is you spike a T giving you three of a kind. That would be the best situation. The next best situation is if you catch cards all below T, like (863). The other situation is you hit over cards which may have helped your opponent if he didn't already have you beat. These are the things you have to take into account when you play a hand. A hand like 33 is much easier to play then TT since if you miss the flop it is an easy fold. Now my point here isn't you should call or raise or play the TT, the point is there are a lot more factors to figure in then think that TT is a good starting hand because it is in x position in my poker chart.

Being adaptive is the best weapon you can learn for taking peoples money in poker and memorizing poker charts and starting hand tables won't help much. The TT in one situation might be an easy fold and in another situation it may be a reraiser. I could keep going on and on about starting hands but I can't communicate experience through writing. You'll need to put in some time before you feel comfortable with what cards to play and when.

Until then, play smaller limits and get a feel for the game and how other people play. It also doesn't hurt to tighten up some against them and pass on some hands that may result in you getting trapped.

Texas Calculatem is the perfect software for you that needs help with what starting hands to play. It contains alot of functions that will improve your game - both for the beginner and the experienced player. Click here to read more about poker hand rankings and other holdem odds related info.

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